“Ding!”
“Cosmos consolidated at Half A Step 8th Sense!”
“Continue working hard, Saint!”
With a though, Kuro checked his stats in his scarlet black left eye:
Kuro could feel that training so hard in the last few days have paid off. He had yet to encounter a boss-level type of monster but he was confident of taking down one with ease. Of course, if the boss monster was accompanied by a horde of minions then he could only escape.
He caught a couple of wild rabbits and began roasting one over the live fire he easily made using his cosmos. He also brought a lot of spices and smeared it all on the meat. Such a smell attracted numerous animals and wild beasts in the mountain range but none dared get close to Kuro as the YYSC was emitting a strong aura and cosmos even in its rest mode. Kuro immersed himself in a meditative state while waiting for the meat to roast.
“That smells good!” exclaimed Dai, as he, Hyunckel, Pop, Maam and Leona where journeying towards the top of the mountain.
They were hurrying towards Leona’s kingdom which was under heavy siege from the forces of the Dark Lord who were scattered outside of Europe. Maam, the magic gun user and Martial Artist, Pop, the Sage/Magician, Leona the Imperial Princess, Dai the Dragon Hero and Hyunckel, a True Disciple of Avan comprises one of the Elite units that combat Vearn and the Dark Lord.
By following the smell of the meat, Dai and his friends were able to see a scene of destruction. Numerous giant bats, minotaurs, skeletons and zombies were scattered with missing limbs. This scene caused Leona and Maam to shiver and Dai and the other men to be on guard.
Kuro, whose eyes were closed the entire time, abruptly opened them. His piercing gaze came directly upon Hyunckel, who was around 500 meters from him. Hyunckel felt that the eyes of a predator were locked on him, and he immediately summoned his armor.
“You guys be on guard. We have company” uttered Hyunckel, who was already preparing for his killer move the “Bloody Scraid”.
After a few breaths and after walking for a few tens of meters, the group suddenly let out a startled shout.
“Light Arrows!” muttered Kuro in a shout.
The whole field was covered instantly by hundreds of light arrows infused with Kuro’s Light cosmos.
“Bloody Scraid!” shouted Hyunckel.
His attack had a radius similar to Kuro’s “Cheiron's Light Impulse” powered arrow. Instantly more than half of the Light arrows of Kuro were blasted away from the attack. Kuro could feel the same powers of light and darkness from Hyunckel, thus he was curious as to why he encountered this group of heroes in a mountain range near Europe.
“You are strong” Kuro said to Hyunckel. “However, I am stronger! Cheiron's Dark Impulse!” shouted Kuro.
This time, he used the power of darkness within him to cast a strong arrow far stronger than the ones he used to deal with the forces of the Dark Lord (about 30% of his power).
“Minakatoru! Powered-Up Bloody Scraid!” shouted Hyunckel, who used the spell Minakatoru to power up his attack by 5 times.
The Bloody Scraid and the Cheiron’s Dark Impulse simultaneously hit each other, and the resulting shockwave caused Leona and Maam to stagger for several meters before being supported by Dai and Pop who both used levitating spells.
“Such a strong power!” uttered Pop, who was astonished as someone of the younger generation besides Dai could go head-to-head with Hyunckel.
“Are you a Saint of Athena?” asked Princess Leona.
“What? He is one of the famed Athena’s Saints?” exclaimed Pop and Dai.
A vague reply came from Kuro as he shrugged his shoulders and turned to focus his attention once again to Hyunckel, who got his armor cracked (just a small crack) from shielding the aftermath of the two attacks. Afterwards, notifications rang on Kuro’s mind.
“Ding!”
“Mastery of Cheiron’s Dark Impulse has been consolidated.”
“Continue to work hard, Saint!”
Kuro felt his Darkness Cosmos upgrading a little bit. He clenched his fists tightly and muttered in his heart “Still not enough!”
Kuro stared at the newcomers and said “What are you doing so close to the territory of the Dark Lord? Are you guys courting death? I know you are strong but there are stronger enemies who support Vearn and the Dark Lord!”
Kuro’s stare sent shivers to Pop and Maam, while Dai, Leona and Hyunckel were able to keep their bearing since they are used to such aura (probably due to Avan).
“I request a duel with the young Saint” said Hyunckel, while giving a formal bow.
“I accept” said Kuro, returning the same formal greetings.
“Let’s go over there so that we can have more space. But first, please tell me your name, young Hero!”
“I am known as Hyunckel, the 1st True Disciple of the Hero Avan.”
“I am called Kuro, and I am a new Saint of Athena, representing the Sagittarius Temple.”
Dai and Pop stared at each other dumbfoundedly.
“Oh my God! A legitimate Gold Saint!”
“Please.” (Kuro)
“Please.” (Hyunckel).
And the duel of the Saint and Hero began.
Author’s Notes:
- Cloths can shrink or expand depending on the owner’s will (Athena’s saints no longer need to carry the bulk containers they usually carry in SS and SSO).
- Heart protectors are usually either circular or triangular in shape.
- Cloths can take form either in pendant form, bracelet form, heart protector form etc. depending on the will of the Saint wielding it.
- Heroes in this series have something similar to qiankun bags or storage rings where they put their stuff.
- For Saints, their Cloths have the function of storing things. The allowed space is 5 cubic meters and no living things can be stored in it.
- For Dai, his Dragon Crests have this similiar function.
- For Hyunckel, his Amudo Set also has this function.
- For Maam, her Refractor Gloves given by Brokeena also has this function.
- For Leona and Pop, their Magic Staves also has this function.
- Hyunckel is currently wielding the Amudo Spear Set (The Sword Set was already destroyed).
- Kuro in half a step to 8th Sense is stronger than Hyunckel wearing the Amudo Spear Set.
- Dai cannot fully control his Dual Dragon Crests yet.
- Maam has finished her training with the Martial Arts Goddess Brokeena.
- Kuro, Koga and Dai are gluttons. They share similar tastes in food.