Chapter 4: The Endless Method

“Master, you, you …” Lips trembling, Mii couldn’t believe that familiar, assuring face was in front of her.

Yato’s eyes narrowed. “Fang?”

Stepping in front of Mii, Fang spat out a single word. “Leave!”

No longer startled, Yato angrily asked, “What do you mean?”

In a deadpan tone, Fang stated, “Go back to Vincent, and tell him, if he sends for Mii again, I’ll personally kill that trash!”

“You dare to insult our master? Don’t forget, you’re just an useless piece of waste – go to hell!” In fury, Yato raised his shining arm, throwing a heavy blow at Fang.

Although he was a general servant, he was at least a grade 3 novice; his strength coated his entire arm, being more than enough to deal with the apprentice level Fang.

Mii went pale, she didn’t think Yato would suddenly attack Fang. She was a mage, but at the level she was at, she needed time to prepare and chant a spell. It was too late.

“Bang!”

Within the dust, a figure flew out screaming, but it wasn’t Fang.

Yato fell several meters away, on the ground with shards of broken teeth.

Fang’s body was also shimmering, but it wasn’t just one arm – his entire upper body was alight.

To cover this much with his strength, he was at least at the grade 5 novice stage!

Mii stared with open eyes.

Master just came, but he already past the threshold and was at least a grade 5 novice now, what happened?!

His mouth full of blood, Yato’s eyes glazed over as Fang viciously smiled. “Well, this is the best way to show Vincent… actually, I wouldn’t mind playing until you lose more teeth.”

“Uhh, uhh …” Sobbing in pain, Yato didn’t know what to say.

Fang glared at him. “Disappear within ten seconds, else I can guarantee that you’d never be able to speak again. Ten, nine, eight …”

Chills ran over Yato’s body, and in a hurry, disregarding the pain, he stumbled into the distance, gradually disappearing from sight.

Fang remarked, “Just like his master, ugly and weak!”

He turned to the dazed Mii. “Unlike Mii here, courageous and beautiful!”

Mii broke out of her stupor and although she couldn’t understand what was happening, cried out in happiness, “This, master, is this real?”

Fang walked towards her, and tightly held her charming body in his arms. “Mii, you’ve suffered enough. I promise you, from now on, things will change!”

Mii cheerfully nodded, “Yes, I believe in you master!”

--- --- ---

Back inside the mansion, with the shock gone, Mii joyfully asked, “Master, when did you wake up?”

“Just less than five minutes ago,” Fang replied. “In time too, else my dear maid would have been gone to someone else.”

Mii protested, “Master…”

“I kid, I’ll never forget your devotion.” From the calendar and Yato’s earlier comments, Fang could tell that more than half a year flew by, yet Mii had never abandoned him. He was touched, from now on, he promised himself that he’d always take the best care of Mii.

“It was nothing,”Mii said shyly. “I’m your maid, and you were so kind to me, it’s what I’m supposed to do.”

Since Fang’s parents died and the family declined, Fang took the initiative to take control of the situation, rather than leaving it to scared, little Mii. “You’re free to go,” he said with a tired smile, holding out the remains of his own savings, but she had refused, and determined that she’d always be loyal to Fang.

Uncomfortable with the silence, Mii asked, “Master, your strength, how did it become so strong? Before you didn’t break into the level of novice, but that strength you just showed covered the upper body, which is at least grade 5, right?”

Mii was a mage, but she knew the basics of the warrior’s path. Seeing Fang’s sudden spike in power, she was very confused.

Fang gently smiled. “I don’t know, maybe it’s because of that sudden illness – that was perhaps a blessing in disguise.”

Of course, he knew that wasn’t the case.

He made these changes himself, and in that dream with the old madmen, they had claimed that he had talent, and with the last vestiges of their power, restored the flaw in his body. That bit of power; it was enough to breakthrough into the rank of a grade 8 novice.

Clenching his fist tightly, he thought there were no doubts that he would breeze through the entrance exam!

--- --- ---

On the highest floor of a luxurious mansion in Victoria City, a man angrily threw a vase at the wall.

“Damn Mii, she just didn’t refuse to go, but she managed to ruin your face Yato!”

Mii was a magician, and he knew that Yato was no match for her, yet, he hadn’t expected Mii’s punches to break Yato’s mouth.

“Mm mmmm, mm mmmm…” Yato shook his head, unable to speak.

Vincent frowned.

“What are you talking about?”

“Uhh uhh, uhh…” Crying, Yato gestured with his hands and feet for a long time, and Vincent finally understood what he was trying to say.

“What, the person that beat you wasn’t Mii, but Fang?”

Yato continued to nod.

“Even if Fang woke up, how could he defeat you?”

Frantically, Yato kept waving his hands.

“What? Fang’s broken into the level of a grade 5 novice? How could it be, when he was just a low grade apprentice in a coma?”

Unable to explain, Yato kneeled to the ground, bowing. Seeing he couldn’t explain anymore, Vincent waved his hand in dismissal.

Fang, Fang, Fang. You beat my servants as a demonstration? Who do you think you are?

No matter how strong you are now, you were and always will be trash! Just wait and see, Mii will be mine!

--- --- ---

As lazy light flooded the drowsy afternoon streets, Fang ran towards the city public library. For several hours, he searched and browsed through all the books of famous figures. The supreme master of fire, shadows, thunder, holy and …

If anyone reached the rank of supreme, their name would instantly be famous, recorded throughout the ages. He doubted that these legendary figures would be forgotten so easily.

But nothing. Maybe it was because Victoria City was small, the larger libraries might contain a hint of their history.

However, to Fang, even if those crazy old elders were not at the level of supreme, they were powerful masters. After all, they managed to heal the flaw that countless doctors couldn’t fix.

Also, when he battled Yato, he circulated his energy through the method drilled into him by the dead master rather than the teachings of previous schools, and surprisingly, his power had increased past the 8th grade into the 9th grade. There was no doubt that he couldn’t have reached that without following what the old man had said.

When Fang finally came home, the sky was completely dark. Instead of heading to dinner, he immediately rushed into a tiny practice room within the mansion.

However, he didn’t practice the method that the instructors at school recommend, but another method: the endless method!

When he asked for the origins of this name, the elders laughed and said that the reason was very simple: it described the method!

It sounded stupid, but Fang was forced to memorize this method by heart. To his horror, the old souls added as an afterthought that this method was something they thought as possible in theory.

In other words, no one had ever trained using this method, as even the smallest of errors could cause severe disabilities, or even sudden death!

Fang initially thought that they, out of boredom, came up with this method, claiming to be the strongest method in the world. However, now that he had returned to reality, and his body no longer had any problems, he thought that he’d give this method a try.

The endless method was dangerous, but he recalled, the danger only escalated when the level of strength surpassed the advanced stage. As of now, there was little to no chance that he’d die from practicing this method.

He sat down on the ground, and started to visualize the intricate, complex formations that dwarfed the simple methods of the instructors. This pattern was very familiar to him; after all, he spent ages perfecting to no result in the dream. But, in reality, the effects instantly became noticeable.

Energy from the surroundings continued to drain astonishingly fast into Fang’s body, and in shock, he observed that this rate was much more rapid than anything he had seen!

Surprised, he thought again to the theory behind this method. The old men claimed that according to their observations, all element energies were absorbable. Using this as their focal idea, they came up with a method that would allow the absorption of all the element energies, rather than just a single element, letting the user to advance extremely quickly.

Although this was just a theory, it came true in reality! The endless method endlessly absorbed the energy, this was insane!