A Punch

The sun was peaking at the top which was glaring heat onto the earth. Meanwhile, amidst the rising afternoon heat, Harvie's body shook, and looked at the intimidating "castle" in front of him.

"That was my reaction too," Renir commented on the side before walking into the open gate, he couldn't wait for a second more.

Harvie snapped out of it and followed Renir again, "Are you just going to walk in?"

"You're breaking your character here. Aren't you always confident?"

"I'm confident in what I do and what you're doing is not what I don't do." with an irritated complexion, Harvie explained and rebuked, "You're breaking your character too. Aren't you just a wimp? And... why are there so many holes and craters in the concrete?"

Renir just ignored him and entered the building apartment. The clerk behind the counter just stared and when Renir glanced at him, he silently bowed.

'The staff already know him so he went there before?' Harvie thought first before he got a weird feeling about the clerk's silent but confused reaction.

But then, Renir stopped at the elevator. He just stood there and stared at the buttons.

"What?" Harvie asked behind him.

Renir turned his head at him and asked, "How do you use an elevator again?" when Imee used the elevator before, Renir was deep in thoughts that he never saw how Imee did it. Afterward, he was dragged down by Ernanfo without using the elevator. After all his life, Renir was like a country bumpkin living in the city.

"Seriously?" Harvie was getting more irritated, now with a different reason, "That's just an elevator, dude." he condescendingly pointed.

Renir's eyes just turned away as he realized it was embarrassing to ask that.

"...." Harvie couldn't believe this guy and just clicked his tongue before pushing he button. When it lit up and the sound of the elevator coming down to them, Renir reacted:

"Ohh..."

"You're the child here..." Harvie murmured.

Renir's cheeks turned red but ignored it. Both of them then entered the elevator, now Harvie leading the way.

When they reached the fifth floor, Renir was the first to walked out and went straight towards door 512 without waiting for Harvie.

Renir then pushed the doorbell from which it sounded Cringg~*

"At least, you know how doorbells work," Harvie commented as he walked closer. While he turned his head around, he couldn't believe that Imee was so close by yet he didn't know. Feeling so defeated, he frowned.

Then seconds flew by but there was no answer. Renir's breathing began to rapid as he pushed the doorbell again Cringg~*

The frowning Harvie began to tilt his head as seconds passed by again with no one answering the doorbell.

Cringg~*

Cringg~*

Cringg~*

"...." Harvie was about to lose patience so he asked, "Are you just bluffing?"

"Of... course not," Renir answered.

Harvie couldn't doubt it because of the reason, 'He wouldn't just barge in here if it is a bluff.'

However, minutes passed and sweat was trickling down on Renir's face. He was about to knock on the door when he was stopped by Harvie who stared at him and said;

"Stop it. If she can't or don't want to answer then don't force her."

Renir's eyes were darting everywhere. His worry was increasing.

But in Harvie's perception, this had a different interpretation, 'He was keeping stand from the start but looks like it was a bluff, after all. Dude, your expression is giving it all. Getting nervous because you got caught lying, huh...' although this was in his head, deep inside, the feeling of defeat vanished.

"It's fine, I decided I won't beat you. Let's just go back to school." Harvie pat on Renir's back and walked away which Renir followed right after.

While Harvie had his chin high from "victory", Renir had his head down out of worry.

'I can't just break the door down...' Renir was deep in his thoughts again, 'After classes, I'll have to go to Uncle Ernanfo and contact Imee.' he decided that he would finish the test quickly.

On their way back to school, Harvie "consoled" Renir. When both of them came back to school, they separated as Harvie met up with his friends, and Renir, with nowhere to go, went to the school nurse's office.

Seeing Renir's strange reaction, Nurse Mitha didn't disturb him. And when the second half of the exam began, Renir still had different thoughts filling his mind...

… Hours earlier, in the Fellnigh Dojo, Ernanfo had just mentioned that Renir escaped.

"Hm?" Sceke reacted, "What do you mean?" his tone got heavier.

"But don't worry, boss, I know exactly where he is. He's a student in Pentoran High." Ernanfo immediately fessed up to ease his boss.

"Oh, so your daughter and he are schoolmates? What a coincidence." Sceke's calm voice returned.

Ernanfo nodded, "But boss, let's go inside first. My disciples have a lot of work to do."

Sceke happily nodded and followed Ernanfo into his residence. After the big boss with his two bodyguards left, the disciples sighed relief and looked at each other.

"Guess we have to do this quietly." Greg who was always the leader figure when Ernanfo isn't around said which received another sigh but out of tiredness.

Inside the guest room in Ernanfo's residence, Sceke and he were seated opposite to each other while the two disciples were behind the boss at all times. The woman walked into Ernanfo's kitchen and brought out tea which was placed onto the table.

Sceke gulped down his carbonated drink, gave the empty can to his male bodyguard, and took the cup of tea, then took a sip.

Ernanfo did the same and praised the tea in his head, 'Yuime still knows how to brew her tea.'

"Haaa~" Sceke exhaled in comfort after taking a sip and then began the conversation which the two bodyguards were curious about. Someone defeated their master? Seemed impossible.

"Tell me what happened," Sceke asked before taking a sip again.

Ernanfo nodded and began to narrate the story from when he heard Renir was sleeping at Imee's apartment. It was just last night but it was a long night for him. However, Ernanfo left out unnecessary details and finished to tell the whole scenario in just less than ten minutes.

"After taking a lot of beating, it was a little weird he asked first if it is fine to counterattack which, of course, I agreed. And at that moment, I couldn't agree with you more, boss." Ernanfo's eyelids dropped as he remembered how his strongest move: Piercing Mortality got deflected with a single punch with no technique behind it whatsoever, just pure brute strength and at the same time, still have a force to break his fist and almost rapture his organs if not Ernanfo taking drastic measures to lessen the impact.

"Hm-hm" Sceke was nodding in agreement, "Actually, I was not able to determine Renir's real strength but I didn't think it would be that strong. I thought I'm overestimating him but it was the other way around... Hmm, after defeating the Water Sentinel, he must've gained more power. That's Renir for you." he found delight in that news.

Meanwhile, the two bodyguards at his back couldn't hide their shocked expressions.

'One punch?

"Currently, he should be taking a test in his school together with my daughter. We can get there in just several minutes of driving if you want, boss." Ernanfo suggested.

"No, I'll wait for him. I'm not that in a hurry to meet him." Sceke declined the offer, afterward, his tone became grave, "In the meantime, I have something to tell you."

Ernanfo knitted his eyebrows as he listened carefully.

"You know that I was able to enter Gantlet, right? There, your boss is hopeless." Sceke began to reminiscence, "You don't know the level of monsters in there. The Water Sentinel I said earlier is a beast in the flood that is capable of creating a tsunami on its own whenever it wills. That's how terrifying Gantlet is."

This was the first time Ernanfo and the disciples had heard something about Gantlet. Even Ernanfo thought that if he were to meet such a monster, he would have a hard time dealing with it. After all, he's just human. But wasn't that the monster Sceke said that Renir defeated?

"But after surviving its first stage I was able to arrive at a city. There, people were merciless and filled with greed. Only because of what Renir did we had the chance to escape that hellish world."

"That's why you want to meet him because you're grateful for him?" Ernanfo felt something was off. Their boss was known as the Symbol of Fear among the shadows. Quick-witted and cold-blooded, the death of another is nothing to him. The force of the whole Fellnigh was single-handedly controlled by him. If he wanted, he could seize a whole country even without using force.

Sceke was the one who made the madness in Aavron and was still further producing lifeless puppets for him to experiment on.