Chapter 33: Kicking Saint's Existential Crisis.

Chapter 33: Kicking Saint's Existential Crisis.

Inside [Great Devil's Den] forest, Huo Yuhao and the Kicking Saint were staring at each other. The scene was quite weird: a young blond boy and a rabbit standing on its two hind legs, both staring at each other.

You would think that the rabbit might start talking about a wonderland, but fortunately, this is not that type of story.

The white rabbit, aka Usagi, just wanted to ask the blond boy some questions before having a sparring session with him. He wanted to know how this young lad was walking casually in this godforsaken place.

"So, where do you live, Huo Yuhao?" the rabbit asked with a patient tone in his oddly deep voice that didn't fit his image.

"Hmm, I live here inside this beautiful forest," Huo Yuhao answered with a neutral tone as he created a hammock between two nearby trees with his [Thread Manipulation].

Usagi just watched as he sat down on the ground, making himself comfortable. He figured that this boy was weird, but he was used to meeting eccentric people in his long life.

"And why are you living in this forest?" he asked in a curious tone. The boy was strong enough to survive in this forest, so he could leave anytime that he wanted, but he chose to stay.

"Because my house is in the forest," Yuhao answered the rabbit while he was swinging on the hammock leisurely. He gave the rabbit a look that implied, "Why ask obvious questions, mate?" which the rabbit ignored skillfully.

"Do you know anything about the monster hordes that keep forming inside the forest?" the rabbit inquired in a serious tone this time.

Monsters in this world were unforgiving, and if the boy was the reason behind such incidents, he, as part of the holy, would have to figure out a way to neutralize the boy in front of him.

It also didn't help that the energy traces inside the crater matched the type of energy of the boy in front of him.

"Oh, that is just grind—*cough* I mean that is just training," the boy answered with a serious tone. He was not a psychopath who enjoyed genocides and massacres left and right; it was just resource hunting.

"Training, you say." The rabbit stated as he tilted his head, looking at the blond boy swinging on the hammock. And Yuhao just nodded at him.

"So, if you had a training partner, would you stop causing hordes in the forest?" the rabbit asked in a curious tone. The boy was strong, judging from the amount of energy he held.

"Nein. I am not giving up my precious drop items," the boy answered while giving the rabbit the stink eye.

Kiana in the stigma space was staring at the scene with dull eyes. Did that brat just say "Nein"? Did all the Herrschers of the Void share the same brain cell or something?

But Yuhao ignored the tuna in his head. Did that rabbit just ask him to stop grinding? What about the weapon training? What about strategy training? What about the drop items? Oops, his real thoughts were showing. But that was not the point.

Huo Yuhao would not give up on his resource grinding in the forest. Are you kidding me? This place is heaven for all resource hoarders in RPG games, and he was a certified hoarder that would save any resource even if he was not going to use it.

(AN: The constellation [Greatest Estate Developer] is crying tears of joy hearing your stance.)

"But what you are doing is dangerous. If one of the hordes loses control and an irregular is born, then humanity is at risk. Would you still continue doing it?" Usagi asked in a patient tone.

Whether he saw Yuhao as a friend or a foe depends on Yuhao's next answer.

Huo Yuhao thought for a moment. He obviously did not want to hurt innocent people, but at the same time, he would not stop training. He had the confidence to keep things under control, and if he messed up in some way, his teacher (Kiana) was there to help him.

But obviously, Kiana's existence is now a secret. Nothing serious, she just did not want to be known for the time being. She was still getting used to the whole situation and would come out and appear in the real world when she was ready.

Huo Yuhao obviously respected her choice and kept her existence a secret, even from his mother, his closest person.

So he couldn't just say, "Don't worry, I have a god inside of me that can help me in case something goes wrong." He kept thinking before staring at the rabbit in front of him.

"How about this, Kicking Saint. I will seal the entire [Great Devil's Den] forest. Nothing can go out and nothing can come in," Yuhao stated as he sat upright on his hammock.

His idea was simple. A barrier around the forest would prevent monsters from leaving the forest, but it would also prevent people from entering the forest.

The people would feel safe, while he could grind and keep all the resources for himself and his organization in the future—spoken like a true capitalist.

The Kicking Saint was speechless. Seal? Seal what? The [Great Devil's Den] forest? Was this boy serious or just messing with him? How could he seal the entire forest? But judging from the boy's tone, he sounded serious. The rabbit was having an existential crisis.

"Can you do it?" Usagi asked with a hesitant tone. If the boy could do it, then by all means, seal this damned place forever.

The kingdoms and the adventurers' guild would be dissatisfied with the [Great Devil's Den] forest being sealed. Even if the forest was a dangerous place, people still frequented it a lot. The higher the risk, the higher the reward.

Adventurers would take high-ranked missions to the forest to collect items, herbs, or materials, and knights would use it as a place for training. So, suddenly having the entire forest sealed would arouse the dissatisfaction of interested parties, but he, Usagi, could silence them all by using his authority as a Saint.

Yuhao just nodded to the white rabbit, barely stopping himself from laughing like a certain Frontera. The whole forest would be his property, all the resources would be his, all the monsters would be his.

"Kukukuk—" He was about to do his signature evil laugh, but a gust of wind slammed into his face, messing up his rearranged hair.

"Stop being weird, Yuhao. At least not in front of a new person," the tuna scolded him with no mercy. He needed to keep his image in front of people, so having him laugh like a villain would give off the wrong impression.

"How long would it take to seal the forest?" the Kicking Saint asked the boy in front of him with an eager tone. He was curious. A year? Two years? A decade? Even a decade would still be impressive.

"Hmm, a week? Maybe less." Yuhao's answer was like cold water poured on Usagi's head.

A week? To seal the whole forest? Was this boy just messing with him? But he did not feel any lies from the boy, although he could not believe it either.

"Enough with the questions. Are we fighting or not?" Yuhao inquired as he disassembled his hammock with his [Thread Manipulation] and stared at the rabbit in front of him.

The rabbit snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Yuhao's reminder, then nodded at him.

He wanted to see what this boy was made of and where his confidence was coming from.

"Great. Let's change locations," Yuhao clapped his hands before guiding the rabbit to a less damaged location to start their sparring session.

Usagi looked at the boy with an unreadable look on his face before following him.

'What a weird day,' he thought as he caught up to the boy.

•✦•····················•✦•····················•✦•····················•✦•····················•✦•····················•✦•····················•✦•····················•✦•

Huo Yuhao and Usagi were now standing in an open field in the forest. They would engage in a sparring session, and each of them wanted to know the limits of the other.

The art of battle is not just throwing overpowered spells or attacks at your opponent. It is a delicate dance that requires immense focus on every angle, position, and distance.

That was what distinguished a fighter from a brute, who can only hope that his overpowered attacks would do the job in defeating his opponents.

Huo Yuhao did not want to be just a brute who uses everything to defeat his opponent. He wanted to master his skillset to their limit and surpass it, allowing himself to defeat his opponents with overwhelming battle sense and power, so much so that even his feints could confuse the most skilled fighters.

"Okay, Yuhao. From your depiction of him, he's a close-combat fighter," the tuna said as she studied the rabbit in front of Yuhao.

"You can use your spear, skills, and if you find a point where you can implement the power of the Herrscher of the Void, use it," the tuna turned into her drill sergeant mode, and Yuhao nodded at her.

This was his first battle against a strong opponent. The monsters in the forest were strong as well, but they lacked the intelligence for the battle dance, relying only on brute force.

So, having an opponent who had reached the pinnacle of both kicking and hearing as his first spar was making him both nervous and excited.

He summoned his spear from his [Item Box]. He buried the bottom tip of the spear into the ground before watching his opponent, who was brushing off his nose and tilting his head at Yuhao.

They stared at each other for a moment. A tree leaf fell from one of the trees in the middle of the battlefield, and both of them knew that the moment it touched the ground, they would start.

The moment the tree leaf landed on the ground, both of them vanished from their spots, and a collision took place in the middle of the field.

Huo Yuhao blocked the kick from Usagi with his spear while also using some of his threads he created from [Thread Manipulation] to try and bind the rabbit, only for them to be avoided by him.

They kept colliding throughout the battlefield, both trying to gauge the power limits of the other.

Kiana watched the battle with keen interest. She had watched the boy grow and refine his techniques from the numerous sparring sessions he had against Bianca in the stigma space, and although he never won once, it was because he was up against a gag character from the start.

Both opponents separated from their collision and appeared at the edge of the battlefield. They could somewhat gauge the limits of the other from battle reach, senses, and attack powers. This is where they began fighting for real.

Yuhao readied his spear in a throwing motion before hurling it with all his might toward the rabbit, confusing him.

But before the spear was countered by the rabbit, it disappeared into a dark portal that appeared in front of it, and Yuhao appeared instantly in front of him with a new spear in his hand, aiming at the white rabbit's torso.

They kept engaging in the fight, with Yuhao mostly defending and the rabbit being wary of the threads that kept coming from nowhere.

"You can feel the vibrations in the air, huh?" Yuhao asked Usagi as he twirled his spear after both of them separated.

He noticed that the rabbit's ears would twitch and fold whenever one of the threads was close to dissecting the rabbit. It operated like a nerfed observation haki for the rabbit, as he could react to the attacks just a breath away from being injured by them.

"I would say the same to you," the rabbit replied with an excited tone. The kid in front of him was a monster. He could sense the angles of the attacks and narrowly dodge or avoid them.

If Usagi's ears provided him with hyper battle awareness, then Yuhao's eyes allowed him to borderline predict the future attacks.

(AN: For those who don't remember: 

『Instinct: Instantly identifies the "best personal course of action" during combat, potentially predicting the future with sufficient training. 』 

『Danger Sense: A sixth sense for imminent danger, warning the user before it occurs. The sensation intensifies with the proximity and severity of the threat. 』)

The innate skills of his [Eyes of Heavens] allowed him to improve mid-battle. And as long as he could continue to fight, he could see the path that would lead him to victory.

"Yuhao, start attacking," the tuna instructed her blond disciple, and he nodded at her words. He disintegrated the spear in his hand and focused on the confused Usagi in front of him.

Usagi thought the battle was finished when he saw the spear disappearing, but then he felt his senses go haywire. He jumped from the spot where he had been standing to a nearby tree.

In his previous position appeared a 'slash,' but it was not caused by a weapon, as the body did not even move from its place. So how could a 'slash' appear out of thin air?

Usagi would have liked to ponder more about the attack, but he kept jumping and dodging like his life depended on it, and it did.

Huo Yuhao was using his [Thread Manipulation] to weave threads of space and use them to slash at his opponent like a certain king of curses who hated popcorn.

How did he develop it, you ask, with an astonished look on your face, realizing that the author updated twice in a week. And I answer with the same astonished look, as I did not believe that I would upload again this week.

Yuhao's [Thread Manipulation] skill allowed him to manipulate anything related to threads. From the threads on clothes to the threads of fate, all he needed was a clear idea about how to implement it and a path to follow.

And since he started training his Herrscher of the Void powers, space was one of the domains he could access right now, although barely, as he was still in the initial phases of training.

He was already drenched in sweat from raining these slashes on Usagi, causing the rabbit to dodge with all his might. However, as the battle continued, his control over it increased bit by bit.

They kept attacking and defending against each other with all their might, with moments that were too close for comfort.

Like when Usagi nearly blew Yuhao's head off with his overpowered kicks that were beyond reason, and Yuhao answered by using illusions from his [Illusion Manipulation] skill to distract the rabbit, allowing Yuhao to graze some of Usagi's fur with his spear and 'space slashes.'

The battle went on from noon to dusk, when they finally realized they had lost track of time during their sparring session.

"Final move?" Yuhao suggested. He wanted to end the battle and rush home. An angry Yun'er was both sexy and scary at the same time, but he did not want to test his luck.

(AN: Bruh, you have [Golden Rule].)

The Herrscher living in his head rolled her eyes at him. She was devouring bowls of snacks like there was no tomorrow while watching the entertaining fight between the two. She kept mumbling about how he was a momma's boy and whatnot, which he simply ignored.

Usagi, noticing the urgency in Yuhao's tone, nodded at the boy. He also needed to return to the post outside [Great Devil's Den] forest and inform them about the plan to seal the forest.

Both of them took their places, ready to give their final attack. Mana kept gathering around Usagi's legs, ready to unleash his ultimate kick. Yuhao just stood there without any equipment or weapons in his hands, ready to receive the kick.

Usagi thought that the kid had a hidden skill or something that he was going to use against his kick, so he did not waste any more time and went with his attack.

Condensed mana, imbued with the intent of the Kicking Saint, rushed toward Yuhao, creating a path of destruction on its way. It was not until the attack was very close to Yuhao that Usagi felt something wrong.

"Kid, get o—" Usagi's words stopped as he saw a black portal open in front of Yuhao, and a familiar-looking spear that Yuhao used at the beginning of the battle appeared again, facing the attack head-on.

Boooooooom!

A white flash, followed by a loud boom that shook the entire [Great Devil's Den] forest, occurred as a result of both attacks.

Usagi, for his part, wanted to check on the boy after recovering from the blinding light, only to feel a hand on his shoulder, causing him to turn and gaze at the blond boy in front of him.

"It has been a great fight, Kicking Saint. Do visit me at the center of the forest. I will be waiting to discuss the seal on the [Great Devil's Den] forest with you over jasmine tea," Yuhao said to the confused rabbit.

Before the rabbit could say anything, Yuhao had already created a motorbike using his nanobots and was heading home, thinking about what Yun'er had cooked for dinner.

Usagi stared at the boy getting further and further away, heading toward the center of the forest, before shaking his head and jumping toward the exit.

"What a weird kid," he muttered under his breath, but he was glad they had met.

And that was the start of the friendship between a greedy blond boy and a weirdly strong rabbit.

(AN: Here is the status of Usagi, just so you can get a feel of how OP he really is.) 

[Usagi (the Kicking and Ear Saint)] 

[Level: 4] 

[Attack: 500,000] 

[Defense: 10] 

[Agility: 500,000] 

[Intelligence: 500,000] 

[Luck: 500,000] 

[Racial Skills: Rabbit Kicking Technique, Rabbit Ear Technique] 

[Unique Skills: Kicking Sacred Art, Ear Sacred Art] 

[Martial Art Skills: Magic Combat Art, Biting, Physical Attack] 

[Normal Skills: Charm, Presence Detection, Magic Detection, Mind's Eye]

(Chapter 33 finished.)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Author's Note:

Phew, this chapter is about 3.1k words without the author's note, as a compensation for the fewer word count in the previous chapter.

We have officially surpassed 80k words with Chapter 32, and with this, we would surpass 83k words. Yay!

In this chapter, we finally found out how powerful the current Huo Yuhao is compared to the top players in the world of Argena. Keyword: current. He would grow freakishly strong when he goes to Douluo Dalu back in a year.

The next couple of chapters should be a bit of slice of life and the start of his organization.

Also, keep recommending fanfics in the paragraph comments. I checked some of the suggested titles, and they were good enough for a quick read.

I also asked in the previous chapter but did not receive a reply, so I'm asking again:

Would you be interested in joining a Discord server? I don't know how to manage one, but I can give it a shot if the majority would join.

I'm ready to read all your suggestions in the comments. Share some waifu pics in the comment section to cheer me up a bit.

Anyhow, don't forget to comment on memes, share your thoughts, and, most importantly, post waifu pics.

That's all for now.

Bye.