Chapter 5 : Starting for real.

''Hibiki, you're doing good.'' He said as he was covering me.

You see, after the interaction we just had, we noticed there was way more GM than planned.

'Why in the fuck did I ever want to fight this whole army.' I thought as I stomped the head of a GM, using it as a platform to

reach a bat, which was planning to attack us with a sound based attack. Akira finished the GM I stomped.

I landed on the ground and rolled, then ran faster than before, only following the arrows Fenrir made before me. I couldn't focus propertly since running took away my stamina. I almost got fucked up by a surprise attack more than once.

I jumped over a underground river, which had a Croc jumping to chomp me. I managed to kick it's head away, before pulling out my dagger and going down it's body after planting it into it's flesh, piercing the scaly defense it had. Roaring in pain, it fell down and died.

I was quite sad since I couldn't bring the body with me, but I had to go, the GM weren't stopping.

''So, how is life ?'' Never in my life, I thought I would want to kick the face of a smug motherfu-, but you learn something new everyday.

''Pain.'' I answered, knowing damn well my feets were giving me up.

''Good. Glad to see the stamina training is still on the program.'' He said with a devilish smile.

''Didn't I already do enough !?" I screamed in disbelief.

"No. Now switch with me." I ran a little slower and went behind him. He mercilessly killed every behing on sight, as I guided him through the safest route.

"Breaking this wall !?" I screamed at the unexpected demand of Fenrir but Akira grabbed me and held me close to his torso, then summoned his tendril. The tendril in question glowed more than usual and broke down the wall instantly.

A few instants later, I was soaring through the night sky as the ground is a few hundreds meters below me.

"WAAAAAAAA, MAMAAAAAHHHHH !!!"

I screamed my soul out, by figuratively and literally.

"Hey, how you doin' ?" He said as he pulled dark glasses and coconut milk out of nowhere. I swear he's the most random person I know.

"Prepare for landing." He said as his tendril morphed and became a grappling hook. He grapped a branch, spined around it one time and stayed on it.

Meanwhile, I planted my knife in a slightly bigger tree and fell down a bit, before energeticaly grabbing a branch and swing myself to Akira.

"Well that was a good workout. Let's do this again sometimes." He say with the most innocent smile a man could make, while I was mentaly and physicaly recover from this uncommon experience.

"Oh, seems like we are not done yet." My senses went off and I noticed that while monsters were falling down from the mountain, red eyes were glowing in the dark.

"Oh no." I said. Then I noticed that the dark eyes of Akira were glowing in the same fashion Rowdy's did, which meant he's either going to be serious, or do something incredibly dangerous.

"OH NO !" I screamed. The monsters in the forest were screeching at my voice, but what really scared me is the face of Akira.

"Ohh Yesss~." He said almost seductively, right before licking his lips. He instantly snapped his neck in my direction, grabbed me by the neck as tears were coming to my eyes.

"AHHHHHHHHHHH" I screamed at a awfully high tone as Akira jumped in the dark of the forest. He only laughed sadistcally harder. A few seconds later, screams of pain could be heard.

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*Yuri's POV *

*1:24 A.M*

I was walking back and forth in the base, because I was worried about Hibiki's safety. Akira ? That fucking battle junkie doesn't know the word death. He'll be fine.

While I was worrying, Akira, seemingly dirty from all the fighting kicked the door of the room, and screamed in a cherry tone : "The strongest in this agency is ba-" I cut him by grabbing his neck, shacking him back and forth.

"Where is the child, Bitch ?" I screamed at him, and he immediatly threw his hands in the air, like he's surrendering to me.

"Wait, wait, wait, HE'S HERE !" He pointed behind him and could see the awful state the child was in.

Although he doesn't have any life threatning injury, I could see a few that needed medical attention. His eyes were dull, lifeless. His legs shaked like they were noodles, and he held his back like a back pained grandma. He was even using a randon stick to use it as a cane.

I was now pissed, and I need a punching bag. I immediatly turned my eyes to the man dragging him into this mess.

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*Hibiki's POV*

"Man, that was tough, but we made it out alive !" Bullshit, if you could control those murderous pulsions, we wouldn't have been in such a mess.

"Fuck you." I said without even thinking twice.

"Hey, at least you leveled up. You got stronger thanks to me !" He then shrugged his shoulders and got his hands in the air while sticking his tongue out, as if he wasn't at fault for chasing a child with fucking monsters. "Guess you couldn't handle the training."

He made one of my veins pop out of my skull as I got enough of his bullshit and was about to call him out. But...

"Now LISTEN HERE, YOU LIT-"

"Let me handle this, Hibiki."

It seems like Yuri had other plans. And those plans scared the living shit out of Akira. His face went from a shit eating grin to frightened expression.

"We can talk this out, right ?" Akira said, desperatly trying to find an escape route.

"No." Yuri said that in the most bland voice, and it scared everyone in the room.

Rowdy grabbed my hand and got us out of there. "Come on let's heal your injuries." I was really tired so I didn't complain.

"You don't wanna see a nice man getting mad. Believe me." I then took a look at his face with questioning expression, only to see his pale face and regretfull eyes.

I then asked myself : "Is Yuri really this scary ?"

"Time to learn HOW TO DIE, bitch. (In russian)."

Akira screamed in terror and pain just after this, and made me think that he was maybe a worthy sacrifice for my answer.

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*The next day*

Everyone is around the table. But no one ever dared to make his breathing hearable. Yuri scared everyone, and I mean EVERYONE in the Hideout. I'm currently eating two donuts with hot chocolate Yuri made. And he was standing there, staring at me, MENACINGLY.

"Excuse me, but would you please staring at me ?" I tried to make him look away, but that was in vain.

"Oh, am I bothering you ? Sorry about that." But the madlad didn't stop.

So we just ate silently while sweating bullet at Akira's fully bandaged body. He even had to eat with a straw. Damn he almost got me feeling bad for leaving him alone last night.

"I'll go practice magic now." I ran away from him, and to the library at a incredible speed, which made me think that I should maybe check my stats later.

Later that day, I was still checking general information about Elementalists and Magic Users.

"Elementalists are those who aquired the power to manipulate their own mana. At first, this power was feared, as it was the symbol of the blessing layed on living being by the Guardians. But people are now perfectly able to harness the power given by those beyond-godly beings."

Seems like humanoids weren't always able to control their mana. And who are those guardians.

"Living being, though not that powerful, are restricted. For exemple, they can't use a element beside their affinities, or they will face terrible consequences. But they can also be blessed by gods. Such as having a outstanding ability with magic, a element or a fighting style. But it can also be striped of all of them, depending on their action."

So my future opponents could be power-boosted, good to know.

"A presentation of different humanoid races." Neat.

"Elfes, those with the closest connection to nature, have a easier time using the elements such as Water, Plant, Wind. They also have the highest of unlocking the Summon element, with allows them to summon spirits of the spiritual world. They also have a sharp sense of hearing. They are very traditional, and almost exclusively live in the Kingdom of the Forest, full of spiritual mana."

The summon element, huh ? I wonder if I have access to it.

Fenrir stopped my train of thoughts and bluntly said : "Yes, but don't even dare to use it now. You do not have the mana to summon my weakest form." From all of this, I only retained one information.

"Does that mean you are my familiar ?"

He irked at this and followed with : "Yes, the mark I gave you made you my master by procuration. I'm glad, since you have quite the potencial to become stronger, even stronger that those top-tier elementalists." Then he continued with a stern voice. "We will train your mana while you sleep, don't disappoint me."

I sweated bullets at the thought of getting more training in. "Go back to study now. I'll show you a mana training type of exercise fit for you. I promise maximum growth."

Then I interjected with : "Aren't stat ranks unchangable."

He seemingly got slightly pissed off by my statement and said : "No, they can change if you train hard enough. You can't change past stat point intake though. Keep that in mind and don't level up killing monsters mindlessly. Optimisation is the best at your age."

Ah, makes sense. I went back to reading the book.

"Dwarfes, being the closest to the different Gods of Civilisation. They have a easier time accessing to Fire, Earth, Metal and Lava elements. Gravity users, a incredibly rare element, are almost exclusively dwarfes. They are almost instictly nimble with constrution items. They are often in the Republic of Earth in underground cities or in the Union of Metal, were rare ores are found."

Nothing to say about they, expect that the chance to meet a dwarf in this territory is pretty high.

"Maybe they can make artifacts ?" I asked, not expecting a answer.

"No they can't, they lack the Divine Authority." Now what the hell is that ?

"Basically the authorisation from Gods to make rule breaking objets, that even a consience on their own."

"Bet we can find one." "You are guaranted to have one, be patient little one."

He said, with a loving aspect in his voice, only a little though.

Then : "Beastmans, the closest to Magic Beasts." Reading that, I gluped. "They are just as good as any other humanoid, but history didn't give them any rest, they suffered countless times. We can for example talk about the genocide from 300 years ago, caused by the Holy Principality."

Then a saw a painting of the horrid battle that took place. My blood froze and chills went down my spine. Beastman bodies everywhere, and Holy Warriors cheering on this carnage, like they lived the best moment in their lives. Terror was spread among the faces of the beastmans, one of then even prayed, but is wish was not answered in time.

I honestly wanted to puke, but I held it back. My face went pale, and I sweated heavily. Those drawing were too realistic for comfort.

"Stop vomiting. And it isn't your fault, so I don't wanna see that depression kicking in. Now continue were you left off." I swallowed my saliva and continued.

"Beastmans have a harder time using mana, so almost all of them use it as a way to reinforce even beyond their strengths. They no doubt have the strongest bodies out of all classes. Sharp senses, slightly stronger muscles, and beast like abilities. The only problem is their animal instinct that can be difficult to control. They can be found everywhere, but mostly in the Assembly of Darkness."

Oh...Looks I'll have to watch out for that. And I swear this territory's name seems made by a chuuni.

"Finally, Humans. The last of those races and the closest to Gods. Their speciality is probably Magic in general, being the most versatile race. They also have the biggest population of all races.

Humans are those who have a easier having a blessing from a God. Blessings are very diverse, going from a bigger mana pool to the power to summon them, at a price of course."

So humans aren't weak, huh ? Well sure, when I take a look at Yuri or Akira...

"Wrong. There is way more powerful in this world. Power isn't limited by numbers or letters. Hibiki, keep in mind what I will say right here."

I stopped reading and closed my eyes, but the more I tried to stay focused, the more my consciousness got away from me...

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*Inside Hibiki's consciousness*

I finally could open my eyes again, and I was again in this galaxy where Fenrir lived. I looked around, before noticind that I was turning around to face the majestic figure of Fenrir. Pure white fur, and radiating with power.

"Listen to me, young man." I stared at him with both admiration and fear through my mind. "I respect those you consider your masters, but the world isn't just them. Not only this continent."

He used his powers to manipulate the space around us and show me (The world). The world goes beyond the seas, higher than the sky, in places more mysterious that the depths of space." Chills of excitement ran all over my body as my eyes got stars in them. "But to get access to the wonders of this universe, self-sacrifice is needed. Are you ready to make this sacrifice ?"My answer to this question was obvious.

"Without a reason to live, a man cannot pretend to have a life. I want to have that, the life so many in those paintings lost, the life some got tired of, scared of or even got rid of. Help me reach that objective !" I said with a confident smile.

At this, Fenrir's wolf face smirked. The Gleipnir mark on his forehead glowed in grey as his whole body shined in white. He howled, and the Gleipnir mark, so far invisible, on the top of my plexus, shun in blue.

Suddenly, dozens of chains spread from his mark to go right into mine. The penetration hurted, so much that I screamed in pain. Then he started talking to me, while also being in pain.

"Hibiki Kuze. Do you wish, by the Heavenly Laws reigning over this world, to become stronger, to respect your promise to me, to prioritize this Blood Oath, this Celestial Contract, that is the Eternal Familiar Contract, binding us together by those etheral chains, for the rest of our existences ?" He said as his power surged ever further.

The world flowed naturaly to me, and came as clear as water out of my mouth. "I, Hibiki Kuze, accept those terms, and will complete his familiar's request, in exchange for his eternal presence by my side !"

Now smiling, Fenrir said : "By a mutual contract, this Oath is complete !" The chains disappeared, and breathing became easier. "I shall continue watching over you from your eyes, please now call me by my name, Jormuntatsu." Staring at me, his face got softer.

"Tatsu is good for now, right ?" I smiled at him and he smiled back with a wolf grin.

"That is right, brat."

"Now for the training." He closed his eyes and his mark glowed in clear blue, like mine. Then the System Panel appeared in front of me with a message. [Congratulations, you obtained the Blessing of the North Wolf, Fenrir (Strong) ! Please check your (Blessings) (Title), (Status), and (Evolution Quests)].

"Wha-" I was so shocked my face was the definition of surprise. Fen -Tatsu chuckled and told me : "Why don't you do what the system told you ?" With hurry, I went to check the [Titles] and my eyes widened to the power of the title I just acquired.



[Apprentice of the Wolf of the North.]

- Has received the blessing and teaching of the Wolf of the North. You are quite the lucky person to even percieve the silhouette of his child.

[Passives]

- Boost the regeneration of mana by 300%. When training or receiving lessons, this percentage doubles.

- When using magic, all spell costs halfes, and the power/efficiency doubles. Triples when using the Light, Wind, Water and Thunder elements.

- Give access to exclusive skills.

My eyes were still as big as plates, and my jaw dropped to the ground.

(A/N : MMO players should regconise the sheer value of this passive, which isn't even complete.)

"Impressed ?" Fenrir said smugly, with a smile on his face. "Don't even bother using the skill, you are too weak right now. Check the skill instead."

"For sure..." My eyes were still white is surprise. Decided to control myself again focus on the new quest suggested.

[Quest of the North Wolf]

A godly being quest bestowed a quest upon you. You need to :

- Reach Lv 150 Before your tenth birthday.

- All stat must be S Rank before your tenth birthday.

- Reach <Advanced> Mastery with the Light, Water, Wind and Thunder Elements.

Complete it to recieve those gifts :

- A Legendary Tier Skill Book : [Analyse]

- 2× Unique Tier Skill Book : [Thunder Reign] and [Elemental Cloak].

- ×100000 Exp

- A chance to go through the <Gate of Spirits>.

"Those rewards are too much..." I said, shocked by the rarity of those rewards. "But the challenge is simply to much."

"Are you sure about that ? Check your stats again." He said with a canine smirk.

I decided to take a look at it, and I swear I would have fainted if I wasn't already in my consciousness.

{ Stats }

Strength : B+

Vitality : A- [???]

Stamina: A-

Magic Aptitude : A-

Mana Pool : S- [???]

Defense : A-

Agility : A-

Sense : S

Luck : SSS+

??? : C

At this point, it was just ridiculous, so I gave up on logic and assumed that's how godly beings did things.

"Now for your training...Prepare yourself, boy." I started practicing the Mana Rotation techninque he showed me. It was painful, but I made progress.

Ahhh, I already miss the Boys...

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TOBY is here to wish you a good day !

If you even follow my story a little bit, you surely have noticed this chapter came out sooner than usual.

Well, I felt inspired those weeks and quite frankly, I'm hyped to show you the rest of the story.

Today, I have nothing to annonce. Just get ready for "Chapter 6 : Grinding is hard, boy."