Pum! Crack!
"Fuck!"
Falling on his rear, Charlotte put a hand to his face to care for his broken nose.
Looking up at his opponent, the man growled and yelled in fury.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!"
"It's not my fault you don't know how to fight" Hazel huffed with a smirk looking down at the Mystery Prier.
"And what do you think these practices are for?!" Charlotte screamed in outrage, blood dripping from his nose.
Hazel rolled her shoulders as she moved to grab a first aid bag and a couple of water bottles and brought them over to Charlotte.
"It's better to get your nose broken here in a controlled environment than in actual combat." She said calmly as she placed the bag on the ground and took out a cotton ball.
She tried to treat Charlotte but the young man rudely took the cotton from the Marauder's hands.
"I will do it!" The man grunted, then groaned in pain as the cotton touched his bloody nose.
"Do whatever you want" Hazel rolled her shoulders again before grabbing the water bottles she brought.
Opening one and taking a sip, Hazel handed the other bottle to Charlotte who grumpily took it.
Leaving the cotton on his nose and opening the bottle, the man took a super sip. As if he had just come out of the hot desert after several days without water.
Cough! Cough!
But the man drank so fast that he choked on the water.
"Hehe"
Hand to his throat, Charlotte turned and glared daggers at the grinning Hazel.
"What are you laughing at?!"
"Nothing." Hazel said calmly but her smile remained.
Charlotte opened his mouth to say something but the loud bang of something stopped him.
Hazel simply turned her head to the source of the sound and paid attention.
"They're back at it."
Also looking where Hazel was looking, Charlotte saw what had her captivated.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Compared to their little showdown, the fight between their partner and the boss looked more brutal.
Adryan and Sasha were sparring. Sasha was giving it her all while Adryan was more defensive but did not give room for the giant to advance.
"Come on Sasha! Is this really all you can do?" The redhead said with a smile as he blocked a low kick with his foot and put distance between the two of them again.
Sasha's expression distorted a bit but she immediately recovered and rushed towards her boss.
Adryan's smile only grew at that.
"Oh~ If you want to hug me so much you just have to ask! There's no need to chase me~" The redhead provoked and Sasha's expression became distorted again and she momentarily lost focus.
And Adryan took advantage of this and rushed towards her and in an instant he was already in front of her.
He launched a strong kick at the woman's face who barely managed to block it with her forearm.
"Urghhh" Sasha groaned as she felt the force of the kick and her arm trembled.
But she didn't get a chance to breathe because Adryan quickly withdrew his leg and plunged his left fist into Sasha's unprotected stomach she saw white for an instant.
This change of pace from offense to defense left her completely out of place and at the mercy of the redhead.
Pam! Pam!
In the instant that she was stunned, Adryan took advantage and landed two powerful jabs on her face before jumping up and wrapping his legs around Sasha's neck and squeezing trying to suffocate the giant at the same time he landed more punches to her face.
Instinctively, Sasha placed her hands on the redhead's thighs to try to separate them to breathe but Adryan didn't give her a chance.
Still, with his legs around the woman's neck, the redhead twisted his core and slammed the woman to the ground like a sack of sand.
Sasha's world spun and she swore she saw stars.
Thud!!
Her body hit the ground hard and Sasha grunted. She tried to get up but Adryan quickly and expertly wrapped his legs around her neck again as he grabbed her arm and locked her in a triangle choke.
With her free hand, Sasha tried to free herself but her boss's legs were clinging to her like a boa.
Since that didn't work she tried to free her other hand but the redhead had it completely locked.
When that didn't work she tried getting up to slam him but the redhead wouldn't let her do that.
"Ah Ah Ah! Bad girl~" Adryan teased with a smile and put more pressure with his legs cutting off the giant's blood flow.
Feeling how quickly her consciousness was slipping, Sasha quickly patted the ground to signal her surrender.
Plap! Plap! Plap!
As soon as that happened, she was released and took deep breaths as she sat up to try to recover. She still saw floating white dots.
Lowering her head to the ground, Sasha sighed heavily. Her arm was still trembling, her face hurt a lot, and she was sure she had a broken lip.
'I lost again...'
While looking at the ground, something cold touched her cheek, and looking to her side, she saw a bottle of water.
Smiling, Sasha looked up and nodded at her boss before taking the bottle and drinking it.
"Ah~"
Letting out a satisfied moan, Sasha shook her head.
"I thought I finally had you on the ropes Boss but then you do your tricks and from one second to the next I'm helpless."
Adryan smiled calmly as he took a sip from his own bottle.
"In your defense you lasted 2 minutes longer than last time, you're making me work extra."
"You only say that to comfort me." Sasha complained while shaking her head again. She knew that if there were no rules the boss wouldn't even need to use his fire to finish her off. That move from earlier was proof of that.
While she was thinking that, Adryan was looking at her with a thoughtful look in his eyes.
'Her ability to fight is something else. The pathways that are centered in close combat really shine in that. She may be a sequence lower but she is far superior in hand-to-hand combat than that Interrogator...' Adryan thought impressed.
He was sure that she may become better at him at Hand to Hand when she advance to Secuence 7 Weapon Master.
'Below the High Sequences. There are things that Sequence 8 are better at that Sequence 7.'
Thinking of that the redhead sigh internally.
'Over 5 years of training in various Martial Arts to be surpassed by a Protein Drink... How funny.'
He understood why normal people thought it was unfair.
Clap! Clap! Clap!
"Very good fight Teacher, Miss Sasha." Hazel complemented with grace worthy of a noblewoman as she approached. Behind her came Charlotte who had two pieces of cotton stuffed up his somewhat crooked nose.
"You're a bad influence" Flora commented seeing Charlotte's nose and Adryan just smiled proudly.
"It was an awesome fight" The Mystery Prier also complimented, still somewhat bitter. His voice was nasal due to his stuffy nose.
This caused the corners of the lips of the three present to rise slightly in amusement.
Not wanting Charlotte to notice that they were laughing at his misery, Adryan spoke.
"Charlotte. How's your digestion going?" As soon as he said that, Adryan felt the familiar pressure but he just ignored it.
The purple eyes sparkled as a big smile blossomed, instantly eliminating his bitterness from before.
"It's going really well, Boss! That feeling that all of you said about appears from time to time for certain things I do- I mean 'act'. Is a really nice feeling. Although I can still feel some traces of the potion so I'm still missing a bit..."
Remembering something, Charlotte quickly straightened his back.
"Thank you very much for introducing me to your Lord, Boss! My job has never been easier and simpler!"
'Yes, I know Charlotte. Your calls have made me realize my mistakes and all the damage I did to Klein.' Adryan thought with a flat face.
It had already been 5 times that Charlotte had woken him up in the middle of the night to help him make a Charm or complete a ritual.
'Speaking of which. You really have guts. On the same day that I introduce you to the Monarch, is it the same day that you try to pray to me? Did you forget that you almost urinated on yourself as soon as you saw me and would have died if I hadn't saved you?' Adryan complained mentally.
As Adryan mentally insulted Charlotte's guts, the young man continued.
"The Scarlet Monarch always responds and makes my rituals and making charms much easier and stronger. Also, every time I pray to 'Him' for 'His' help in a ritual I can feel my potion digesting."
Adryan nodded calmly at that.
"That's normal. Your sequence is Mystery Prier. The more you pry in the mysteries of mysticism, the more your digestion of your potion will speed up"
Saying that, Adryan's expression turned serious.
"Remember that there are many things that must not be seen or heard and if the Perverted Whisperer shows his stinking mouth pray to my Lord for protection."
At the insult to a God, the expression of everyone distorted for a moment before returning back to normal.
"Thank you very much, boss." Charlotte nodded gratefully at this new illumination.
He then gave a military salute and said with belief.
"Praise the Monarch!"
The corners of Adryan's lips twitched but he repeated the prayerful posture.
"Praise the Monarch!"
Lowering his hand, Adryan turned to look at Sasha and Hazel who got the message and nodded.
"The digestion of my potion is going well boss but it hasn't changed much, it should be digested by the end of August." Sasha said very happy. Her digestion had accelerated and it had gone from the end of the year to the end of this month.
Turning his head to the noble, Hazel smiled proudly, a smile much like Adryan's.
"Like I told you, you're a bad influence." Flora commented upon seeing that and Adryan just ignored her to return Hazel's smile.
"Is it what I think it is?"
Hazel nodded excitedly and raised her head high.
"Teacher. My potion has been fully digested."
This earned her impressed looks from Sasha and Charlotte.
Sasha grinned and ran over to Hazel and hugged her tight and shook her side to side.
"I am so proud of you!"
"Miss Sasha!" Hazel complained to the giant's movement with a red face but she still had a smile.
Charlotte activated his Spirit Vision and looked at Hazel's spirit body.
He saw how Hazel's spiritual body was completely stabilized and her spirituality controlled.
Turning off his Spirit Vision, Charlotte stared at the noblewoman in astonishment.
"It's true..."
Being put down by Sasha, Hazel smiled at the Mystery Prier and took a rectangular piece of silver out of her pocket, and showed it to him.
"Did you doubt it?" She said as she waved the Charm in her hands.
Charlotte looked at this and unconsciously touched his right pocket and feeling it empty, his expression broke.
"Give it back to me!"
Hazel just smiled and tossed it to the man who caught it with a yell.
Adryan looked at this with a smile, he had already activated his Spirit Vision and was looking at Hazel.
The light blue color that marked her pathway had turned a little darker and moved calmly.
Double tapping his palm and turning off his Spirit vision. Adryan walked over to Hazel and placed a hand on her head and ruffled the young woman's green hair.
"You are incredible, my student. I'm sure Flora would think the same"
Hazel smiled happily at the compliment and nodded energetically, not bothered by her hair now being messy.
"Honestly, yes, it's incredible. With me, the digestion of her potion was disgustingly slow. But with you? It seems that her digestion took a train. How did you do it?" Flora asked in surprise. She saw everything that the redhead teach her and couldn't find anything that could explain the growth that Hazel had.
The smile on Adryan's face grew a little but he didn't say anything.
'It's quite simple my dear worm. You just need a Sephirah and that's it.'
In his world, the speed of digestion of the Tarot Club was always questioned because it was ridiculous compared to everyone else in the world. Fans theorized that it was due to the aura from the Sefirah Castle accelerating it.
And as Will said, Hunter's Hollow only hid the aura of the City of Calamities and didn't contain it. So any Beyonder who spends a lot of time with him will experience a Speed Up in their digestion.
Looking into Hazel's brown eyes, Adryan asked calmly.
"Are you ready for your promotion?"
Hazel straightened her back and her smile turned into an elegant one. She nodded gracefully.
"I'm ready Teacher."
Adryan calmly nodded at that and took a piece of paper out of his pocket along with a red fountain pen.
He put the pen against the paper and waited for a second.
Understanding what the redhead wanted, Flora sighed and said.
"Sequence 8 Swindler Potion Formula.
Main materials: All Firmin Rat's legs, The tongue of the Silver Tongue Serpent.
Supplementary Materials: 20 centimeters of Feysac Vines, 40 milliliters of pure water, 5 milliliters of the juice of an immature Pale Lime and 5 of its seeds."
"Good girl~" Adryan whispered with a smile as he wrote the formula on the paper and handed it to Hazel.
"If you have a problem with any ingredient, tell me and I'll get it for you."
Hazel quickly read the formula while nodding to her teacher's words.
Adryan turned to look at Charlotte who shook his head.
"I haven't had any problems with my ingredients Boss. The Knuckles of the Magenta Lizard I got from a gathering and the Jumping Horned Toad is regularly sold on the black market."
"And your ingredients for your charms and rituals? Do you need more money?"
Charlotte shook his head.
"I still have quite a bit left of the 600 pounds you gave me."
"Good." Adryan nodded at that.
He had gotten a total of 3,600 pounds from Red Skeleton, added to the 9,000 pounds he had saved he now had 12,600 pounds.
Money wouldn't be an issue for a while, but Adryan knew he would need a lot more.
Adryan returned his attention to Hazel and said seriously.
"When you get all the ingredients for your potion, don't advance yet. Come here with us so we can assist you."
Hazel nodded.
"I'll do that Teacher."