17 Muspelheim[4]

After the short interruption, the group followed the crowd and entered the place where the enrollment procedures would be done. Elder Gabica excused himself and left the two to attend to some matters.

"Now that I think about it, this school really is big." Khan turned his head towards the towering skyscraper.

"Yes, the first half of the building is for the students while the latter part is for the teachers, and as for the uppermost part, no one knows who reside there." Lily enthusiastically explained towards Khan.

The two conversed in a way where Khan asked and Lily answered. After some time, they noticed that Elder Gabica had already arrived and saw him seating down near a stall.

Above the stall, a banner could be seen that wrote. "Know yourself, Know thy enemy, Master the body, master the mind. Muskan Gabica at your service."

Khan almost spat a mouthful of saliva when he read the words, while Lily could only facepalm and sigh.

"What are you guys standing there for? Go behind me, from now on, you two are the first student of mine!" Elder Gabica laughed, however, this attracted the crowd's disdainful stares.

Feeling the stares on him, Khan spoke and asked. "Why does it seem like these guys hate Physical Training? Do they want to die early or something?"

Elder Gabica's expression stiffened, while Lily pulled Khan over and explained in a small voice.

"It's not like they hate to train their body, but in this era where modern technology is so advanced, who among them wants to do some annoying things such as training your body when you can just inject something and gain the body that you longed for?"

Lily's long explanation made sense. Every people, no matter what time they lived in, all hoped for a shortcut towards their dreams. In this aspect, Khan could only shake his head and spoke.

"Judging from what Muskan had said earlier, you guys should've been affiliated with this school for about several years already right? If you guys didn't hook any student in each enrollment term, how did Elder retain his position as an Instructor?"

Elder Gabica's expression stiffened, even more, a strange light lit up from within his eyes, after a fierce struggle within his inner self, he decided to keep it within himself. 'No matter what, Khan will still know about it sooner or later. I'll just let him know the truth when the time comes.'

Lily glanced at her grandfather and found that he didn't have any indications to explained, because of this the atmosphere between the three became strange, prompting Khan to change the topic.

"Now that I think about it, what are the other subjects being taught at this school?" Khan asked as his eyes darted towards the other stalls where the majority of the students lined up to be enrolled.

Particularly the subject of Modern Magic where most of the students lined up.

"Actually, the university will teach everything, however, the students can choose what they're going to major in, and it seems like it is Modern Magic again." Elder Gabica sighed.

"Hmmm, the university will teach everything? Then, even if I enroll under your name, I can still learn about Modern Magic? Okay then, I'll just stay here." Khan gave a small smile as he spoke, his eyes continuously darted around the area, scouring the banner of the other Instructor's stalls.

"Modern Magic."

"Strategies."

"Modern Science."

"Magic Engineering."

...

Half the day ended without any suspense. After processing the official documents needed for Khan and Lily to enroll. It was time for them to go home.

As the group walked along the sidewalk, Khan seemed to have received some kind of an enlightenment and spoke.

"Lily."

"What?" Lily turned his head towards Khan in an annoyed manner.

"What's for dinner?"

"Hmmph!" Lily snorted and crossed the pedestrian crossing at a fast pace, leaving the two dumbfounded. Elder Gabica at the side could only helplessly smile.

"Hey, Muskan."

"Hmm?"

"Just what did I do?"

"..."

"Hey, don't walk away tell me, just what did I do?!"

...

Dinnertime came and the group ate at the dinner table, on the table, several luxurious dishes lined up together and formed an atmosphere of mirth. However, the twitching eyebrow of a young woman, the helpless smile of an olden man, and the tired expression of a young man dissipated the atmosphere that the dishes created.

"Ermmm." A timid voice of the man who once stood at the apex echoed. Khan wryly smiled. If those friends of mine found out that I became so helpless after being scolded by a young girl, I will become a joke!

However, for some reason, he was unable to retort towards this particular beauty, and so, He could only sit there and throw all of his indignations towards the fish on his bowl.

Tasting it, he found that the flavor lacked something. His eyes turned towards black bottle that stood near Lily and asked in a small voice.

"Ermmm, Lily, pass me the soy sauce."

"Do it yourself!"

...

Morning came and Khan walked towards the living room. There, as same as always, he found the two watching the morning news while eating some fried dough sticks.

"Oh, Khan! Come, Lily bought some fried sticks for you!" Elder Gabica spoke, but in the next second, his figure froze, his eyes turned towards his granddaughter and found that she stared at him with an ambiguous gaze.

"Hohhh, Lily brought some for me? Then it will surely be delicious." Khan spoke with a great smile on his face and walked towards the couch, he looked at Lily and found that a reddish hue formed on her cheeks.

"Your face is red, are you in a cold or something?" Khan's hand flew towards Lily's forehead, but before it could land, Lily's figure swiftly stood up and ran towards the bathroom.

"Where are you going?" Khan asked.

"I'm going to wash my face, you idiot!" A retort came before a huge sound of a door being slammed echoed.

Meanwhile, Elder Gabica's eyes focused on Khan as he thought in his mind. 'Why the hell is this kid, so dense as fuck?' He couldn't help but curse. If only Khan didn't have the position as the direct disciple of the Sect Master, he would have already had a "good time" with him.

Noticing that his inner self-leaked from his smile, he coughed and said.

"Eat the dough sticks now, you wouldn't want them cold."

Khan nodded in confirmation and indulged in the glories of street foods. After the meal, Khan's attention became focused on the black device called television before him.

The news anchor spoke something along the lines of a job, however, this didn't pique his interest as he didn't know a thing about what the news anchor said.

"Muskan."

"Hmm?"

"Is there something out there that can give you a huge amount of money in a short time?" Khan's eyes turned towards Elder Gabica his eyes became filled with a curious light.

"Hmm, something that can net a huge amount of money, and what's more in a short amount of time? Yes, there is, but you need to have a capital and what's more, it's too risky."

"Oh, risk? There should be a risk or else it wouldn't be interesting." Khan gave a smile as he sipped on his soymilk.

"Hmm..." The Elder pondered before continuing.

"There's Stone Gambling, Arcade Gambling, Casino and Virtual Reality Games." Elder Gabica's eyes flashed as he listed the information within his mind.

Khan contemplated. 'Among those, I am most familiar with Stone Gambling, and as for the others, I've heard about it in the memories that the Great Library gave, except this Virtual Reality Games.'

"Then I'll pick the Virtual Reality Games, how am I supposed to earn money with that?" Khan quickly decided and asked.

"Virtual Reality? Hmm, that may be more advantageous for you since I see that you're quite physically formidable. But are you familiar with guns?" Elder Gabica's eyes flashed with a mysterious light as he spoke.

"Guns? I've heard about it, but as for familiarity, I've never held one." Khan honestly spoke, a hint of disappointment shone within the Elder's eyes of which he quickly retracted, however, this didn't escape Khan's perception, but he decided to not pursue the matter and continued to ask the old man about the other options.

After about quarter of an hour of explanation, Lily who arrived two minutes after she went inside the bathroom turned towards Khan in a frown.

"You're gonna do some gambling?"

"Yes, I can't just leech off my daily expenses from the two of you, right? Eventually, I need to earn my own money." Khan spoke in a matter of a fact tone. But this caused Lily's frown to deepen even more.

"Okay I understand, but if you want us to give you a capital, you need to do a proper business, not some shady gambling." Lily snorted, Elder Gabica who was about to open his mouth to speak got slammed down by Lily's stare.

"It's okay, it's not like you need some capital to start gambling right?" Khan spoke with an enigmatic smile on his face. Taking a city map that Elder Gabica had on him, he went back to his room and took a bath.

At the bathroom, Khan's mind darted somewhere.

"Ah!"

Startled, Khan quickly finished his bathing time and went out of the bathroom. There he was greeted by the sight of a newly arranged bed. On the side of the bed, Lily could be seen arranging the pillows while wiping the sweat from her forehead.

"Ah..."

Khan uttered a small cry of disbelief. Since he hurried back from the bathroom. He didn't bother to bring his towel because he thought that the bedroom was his personal space.

By the tone of his cry, he really didn't expect Lily to be there and just stared at her dumbfounded.

Lily's eyes widened in shock, her pale white face became reddish when her eyes arrived at Khan's lower body.

"Y-y-y-you..." Lily spoke in a trembling whisper, her shoulder's fiercely shook, her teeth clenched together.

Seeing this, Khan broke out in a cold sweat as he started to bullshit his way out.

"Oh, fancy meeting you here, missus! May I take the opportunity to move and take a towel? By the way, the breakfast earlier was good, where did you buy it?" Khan's figure swiftly blurred, his movements as fluid as water as a towel appeared on his hand which covered his nether region.

"Hmmm? What's the problem?" Khan asked in a questioning tone.

"P-p-p-Pervert!"

Slap!

A clear slap resounded in the room followed by swift deep footsteps and a door being slammed.

Khan could only stare at the door with a blank look. He could swear a lifeblood oath that he didn't notice her entering even with his heightened senses.

'Was I thinking deeply at that time?' A question that no one could answer, surfaced in his mind.

Now that he had some time alone, Khan's consciousness dived towards his Spatial Ring.

"Ughhh..."

The scene before him, if it happened in real life. Anyone could say that it was paramount to the end of the world. Spatial Cracks filled with a suction force that could swallow everything would periodically appear.

Cold sweat filled his back as he commanded in his mind.

"Appear!"

A burst of light exploded within the room followed by a cracking sound. Khan's spatial ring finally died, returning to ashes once more.

Before him, stood a mountain of rusted items, judging from the faint spiritual aura that enveloped them. A person with enough experienced and looked closely at it would recognize that each of them was an artifact that stood at the apex.

Khan's eyes darted towards a sword that stood at the top of the mountain. It looked ordinary, but it emanated a feeling of dread and bloodlust. Khan's eyes became filled with countless emotions. Gesturing with his hand, the sword flew towards him with a humming cry of excitement.

Looking at the sheathed sword on his hand. His eyes became filled with sadness and loneliness. The sword vibrated in assurance as if it wanted to say something along the lines of "It's not your fault."

However, the vibration seemed to have stirred more emotions from Khan his clutch at the sword tightened, and he spoke with a gentle tone.

"It's been a long time, partner." Khan gave a small melancholic smile.

The sword vibrated once more, in turn. Khan could only give a hopeless smile. His tone becoming grim as he said.

"You want to be unsheathed for the last time? I understand..." Khan's eyes focused, as an indescribable majestic aura exploded within his body. He placed the sword on his left waist and his right hand on the sword's handle.

"!"

"!"

"!"

"!"

Several powerful figures within the city shivered in fright as they felt a sense of dread and bloodlust that they never experienced before enveloping their bodies. Their heads trembled as they looked at a certain direction in unison.

Elder Gabica's figure trembled, his consciousness became blank, and his body fell on the ground with a loud thud. Prompting his granddaughter to rush to his side.

With a whistling sound and a melancholic sword cry. Khan slowly unsheathed the sword. The mountain of items on his bed shook as the remaining spiritual aura within them flew towards the sword, enabling the sword to display its might to the world once more.

With a final movement, the sword unsheathed and a fierce bloodlust enveloped the entire city. Several powerful figures inside the city spat a mouthful of blood as they shivered uncontrollably.

Elder Gabica's figure could be seen writhing on the ground, furiously coughing out blood, as if he was inside a nightmare.

"Grandpa! Wake up! Grandpa!" The young woman's tone beside him became hysterical as she helplessly watched her grandfather thrashing on the ground. She tried touching her grandfather, but her survival instincts prevented her.

It was as if something that could possibly end her life had enveloped her grandfather's body. Lily could only squat and cry in anguish.

The disturbance lasted for about half a minute. The sword unsheathed sword that shone in a crimson light dimmed down, the faint vestiges of life within it, slowly died, and within a blink of an eye, it crumbled down and dissipated to the wind, never to be seen again.

The mountain of items on the bed also dissipated in the air after losing the faint trace of spiritual aura that they had. Leaving only three shining tokens of which Khan swiftly collected.

After about a minute of standing in silence. Khan decided to leave the room. But he didn't expect to see the scene of Lily helplessly crying and Elder Gabica showered with his own blood.

His pupils constricted as he swiftly arrived at the Elder's side and examined his pulse.

'That's strange... Nothing seems to be wrong with him except the signs of something attacking his mind. Wait... This aura...'

Khan smacked his own face.

'Fuck! Why didn't I thought of that?!'

He couldn't help but curse. Thankfully, there would seem to be no side effects that would occur for the Elder.

He turned towards Lily and spoke.

"Don't worry, he just received some kind of a mental shock and passed out," Khan spoke in the most gentle tone that he could muster.

"Really?" Lily looked towards him with a doubtful face. However, the sight of her being covered with her own snot and her eyes being swollen thanks to her endless crying, made Khan unable to contain his laughter.

"W-What are you laughing? I-is something funny?" Lily turned towards Khan, her worried emotions became that of suspicion as she looked at Khan who covered his mouth to prevent his laughter.

"Nothing." Khan quickly stood up and carried the Elder to his room. Lily tailed him all the way. After placing the Elder on the bed, Lily asked once more.

"Why are you laughing?" Lily asked.

Khan slightly bent his knees, a small smile on his face as he pointed at a nearby mirror. Lily walked towards it and saw a scene which made her cry in indignation.

The cry from the mansion made Khan who already passed the gates shiver. Even the two guards couldn't help but shudder in fear. The eyes that they used to look at Khan became filled with reverence.

'To think that he could endure the young mistress' scoldings.'

'What a god.'

The two sincerely thought in their heart.

...

Following the directions indicated at the city map that he received from the Elder. Khan arrived before an establishment or more precisely a skyscraper.

His eyes turned towards the flow of people going inside and found that their ages ranged from ten to thirty years old. When they approached the entrance, they had some card that they showed at the guards which gave them entry.

'Hmmm, it seems like some kind of a card is needed to enter this place. Now, what should I do?' Khan pondered, after about a minute or two, his eyes shone with a sly glint as he walked towards a young man.

The young man had a jet black hair and eyes. He wore a jet black cloak even though it was sunny, which made him stand out among his peers. His age could be predicted thanks to his stature and looks.

Although he possessed enough qualities to make every woman wet. The eyes of the crowd that gathered towards him was filled with blatant disdain, which piqued Khan's interest even more.

'Hohhh...'

Khan approached the young man with a small smile on his face. He wiped the palm of his hands together and said.

"Young man, would you like to have a deal?"

"Who are you?" The young man turned towards Khan, upon seeing the outfit that Khan wore, he had a frown on his face as he asked.

"I'm someone that can help you overcome your current difficulties." Khan gave an ambiguous smile and continued.

"Like for example... Those guys." Khan's eyes darted towards a crowd of young men. They crossed their hands together as an air of arrogance enveloped their bodies.

The young man's figure shook. He was clearly shocked at how perceptive the young man before him was. However, how could he easily trust someone just because they said that they could help him?

"None of your business." The young man snorted and started to walk away.

The crowd of teenagers of whom Khan indicated earlier started to curse at the young man.

"Hey, brat! Remember to return here tomorrow or else your Avatar will be ours." A teenager who seemed to be the leader shouted with a small smile on his face. He purposely shouted to attract the crowd and by the looks of it, he was successful.

The crowd started to whisper, which made the young man shudder. He swiftly walked away, but he accidentally bumped on Khan in the process. His eyes focused at Khan for a while before snorting and continuing to walk away.

Upon seeing that the young man had already disappeared from their view. The group of teenagers went inside the establishment.

Khan followed lined up and followed them. However, upon seeing Khan's outfit which looked like he came from a poor family. The guard denied him entrance. However, since Khan revealed a game pass, the guard eventually let him inside albeit with a fierce warning of not causing a ruckus.

Khan could only chuckle as he went inside the establishment called the

"Virtual Reality Capsule Arcade."

Khan looked at the game pass on his hand as the face of the young man earlier flashed within his mind. Khan hated owning people favors, and so, He would first repay this favor by destroying those who bullied the young man earlier.

From this now on, for a month, Khan had begun his journey to earn his own money, and that is, by annihilating all the noobs and arrogant young masters that he would cross paths with.

Khan arrived near a capsule, the capsule had the same number as his game pass. However, he saw that someone scribbled on the capsule with a marker.

'Noob'

'Camping Bitch'

'Get rekt'

'Sucky sucky'

All kinds of derogatory words could be seen written on the capsule. In fact, Khan saw a teenager in the midst of writing new words on the capsule. Khan's eyes flashed with a solemn light.

His hand clutched on the teenager.

"Hmm? What's wrong with you? You're gonna meddle in our business?" The teenager tried to shake Khan's grip off but found that he was unable to do so.

"Yeah, So what?" Khan emanated a dangerous light which made the teenager shudder in fear.

"Scram!" Khan shouted, and with a swift pace, the teenager disappeared from his sight. However, when he turned towards the nearest attendant. The attendant acted like nothing out of place happened, which made Khan frown his eyebrows even deeper.

Amidst his thinking, Khan could feel someone touching his shoulder. In a reflex, Khan slapped he hand as he leaped backward.

"That hurts, you brat!" The teenager who looked to be their leader shouted.

"Who are you?" Khan asked, his eyes slightly closed.

"Who am I? You don't know me, yet you dare to meddle in our business?" The teenager smiled in a dangerous light.

The two locked in a standstill before the teenager broke the ice and said.

"Wanna fight?"

Of course, Khan accepted.

...

Inside the Virtual Reality world. Khan stood there dumbfounded. 'Damn, it actually feels real!'

However, his soliloquy was interrupted by the teenager's mocking.

"I don't know why you have that brat's game pass, But the only thing's for sure. I'm gonna wreck you so hard."

"Hohhh... Interesting, Let me see how you will wreck me..." Khan retorted with a mocking on his own.

"System Notification: Super HaX0r has invited you to a life and death duel. Do you want to accept? Yes/No"

"Yes," Khan spoke without delay.

"You have quite the guts, because of that, I'm gonna change the settings a little bit, so I can see how you cry out in despair when you feel the utmost pain possible!"

"System Notification: Host has changed the following settings [Pain Absorber Level 8 to 0"

"Warning: A game without Pain Absorber will give you the most realistic perception of pain as possible. Please play with caution."

Outside the game world, their fight on the large screen gathered a huge amount of crowd. After noticing that the teenager turned off the Pain Absorber setting, they couldn't help but shiver in fear.

How ruthless! If they were the ones fighting inside, the moment that Pain Absorber was turned off, they would immediately resign from the match. For who wants to feel the utmost perception of pain possible inside the game world?

The crowd's eyes focused on the figure of the teenager's enemy.

"Hey isn't that ID number familiar?"

"Now that I think about it, that is Michael's ID number right? Why is that kid using it?"

"Maybe that kid is piloting Michael's Avatar?"

"If that's true, then this kid should be formidable right?"

Gossips echoed in the room, the crowd's interest became focused on the mysterious enemy of Super HaX0r.

Khan found himself standing inside a white room. Before him, stood a table, and on top of the table were numerous weapons. Guns, Grenade Launchers, Knives, and blades could be seen.

Khan didn't even take a careful glance towards the other weapons and just took a sheathed sword and flashbangs. After stuffing his virtual inventory that functioned the same as a Spatial Ring with flashbangs and mines. Khan turned to read the information about the game.

"Last Man Standing: The game will continue until only one is left! Please be advised that physical abilities from the real world will be accurately reflected within the game."

"Game Starts in ten seconds!"

"5"

"4"

"3

"2"

"1"

"START!"

The white room before Khan dissipated into nothingness. He found himself standing before a great plain. With his senses, he found that his opponent crouched in a distance of five hundred meters directly ahead of him.

An intense feeling of dread enveloped his body as his instincts kicked in. He leaped sidewards in a hurry as a whistling sound echoed followed by a stream of hot liquid coming out from his left cheek.

If he didn't immediately dodge, his head would disappear and the game would've ended.

Feeling the throbbing pain on his left cheek. Khan had a surreal feeling of something being awakening inside him. A bloodthirsty light surged from his eyes, he stared ahead and withdrew a sword from his virtual inventory.

He placed the sword on his left waist and bent his knees towards the direction of his opponent.

"Tcch! I missed." Super HaX0r swiftly rechambered his bolt-action rifle, but just as he was about to scope. He found that his opponent had already arrived crossed a distance of four hundred meters towards him.

"What the fuck?!" In a mere three seconds, Khan arrived before him, his eyes shone with a sly light as he murmured.

"As if."

Bang!

An explosion echoed in the great plain. Khan's body uncontrollably flew backward as his avatar's hp meter fell into the yellow zone. Feeling the pain all over his body. Khan cried out.

However, he didn't cry out of pain. But of excitement.

The feeling of being able to kill once more overwhelmed his senses as he leaped once more towards Super HaX0r.