There were still a few days till the official recruitment for the school of Ekir, so Kiran took the chance to meditate during the night and explore during the day.

He sat in his room as he looked at his left hand, a ring on his finger. The inventory ring. He cast his eye on the ring on his right hand, his mind’s power drew his consciousness inside.

A place of vast greenery, grass covered the entire ground with bushes and trees scattered around the area.

Kiran’s face in shock as he looked at the one responsible. A dumb looking panda sitting in the middle having the time of its life. Yes, the ring was a rare inventory ring capable of holding living creatures. Not all inventory rings were like that so it was special. His father had dug it up in one of the treasures he had for Kiran’s panda.

The panda seemed to be capable of a tremendous amount of the wood element energy. It was weird as nature seemed to grow around it.

Kiran couldn’t think much as the panda seeing him rose up in delight and rushed towards him as he grabbed his leg.

Kiran lightly touched the panda’s head as he stroked his fur, the panda relishing in the feeling. It was rare for Kiran to show such affection, but he had grown used to him. They had a connection, Earth.

After a while, Kiran retreated back into his own body and left the inn.

In the trading house, 2 young girls stood side by side as they observed the various products under the glass frames. Compared to most shops, this was clearly a place for the upper class.

Various products lined the floor ranging from strong weapons to magical tools to everyday utility items to potions and scrolls. Whatever you needed, this was the place to get it. Provided you have the money of course.

“Sis! Look! Look!” the younger of the two yelled as she yanked on the sleeves of her sister. Her other hand pointed to a slender sword behind a cabinet that gleamed with a faint blue glow. It was an enchanted sword.

A woman behind the counter approached and smiled to the two as she explained.

“This is a type 3 enchanted water element blade.”

Even though the blade was slender, don’t underestimate its toughness. Swords which were enchanted especially with an element was special and required expertise to forge. Weapons were categorized from Type 5 – type 1, corresponding to the classes up till 1st cycle.

The younger sister looked in awe as she admired the beauty of the sword. She desperately wanted it because just like her sister, she was of the water element too. Although unlike her sister, she was a chi user so the sword was perfect for her.

The older sister looked at the eyes of her younger sister which beamed with desire, she could only stroke her beloved sister’s hair as the latter turned to her and smiled. They both knew they could not afford it.

Even though their family was powerful in their region, the world was vast. Their father, the head of the Qin family, was only a low 2nd cycle chi user. The entire family of several hundred people, and only the head commanded a type 3 weapon.

“One day…” she told her little sister as the latter nodded in return with admiration in her eyes.

The older sister was gifted. She was 17 years old and was already a 3rd cycle magician. To an extremely average person, they would be around 32 years old to reach that stage. Basically, if you passed that stage without advancing, you had no hopes of advancing in your life.

She was the family’s hope in bringing it a step further. That was the reason why she was here, for the recruitment of the School.

“If it isn’t Cass and Tess!” A voice interrupted the older sister’s thought. A young man of around 20 walked towards them, two escorts behind him.

The sisters looked at the man as the older one spoke.

“Mr. Saio, it is nice to see you. And please, its Ms Tessa and Ms Cassey.”

A twitch appeared quickly from Saio but also quickly vanished.

“Of course.” A quick silence fell between them. “Ah, I see you were looking at the type 3 blade.” He continued as he gestured to the blade they were just looking at.

“How about I buy it for you as a present?” He smiled at the sisters, though a deeper meaning laid behind it.

Saio was the young master of the Ri Family. A family that was in the same area as the Qin family, though the former was more powerful with their head being a medium 2nd cycle chi user.

“No it is alright, but thank you Mr Saio.” The older one, Cassey spoke.

Saio’s face darkened a little but the sisters did not notice. The Ri and Qin family had always had a power struggle, the Ri family coming out on top most of the time. But with the new found gift of Cassey, should she be accepted into the school, she would undoubtedly bring the Qin family ahead of the Ri family.

His father had told him to try and get her, to form a marriage, an alliance. Saio obviously did not mind because she was beautiful. But whatever advances he made, she never took them.

Just as an awkward silence fell between them, the sisters turned their head to the entrance to a young figure clad in a rough dull black.

Just from his clothing, he clearly did not belong there. Normally the guards would’ve stopped anyone like that from coming in but the young man had an air about him. An air that put him above others.

Saio turned his line of sight to where the sisters were looking, and there stood Kiran looking around the trading house.

“Who is he?” Saio asked as he turned to the sisters. He couldn’t really see them knowing Kiran well, since he knew basically everyone who was from a prominent family around their area.

A sudden glint shone in the young sister, Tessa’s eyes, a light of deviousness.

“He’s sis’ friend!” She beamed a devilish smile.

“Oh?” Saio’s eyes narrowed as he looked at Cassey for a reaction.

Cassey looked at her younger sister as she pulled her closer and looked at her as if to say ‘why’d you say that?’

But to Saio, it was a look that said she knew him and perhaps didn’t want him to know. That would not do at all, he thought. He could not let any rivals in and judging from the guy’s outfit, he didn’t seem to come from any prominent background.

Meanwhilst, Tessa was thinking that maybe she could use Saio to get back at Kiran. She knew that Saio had been trying to get with her sister, and she used it against him. She was proud of the idea as she puffed her chest and smiled brightly at her sister, only when she lowered her head did her face ashen.

Across the floor, Kiran who was definitely out of earshot stared straight into the eyes of Tessa. Except for powerful individuals, normal people would not have heard it at that distance. But she did not know, that not only was Kiran powerful, but that Kiran was no human.

Kiran’s eyes stared menacingly at Tessa and it made her heart freeze. It was as if he could tell exactly what she was thinking, what she was doing.

Kiran overheard the whole ordeal and knew exactly what she was doing. On Earth, he was never short of meeting scheming individuals, but he did not like it when they were scheming about him. A cold faint bloodlust escaped his eyes and seemingly gripped Tessa’s soul. That was why she suddenly became petrified.

But in a second, Kiran’s eyes returned to looking around. Whatever came at him, he’d deal with it.

The exchange went unnoticed by Saio who was running through situations in his mind. Was Kiran a rival? What was he to Cassey? All sorts of thoughts ran surfaced.

“I heard you were friends with Cassey, I’m Saio. Heir to the Ri Family.” He finally decided to approach Kiran and introduce himself.

Kiran merely looked back over his shoulder at him for a second, and returned to what he was doing. He knew many people like Saio, fake, petty and manipulative. He didn’t care for them.

A moment passed as Saio stood awkwardly in greeting, his eyes filled embarassment but more with anger. The Heir of the Ri family, no one dared to ignore him. Especially not someone like Kiran.

“Would… would you like to join us?” He muttered the words through his clenched jaw holding back his anger.

Kiran’s brow sank in annoyance without turning back, he stood up straight and headed for the exit. Looks like he couldn’t get much done today without being annoyed.

Saio’s face sank with red anger as he watched Kiran exit. He quickly turned around to the sisters, the younger of which was just recovering from the ordeal.

“I’m afraid I have to go. Until next time.” He gestured and left with his two escorts. Soon he too was out on the street.

He looked to the right where Kiran left, his figure not too far away. He looked at the two escorts next to him and an understanding passed between them as they left Saio’s side and followed Kiran.

Saio turned and headed down the other way, his face contorted as he snickered. Whoever he was, he didn’t care anymore. He had angered him, only death awaited him now.

As Kiran was heading back to his lodging, he could feel two presence stalking him. Both elite disciple class. They followed him with skill, to a normal person that is.

But who was Kiran? The father of assassins, no, he was the grand father of assassins. Maybe even the great grandfather of assains. The way he was being stalked was like child’s play. Amateur skills and technique. They may as well be wearing bells.

Soon Kiran deviated from the path and headed outside of the city to a forest close by. It was forbidden to kill in the city, Kiran wasn’t stupid enough to do so and risk it. Sure, he could escape, but why waste the hassle.

With time, he stood in the middle of several trees at the edge of the forest not too far away from the city.

“You can come out now.” He said silently, but his voice passed through the area with strength as two figures emerged behind two trees, their faces in shock.

It was the two escort guards Saio had.

“How did you…?” One of them started as the other cut him off.

“Doesn’t matter. Kid, you messed with the wrong person. This could go the easy way, or the hard way.” The other explained, confident that they could subdue Kiran.

Without so much as a hint or sound, Kiran’s figure shimmered from their sight. They both looked at the spot where Kiran had been standing in shock.

“What the…” The second one looked at the first one as he saw Kiran standing right in front of him.

‘How did he get there so quickly?’ A thought that went through both of their minds at the same time. But before any answer could come, Kiran’s punch already connected.

Now lets analyse. The two were of elite disciple class. Kiran was at low 3rd cycle, his body even stronger than that of a normal person in his class because he was a dragon. Plus the various elements and strengthen that he did, he could even fight several subclasses above him.

A normal punch from Kiran, there was no way on earth that a disciple class could handle it, elite or not.

The punch went straight through the person as his face hadn’t even registered what had happened when Kiran’s arm came out on his back. The power residue so strong that it resonated outside his body through his limbs as his arms exploded. Within a second he was, in every sense of the word, dead.

Before the other could even react, Kiran was upon him as well. His left hand clasped across the man’s head as he squeezed. In the shock of everything, the man even forgot he was a trained chi user of disciple class. He could do nothing but scream as his head was crushed like a watermelon. Soon his flailing limbs stopped as he hung lifeless in Kiran’s hand.

Actually, Kiran didn’t know he would do so much damage to the first person, as he hadn’t actually quite tested out his strength against humans. He had fought a lot of beasts, but they were different.

A beast would be born with naturally tough skin, hard to pierce without the proper weapon. Humans obviously wouldn’t.

Kiran also wanted the second guy. He placed the lifeless body in his hand on a tree as he grabbed a large trunk off the ground and split it. He then proceeded to impale the corpse on the tree. The scene looked horrifying.

A giant hole in a man on the floor with his limbs missing and blood scattered everywhere. Then a body whose head was crushed as his brains flowed out impaled by a trunk on a tree.

It was a message. If Saio was smart, he would take it and leave Kiran be. If he didn’t…

Kiran turned as he collected the money of the two people and any valuables, and left to wash up and return to the city.