11- the invitation

"Sooo~, got anything yet?"

Asked hiro, his face flushed as he sat on a chair in front of a computer screen, his hands behind the chair.

"It'll take some time. why do you even want this information?"

Asked karura furiously clicking on the keyboard while sitting in his lap.

He's trying his best to keep his mind clear but Gamer's mind seems to have a kind of limit.

"I want to learn more, and gain experience in actual combat."

Karura glances at him from the corner of her eyes as a small smile form on her lips as she stays silent and continues to keep typing.

Hiro, trying to distract himself, opens his skill window to admire his hardwork.

[SKILLS

Perfect copy LV: max<Awakened >

Wind's touch LV: 9(821/900)

Gamer's mind LV: max

muscle burst LV: 4(362/400)

Gaia's blessing LV: 8(375/800)

Mana hypersensitivity LV: 6(98/600)

Vitality weave LV: 8(268/800)<Awakened >

Danger detection LV: 6(92/600)

Resilience LV: 8(695/800)

Adaptability LV: 7(424/700)

Eyes of deduction LV: 4(38/400)

Mana enhancement LV: 3(77/300)

Mana guide(basics) LV: 7(89/700)

Mana molding LV: 1(97/100)

Cooking LV: 5(438/500)

Weapon handling LV: 4(359/400)

Shadow steps LV: 2(192/200)

Feather spring LV 3(48/300)

Legend's vault: max ]

'Wind's touch has almost reached level 10, and I have gained a lot of new skills too.'

Hiro thought as he closed the skill window and opened his inventory only to cringe at the site.

It was messy and unorganized. Unclaimed Rewards, trash and unusable equipments, garbage and other sort of stuff.

Then his eyes went to a specific square, it was golden and glowing but it had a sign of a lock on it.

Why wouldn't it? It was his one and only legendary grade equipment.

[Name: Vritra's essence

Rank: Legendary

Type: Weapon

Form: Gauntlets

Durability: 5,000/5,000

Attack: 300

Info: vritra, a serpentine dragon, born from a goddess and slayen by another for its crimes. These gauntlets, made from its almost undestructable scales and bones contain a miniscule amount of its divinity.

Active skill:

[Kinetic charge] : every attack landed will charge the Gauntlets with kinetic energy.

Effect: increasing attack power by 1% upto 200%.

(The charge revert's to 0 after leaving combat)

(Can only be charged during combat)

Cooldown: 1 hour

Mana cost: 100 MP/sec.

[Coiling serpent] : upon reaching 200% charge it can be used for a single move releasing all the energy.

Effect:

+10,000% Attack power

+5,000% attack speed

[Guardbreak] status applied

Cooldown:1 day

Mana cost: 50% of player's total Mana.

[Asura's venomous bite] : Vritra's entire essence was formed from Nothing but greed and venom, these gauntlets also share those traits.

Effect:

Absorbs 1% HP of opponent upon successful hit to heal the player.

Absorbs 1% MP of opponent upon successful hit to recover its durability.

Passive Effect:

[Devine Shroud] : Vritra's divinity still remains in these gauntlets, masking your presence and strengthening your will.

Effect:

Immunity to mental attacks.

Hides status window from other types of status check skills.

Effect:

+80 STR

+100 SPD

+50 END

+200% attack speed

+ 500% armor penetration ]

It was a pair of sleek black gauntlets with jagged emerald colored plating resembling scales of some sort with red markings starting from the finger claws and ending at the final emerald plate.

They had a big red spherical crystal on the back of their palms with the emblem of some sort of dragon's head in green.

They looked majestic yet terrifying in appearance, exuding a aura of death itself.

[requirement:

Level: 50

STR: 200

INT: 250

AGI: 350

END: 300 ]

Hiro felt disappointed at the site of the requirements knowing it'll take a very long time to reach that level.

"Got it!"

Karura exclaimed making him snap back to attention, Focusing on the screen.

"His name is shoya honekawa. 2nd year in Kyoto tech university."

"He used to be a MMA champion in his high school. His specialty was his extraordinary jiu-jitsu. But he stopped participating in tournaments in his final high school year for some reason."

Karura detailed, her expression a mixture of confusion and disbelief.

"There's really nothing special about his files, yet it had been locked under so much security for some reason."

Karura's gaze shifted towards me, her eyes filled with concern.

"I think you should give up on this one. I have a bad feeling about this."

Hiro looked in her eyes and saw genuine concern. It had been a while since he felt someone show genuine concern for him.

The feeling brought a smile to his face as he gently patted her head.

"Don't worry, you know yourself just how strong I'm, right? If something unexpected happens, I'll give you a call."

Karura hesitated before nodding, her eyes gazing into his, pupiless silver eyes meeting black pupils and silver irises.

Before he could understand, their faces were getting closer and closer to each other's.

Before things could escalate any further, a knock was heard causing both to get startled and turn to the door.

"Young master, dinner is ready. Is lady Karura with you? Lady aiko has been looking for her."

"Yes. She's here, we'll be in the dining room in a minute."

Hiro said hastily, standing up straight which caused Karura to fall and hit her forehead on the desk.

"Owww! why did suddenly stood up?!"

"Sorry!"

xxxxx

"So, this is Kyoto tech? Looks good. Now, where is this guy?hmm... There he is."

Hiro said, standing infront of Kyoto tech university as his gaze fell on his target.

A tall lanky guy with short red hair and ember eyes. His outfit consisting of khaki cargo pants and black tank top.

He seemed to be on his phone and seemed quite pissed before ending the call and storming off.

Hiro decided to follow him. As he sneakily followed him, more guys joined shoya and after few minutes of walking, he reached a small shaby building called *Scorpion's tail*.

Hiro hid outside and eavesdrop on the conversation. His interest being piqued with each word.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T FIGHT?!?! WE HAD A DEAL OLIVER!!!"

Shoya shouted at a thin man wearing a formal grey business suit.

He didn't look Asian from his facial features, dirty blonde hair and light blue eyes.

The guy was sweating profusely as he tried to calm him but to no avail.

"L-listen shoya, I know you want to fight but you really can't go back after the stunt you pulled!"

"The man you messed with is not someone you can face! I'm trying to protect yo-!!"

*WHACK*

Before he could finish his words a fist landed on his right cheek causing him to fall from his chair and to the ground.

"Who do you think you are? protect me? You can't even protect yourself!"

Shoya said while stomping on him, his face matching his hair color.

"You think you're the only one who can sponsor? I already have quite a few offers ready."

Oliver looked at him with shock, his face didn't hide his emotions as he stared at him.

"Heh, I only stayed with you cuz you are a pushover who wouldn't even say no if I took more money then stated in the contract."

He said as the guys with him began to laugh. Oliver looked betrayed as he stared at the ground.

One shoya's guys suddenly picked up a photo frame sitting on the table.

"Woah! Look at this boss! This guy got quite the wife!"

Shoya took the frame and examined the photo, a lecherous grin appearing on his face.

"Hey Oliver, I won't fight in the match and stick with you, if you arrange a fight between me and your wife."

Oliver's blood boiled as veins appeared on his neck. He roared and lunged at shoya, trying to land a punch.

Shoya dodged without much effort and put him in a underhook before kneeing him in the gut.

"Oh now you've done it! First I'll break your bones then your wife."

He said while throwing Oliver into the the wooden table, breaking it.

Before he could follow up, he heard a crash and turned to find a hooded person standing with five of his guys on the ground, groaning and writhing in pain.

Shoya was about to yell but nothing came out of his throat as a heavy pressure fell on him, making it hard to breathe.

xxxxx

Naturally, hiro was going to wait for shoya to be done with his stuff then fight him after leaving the building.

But after hearing their conversation and what they were about to do made something snap inside him.

He moved like a blur, dashing into the building and flipping 5 of them in the air and hitting them in the blink of an eye.

Hiro's anger was off the charts as he began to unconsciously release Mana with his killing intent, creating a dense pressure around him.

[Ding!]

[Skill has been created!]

[Skill: Bloodlust

Rank: uncommon

Type: active

Grade: beginner

Level:1(0/100)

Mana cost:200 MP

Duration: 1 minute

Info: A skill created by manifesting your emotions in reality using mana, your anger and hate fuels this skill making everyone in the vicinity feel your rage.

Can even cause hallucinations of one's death upon reaching higher level.

Effect:

-15% to all of Opponent's stats.

-If the Opponent's level is low then the effect [terror] might get triggered.

[Terror: cause the inflicted target to go into a state of panic causing the brain function to become dull.

Effect:

-50% to intelligence

-20% to reaction time ]

Hiro didn't waste any time in dismantling the group, he was about to go for shoya but he didn't need to as shoya came running at him, throwing a jab.

Hiro saw it coming and spun around his outstretched arm, grabbing his wrist and hitting him on the back of his leg causing him to fall to his knees.

"I've heard you're really proud of your jiu-jitsu right? Then lets see if those guys will still sponsor you after I'm done with you!"

He positioned shoya's arm out and pulled his fist back and then...

CRUNCH!

sound of bones breaking and a scream of agony rang out.

Hiro broke his elbow in a single punch causing his arm to bend in a unnatural manner with bone shards jutting out of his arm.

But even after destroying his career, hiro did not stop his assault.

POP

CRACK

CRUNCH

THUD

He slowly dismantled shoya's body, breaking and dislocating every joint in his body.

Infront of hiro, in place of shoya he was seeing the transfer student who ruined him, causing him to lose control.

By the the end of it all, hiro was shown standing infront of a bloody and broken readhead panting heavily, his chest rising and falling while a thin sheen of sweat was visible.

His limbs were bent in a very unnatural and grotesque way with blood flowing from the wounds caused by the splintered bones.

He had already passed out from the unbearable pain, his eyes rolled back in his head with tears still visible as foam was flowing out of his mouth.

Hiro looked at what he had done and took a shaky step back, his breathing beginning to quicken up.

[WARNING]

[Player is in great distress, psyche is on the verge of collapse!]

[Seal is beginning to break, forcefully activating [Gamer's mind] to calm the player!]

[Successful! Player has begin to calm down, resealing in process!]

Hiro slowly calm down as he took a few steps back and helped Oliver up who gratefully accepted it.

Hiro looked at shoya with guilt while helping Oliver sit on his chair.

Seeing his dilemma, oliver tried to comfort him.

"Don't feel guilty towards trash like him, he deserved every single hit."

"But, why did you save me? And why did you come here?"

Oliver asked the kid who had already dropped his hood.

"I...I hate trash like him. And the reason why I came here? I came here to become stronger."

Hiro said, his guilt subsiding as a small flame of determination ignited in his eyes.

Oliver saw the look in his eyes and after contemplating for a little, took out a black card with a golden fist logo and the name *Dead zone* engraved on it and passed it towards him.

"You want to get stronger right? Then I would like to invite you to the Dead zone."