Mystical Journey

When they looked at Garen's deep and unmeasurable blue eyes, Quentin and Xander could feel a faint chill in the air for unknown reasons.

This mysterious president who had drawn them into the martial arts hall from the beginning now seemed to be completely unconcerned about the fight between Hochman and Dahm. Instead, his attitude showed that he was supporting it.

Hochman was currently known as the Boxing Overlord in the northern parts of America. During a fit of rage, he was once able to use his strength to break an iron pillar that was as thick as a thigh, showing that he had reached a terrifying, inhuman level. After he had crushed seven world-class boxing champions and famous underground combat fighters consecutively, his reputation reached far and wide. There was once an incident when a pistol was fired right in his face, but the speed of the trigger was no match for his quick fists. He sent his opponent flying with one punch and the man's entire upper body lost its form immediately before his internal organs and bones were turned into a sticky mess.

Meanwhile, Dahm was ruthless and malicious. He used fear and torture to rule over his group of subordinates. His underlings consisted of extremely vicious thugs, murderers, robbers, and other hardened criminals that were known to the public as 'Deadly Fists'. Likewise, he used his frightening and secretly cruel skills to kill others quietly, causing his subordinates and enemies to fear him greatly. He favored his underlings that possessed particularly muscular bodies and great strength but had a weird hobby that involved dressing up as a woman.

Both of them had already become the veritable underground rulers of the entire northern part of America. Their forces were omnipresent, and with the backing of both of their families, neither money nor the government could stop them at all.

"After all, both of them were the strongest members of our combat club…" said Quentin while trying to convince Garen. "Ever since the reputation of the combat club rose, the club members would always support and help each other to the point where they formed a large web of power relations. A year has passed since then and it has already developed into a large-scale network system today. As members, everyone should help each other progress so that our strengths can become more powerful. Both Hochman and Dahm were two of our most outstanding members, so we cannot…"

"So what?" Garen interrupted her. "The survival of the fittest is the way of the world. They made their own choices and I have no right to interfere."

Quentin choked up for a moment and was temporarily unable to speak.

"You taught and guided us past the threshold. Therefore, you are our Master," said Xander quietly from the sidelines. "Right now, you're the only person who can stop their fight."

"The only person in this world who can stop them is you," said Xander frankly. "I'm begging you." He lowered his head heavily and bowed deeply.

Quentin lowered her head and bowed while standing on the side as well. "We can't just watch while they kill each other. Please!"

Garen lifted his cup of green tea and sipped it gently.

Quentin sneaked at a glance at this mysterious man from the corner of her eye. His each and every move was completely incomprehensible to everyone else. Meanwhile, no one knew the origins of his extraordinary martial arts skills. While the prestige of his two disciples peaked, this mysterious and powerful man was gradually known as 'Holy Fist' by those around him.

However, although there were people who knew his family and other information, no one could understand how his terrifyingly strong martial arts came about.

Even though they had reached powerful stages now, both Hochman and Dahm restrained and downplayed themselves in front of Garen and continued to respect him.

The only one who could stop both of them was him.

Deep down, Quentin understood that. However, she was completely unaware that the real culprit that caused both of them to fight to the death was not someone else, but actually Garen himself.

Quentin knew about the terrifying techniques that she had learned from Garen's martial arts. They seemed like an endless path that allowed one to explore themselves infinitely…

She had currently achieved the third level of the Illusory Spinning White Jade, which was the Spin level. Although she was unable to reach the fourth level and remained in her current state, her strength was already sufficient to defeat all of her enemies outside combat club.

Her own family had started a boxing club, allowing her to clearly understand how terrifying the techniques that she had grasped truly were. After she'd accidentally overthrown two well-known boxers, she finally understood that the techniques she had grasped were terrifying murder skills that were actually derived from battle skills from countless fights. Neither mercy nor good intentions existed here, only death.

The Two-Faced Waterbird Fist that was concealed within beautiful and graceful steps were actually deadly murderous intentions.

In comparison, Hochman and Dahm had already started to create Waterbird Fist fighting techniques that were most suited towards themselves. Their powers seemed to constantly increase like a limitless rocket.

"How regretful." Garen crossed all ten of his fingers and laid them on top of the table. "The Two-Faced Waterbird Fist was a fighting technique that I had passed on to all of you. In reality, once it has reached a certain level, it will separate itself into positive and negative directions because of each person's own physical qualities. Only those with specialized talents and skills will be able to activate these special qualities. The fight between the Negative Two-Faced Waterbird Fist and Positive Two-Faced Waterbird Fist is predestined. Once they have defeated and killed their opponent and fused with the essence of their Secret Techniques, they will be able to upgrade themselves to a level that no one has ever anticipated before."

This was the first time Garen had explained the true meaning behind the Two-Faced Waterbird Fist to both of them.

"Negative and positive. This is the reason why it was named the Two-Faced Waterbird Fist."

This was the first time Quentin and Xander had heard an allusion like this, and both of them were unconsciously dazed after they had heard everything. They had always thought that Hochman and Dahm could only fight to the death because of personal grudges, but now… All of this seemed to be arranged by Garen from the beginning…

As fellow successors of the Waterbird Fist, both of them had finally understood the true secrets of this killing technique.

"You… what is your goal?!" Xander raised his head while suppressed anger flashed in his eyes.

"Goal?" Garen began to smile. "You guys thought that martial arts merely meant playing house? That strength could be achieved easily without having to pay a price? Perhaps you thought that you would be able to gain such frightening skills just by paying a small price? Don't be naive."

"The true path of martial arts has never included such a quick road to improvement. By practicing a martial art without aftereffects, they would have to spend at least ten years doing orthodox training to even dream about reaching your level. But you assumed that the martial arts that you were practicing could be considered of the same class?" sneered Garen.

"All shortcuts require a price to be paid in exchange." He stood up after he was almost done speaking. "Alright, it's late. Go home."

Both of them were currently stunned and in a daze. They thought back to the earliest moment when Garen had imparted the most powerful strength to them and the moment when they received everything before their minds become muddled once more.

They remained confused while being ushered out of the door by the maids, and only awakened from their trance while driving back on the road home.

No wonder they were forced to congregate around Garen for a period of time under the pretense of regulating their martial arts progress. They needed Garen to personally check their progress every time, and when they thought about it now, perhaps he was checking and getting rid of everyone's side effects.

Both of their minds were confused and numb for a while. Neither of them was concerned about Hochman or Dahm anymore, as they needed to go back and check on the conditions of their own bodies carefully.

**************************

Inside a little wooden house in an unspecified forest in Grano town.

Within a lush green forest, a little house was situated in completely silent surroundings, as if something was protecting this little wooden house that was built by this forest ranger.

"Are you crazy? You let two normal people come into contact with Lars? That insane madman?!"

Inside the wooden house, Pritto sat on the sofa while a beautiful woman with golden hair stood on the opposite side of him and looked on with an expression of disbelief.

"You actually gave such an important item to two normal people? I don't know what you experienced during this period of time, but actions like this simply make me see you as an unbelievably stupid idiot!" The woman's chest heaved continuously, making it obvious that she was extremely furious.

"I trust them…" said Pritto softly. A cigarette was held between his fingers but it was unlit.

"Barton's current goal is to pursue you and me. No one would think that the goods are not with us, but at the other place instead. As part of the Scarlet Moon tribe, we should not be afraid of our opponent's middle-level hypnotic control techniques. Currently, only you and I know this secret," Pritto raised his head quietly and looked at the woman.

"So you're not afraid that they'll be affected by the control of the hypnotic technique? Simply ridiculous!" said the woman in an annoyed tone.

"I've tried it. They have extremely strong will powers, and they've also undergone various types of training to resist it, making it completely impossible to control them," Pritto explained. "Besides that, they seem to know a specialized combat skill and possess extremely strong powers."

"No matter how strong they are, they're still normal humans at the end of the day. The Middle-level Blood Breeds can kill them with one look! Fine… Fine, fine…" The woman raised both of her hands. "Whatever, I don't care. Any decisions you make will be your own problem. Anyway, if anything bad happens, it will be your personal responsibility. I don't want to even think about caring about this anymore! Just do as you like!" She turned around and left angrily.

Only Pritto remained seated inside the wooden house. He smiled bitterly and coughed twice while a defeated expression crept across his face slowly.

"Frankly, I didn't want to drag two innocent lives into this. However, I had no other choice, and before I knew it, they were already involved."

*************************

Inside an unspecified private meeting room in Feinan City, a short distance from Grano, within the state of Faya.

None of the lights in the room were lit and it was pitch-black, while the smell of smoke wafted through the air faintly.

Two middle-aged men in black windbreakers stood in front of a window. Both of their figures seemed to blend into the darkness completely as if they were merely sculptures that posed quietly in front of the window amidst the cold and gloomy air.

"The operation has failed. Two normal people have been involved. They replaced Pritto and went to the coordinate point and even injured Lars."

"They're probably the subordinates of the other Blood Breeds. That fellow Lars is more concerned with saving face than his own life, and if news that a normal person was able to injure a Blood Breed gets out, not only will he be worried that others will make fun of him, but he'll probably also get more people to come over if he can't handle it. However, we can't drag this out any longer. The local Witches don't have positive attitudes towards us, so we'll have hurry up and make our moves. Do you know Pritto's whereabouts?"

"He should be with Cavenly. If we can find Cavenly, we'll definitely be able to find him as well."

"That's good. We must move fast. The other territories are almost done, we must not lag behind."

"Yes."