battle

Wide-eyed, Thomas asked in a hopeful tone, "Do you know where there is an S-class manual?"

S-class manuals were known to bring physical power to the user, with higher grades providing more power. These manuals consisted of a style of martial arts, some of which were exclusive to weapon use, but they all required manual learning. The higher the grade, the longer it would take to learn.

Charles replied, "I know the location of one, but I won't give it away for free. I think you know that very well."

Thomas calmed down and asked, "What do you want?"

Smiling, Charles responded, "When I exclaim 'commutatio,' I want to use your body once for a period of one hour."

Hearing Charles's request, Thomas thought for a moment and then replied, "Lending my body to you is too dangerous. Please ask for something else!"

In a low voice, Charles replied, "Don't worry, I can't hurt anyone important to you, and without those conditions, there's no deal. Besides, you know that without a good manual, you're still weak."

Despite being scared to give his body to Charles, Thomas knew that he needed the manual and was willing to make a deal as long as Charles didn't hurt anyone important to him. Thomas asked, "How do we form a contract?"

Charles laughed and replied, "I, Charles, make a pact with the human named Thomas in the name of the god of exchange, Hermes! Do you accept the conditions, Thomas?"

Surprised by the formality, Thomas accepted the conditions. A tattoo in the shape of a sword with wings and two snakes wrapped around it appeared on his forearm, marking the completion of the pact.

Suppressing the pain, Thomas asked, "What is it?!"

Charles explained, "This is the biggest kind of contract anyone can make. When both sides have fulfilled their part of the agreement, the tattoo will be removed. Breaking the terms of the contract means Hermes sending his bloodhound to kill him, so be careful."

Without responding to Charles, Thomas began to pay attention in class.

On top of a 100-story building, a man sat on the edge with long black hair and smoking a cigarette. Talking on his cell phone, he asked, "Are you paying me that much to kill a simple child?"

The man on the other end of the line replied, "Elizabeth is not a simple child. She is the daughter of the strongest man in the world and is currently in the academy, a fortress in the form of a school. Paying such a price is normal, especially since the Warui failed to attack. We can increase the payment amount."

The mystery man on the roof calmly demanded another $2 billion, and the man on the phone agreed to his terms, thanking him for taking the job as "Hero Slayer."

Ending the call, the man sighed and stood up, saying, "Is it too much to ask for a month off?"

He looked at the beautiful view of the city and said, smiling, "But killing the daughter of the strongest man in the world will be fun hehehe."

Twelve hours later, someone could be seen looking for something in the forest. It was Thomas, who was talking to himself in an irritated tone, "Are you sure you're really here? I can't see the entrance! It's already 2:00 pm. Anna keeps texting me asking where I am. You said you'd be coming soon, but I've been here for over 6 hours!"

Charles heard the complaints and spoke in a tired tone, "It's not my fault you're stupid..."

Thomas, who was angry, spoke while punching a tree, "It's your fault you're giving wrong information if you ask me..."

As Thomas was about to finish his sentence, the floor gave way, and he fell into a deep, dark hole that seemed to have no bottom. As he fell, he screamed and heard Charles saying, "saw? Didn't I say I was here? I recommend now, you focus all your mana on your back..."

Thomas heard Charles saying and shouted at him, "What?" At that same moment, a giant thud could be heard falling into the water. It was Thomas, who luckily had fallen into the water, so he put his face out of the water and screamed in pain. Charles, seeing Thomas's predicament, began to laugh, "Hahahahah, I told you, hahahahah."

Thomas got more irritated and started to get out of the water with his back all red and burning. He looked around and saw two tunnels and asked nervously, "Where do I go?"

Charles stopped laughing and said in a serious tone, "I don't know, I just know that this was the place..."

Thomas spoke in an irritated tone to Charles, "You've got to be kidding, right?"

Charles reassured him and said, "I'm sure there's a manual here, so don't worry... And you didn't think this trip would be easy, did you?"

Charles knew he had a manual here due to his knowledge of history, a manual that must be for an important villain Brian would face in the future, an S-class manual.

Thomas just sighed in defeat and asked Charles, "Which path would you choose?"

Charles watched the tunnels and reflected, "The path on the right seems to be clean and straight, while the other one is full of thorns, and sounds of monsters are heard..." He thought a little more and replied, "I would choose the left... But the path you choose is up to you."

Thomas heard the answer and asked the reason for the choice, "Why the left?"

Charles responded by warning, "Do you think an S-class manual could be obtained easily?"

Thomas heard the answer and agreed, saying, "You're right... Ok, let's go left... But will I be able to deal with the monsters?"

Charles replied in a normal tone, "Of course not, you're too weak, I think it's better to run."

Thomas felt like a knife had been plunged into his heart, but he didn't say anything, just headed for the left tunnel as he ran.

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After several hours of running from monsters and dodging traps, Thomas finally arrived at the end of the tunnel. From a height of 5 meters, he could see two large doors, but when he tried to open them, they wouldn't budge. Frustrated, Thomas turned to Charles and asked, "Hey, how do I open this?"

Charles replied cryptically, "There is a riddle..." Curious, Thomas searched for the riddle and found an inscription on the door that read, "Was he a man, but was he not born of a woman?" Confused, Thomas turned to Charles and asked, "Hey, what does that mean?"

With a sigh, Charles explained, "There is only one man... Adam." Suddenly, the doors opened as if by magic, surprising Thomas, who exclaimed, "It worked!" Without hesitation, he ran through the doors towards what appeared to be an arena and asked Charles, "Hey, where's the manual?"

With a smile, Charles replied, "After killing serpens, you will receive the manual..." Confused, Thomas asked, "Who is serpens?" Charles replied triumphantly, "Serpens is responsible for the death of Adam and Eve... good luck kid, you'll need it."

Thomas was startled and asked worriedly, "What do you mean by that?" At that moment, he emerged from the tunnel and saw a giant snake over fifty feet long, with huge fangs protruding from its mouth. Terrified, he realized that this serpent was on an international level, capable of destroying an entire country. Desperately, Thomas asked, "How the hell am I going to kill this thing?"

The serpent stopped in front of Thomas, looking down at him with a smirk, and said, "I haven't faced a human in a while, BzBzBzBzBz! I hope you have fun."