Hunters: The Prequel - Chapter 251

“Since you are so great, why don’t we have a spar” Mane wanted to spar with Dan? Over the past few weeks, they had sparred a few times. Every time they fought, it was with a handicap. Dan only fought with one arm. He always fought with only his left arm, and never used his right arm or his legs. Mane who knew that Dan was right-handed, was very much aware of the fact that Dan had never fought seriously. It served to reinforce his belief that Dan was a First Generation Mystic Path Warrior who survived the battle against the Winged Serpent. His reasoning was simple.

Although Mane wasn’t able to use any inner energy, the more he trained, the more his soul got used to this body. Hildegarde informed him that his injuries didn’t seem like ones caused by a banshee, and Mane assented. After learning about banshees, Mane knew that their attacks targeted the brain. Once their target became disoriented or had his/her brain ruptured, they would kill them instantly and feed on them. Yet all Mane received from the encounter was a weary, heavy body, and a headache.

Hildegarde stated that his body pains and headache could be because of his soul being thrust into a body that wasn’t truly his own. Usually, the tested were given prototypes of their actual bodies, so they didn’t have this kind of problem. Maybe a slight dizziness spell, but that was all. Mane was different. Not only was he the youngest visitor of the Dreamscape, he also had to use a prototype of his aged body. His soul took some time to get used to the new body.

As he got used to his new body, his battle senses returned to him. He was slowly able to install the instincts he honed in his original body, into this prototype. Dan thought Mane was a genius because of how quickly he was picking up battle skills. But Mane knew that it was just his soul integrating into this body. Unfortunately, the integration process was slow. This was mainly because Mane rarely got the chance to fight ‘living’ opponents. The few times he sparred with Dan, his integration speed shot up. Dan went from merely dodging Mane’s attacks, to having to have one arm free to be able to neutralize the young boy’s attacks after only 2 sparring sessions. This was because Mane’s attacks had grown more refined and had a hint of his ferocity from his actual body’s battle skills. If Mane could face more living opponents, like Magical Beasts, he would finish his integration in no time.

“It has been long since we last sparred,” Dan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He was a powerful warrior, so he noticed that Mane’s progress shot up whenever they fought. It was just that he was someone who easily lost himself whenever he fought and was afraid of hurting Mane. That was why he was never too keen on fighting the boy. But he obliged every now and then.

“It has,” Mane nodded.

“Alright then. Show me what you got” Dan smiled and held the dead Rage Bull by its limbs. He tossed it to the corner of the courtyard, and it landed right beside the training dummy. He walked to the centre of the courtyard and began to prepare. His preparation involved only one thing. He took a short rope from his pocket. The rope had a noose at the end of it. He fastened the noose to his right arm and used his left arm to secure the rope on his belt. This way, he wouldn’t be able to use his right arm. Of course, it would be easy for someone with his strength to break through a rope, but that was only if he really wanted to. The rope only served as a reminder that he wasn’t allowed to use his right arm. It had done its job quite well in the previous sparring sessions.

“Stop smiling like a psycho,” Hildegarde grumbled seeing Mane’s excited smile. However, she understood the reason for his excitement. Mane’s soul had not completed its integration into his body. If the level of integration was to be recorded, it would be about 21%; and this was even fast because if not for the few times Mane had sparred with Dan, it would have been at around 7%. Normally, the integration process should speed up when one immerses him/herself in something that was meaningful to them. Unfortunately for Mane, he had spent most of his life fighting and hunting. If his soul was to integrate fully without any fighting experiences, it would take over a year. She flew off his shoulder and landed on the roof of their home. It was a position that allowed her to see everything.

“Here I come” Mane laughed and sprinted towards Dan. His charge was strong and stable. Looking at the approaching Mane, Dan failed to see any openings. Even if he was using both arms, it would have been difficult to break such a stable charge. Mane quickly arrived in front of Dan. His first attack was a simple jab to the temple. Dan stepped back slightly to avoid the attack. However, no sooner had he done that when he realized that he made a mistake. The whistling wind at his side was the signal that something fast and strong was approaching. It was Mane’s leg. The jab was only a bait. Mane’s goal was never his head. The sneaky boy wanted to sweep him off his feet!

*Bang*

Dan was shaken by the kick. His balance was disturbed, but he was still standing. However, the older man knew that this was just the beginning, and he was right. Before he could even stabilize himself, he saw a sweeping leg kick coming his way. The owner of the leg had an expressionless face. Mane’s leg whipped Dan’s standing leg with power and precision.

*Bang*

Dan finally lost his footing and came crushing down. Strangely enough, there was a slight smile on his face. There wasn’t any sign of panic, and that raised alarm bells in Mane’s head. Initially, he was planning to go for a strong uppercut to Dan’s chest as the older man was falling, allowing gravity to do most of the work; but Dan’s smile caused him to change his mind. He retreated speedily, away from the falling Dan.

The falling Dan twisted his body strangely and landed with his left hand. Then he span on the spot three times, generating a strong wind that cut through the spot Mane was standing previously.

*Whish*

“Good awareness; excellent instincts,” Dan praised as Mane wiped the sweat off his brow. The shallow mark on the ground he was standing on previously was the power of Dan’s strange attack.

“How is that possible?” Mane was stunned. He hadn’t seen Dan execute something like this before. It wasn’t something that could be done normally. Dan had used an element! He used the wind to launch an attack!

“Tornado Kick,” Dan smiled. He assumed that Mane was stunned because of the nature of the attack since it was uncommon. He was right. Mane was stunned. But it wasn’t because he had never seen this before. He had seen such attacks, and even used much stronger ones back on Zandor. But he never thought he would see it here. He never thought he would get to see it in a world that knew nothing about how to manipulate the elements; a world that didn’t have Edict.

Hildegarde was just as stunned as Mane was. She couldn’t believe what she was seeing. However, Dan who didn’t know why Mane was stunned continued to explain what was going on.

“How many spins did you see,” Dan asked?

“Three,” Mane replied.

“I span seven times,” Dan smiled. “You just didn’t catch them,” Dan said to the stunned Mane. “Tornado Kick focuses on the quick movements of the body to generate wind pressure. The small wind generated is then directed towards the target and the pressure that accompanies it does the damage”

“I see,” Mane finally understood. “So it wasn’t a direct use of the wind element,” Hildegarde also understood what happened. Dan wasn’t a wind elementalist. He just used extreme speed to compress wind into one spot and then release it. That was the reason for the wind blade.

“It’s impressive that you were able to avoid it,” Dan praised Mane.

“That’s because you warned me,” Mane shook his head and refused to accept the praise. Dan’s smile was a warning. In an actual fight, only opponents who didn’t know how to keep their composure would smile and expose themselves. Dan was clearly not lacking in composure. He only did it to alert Mane.

“But it was you who saw what the smile meant,” Dan smiled and said.

“What would you have done if I didn’t get out of the way,” Mane wondered.

“Nothing. I didn’t even consider that because I knew you would get out of the way. The previous spars are enough to glean that much from you” Dan laughed.

“That’s true” Mane laughed as well.

“Well then, let’s continue,” Dan smiled and loosened the rope that was keeping his right arm in check.

“Oh? Have I finally reached such a stage?” Mane smirked.

“You have. In fact, if you are able to make me use my legs, I would start hunting with you starting from tomorrow” Dan promised.

“Really,” Mane’s eyes gleamed dangerously as he asked for a confirmation? Hildegarde who was watching gulped her saliva as she felt Mane’s integration rise another level.

“Really. But no Magical Beasts. We would just start with the regular animals” Dan answered. Although he judged that Mane was strong enough to face Low Class Magical Beasts, he didn’t want to thrust him into a fight against a Magical Beast right away. He didn’t know how well Mane would do in a real life battle; and he didn’t know how Mane would handle seeing blood for the ‘first time’.

If Mane knew what Dan was thinking, he would smile bitterly. For someone like him who killed his first Battle Beast when he was 6, Dan’s worries were unfounded. However, even if Mane knew what his new guardian was thinking, he wouldn’t object to his decision. To do so would be to tell Dan about his background, and Mane wasn’t going to do that.

“Now come, we don’t have all day you know,” Dan beckoned Mane and adjusted himself. Mane laughed happily and shouted

“Here I come!”

*Boom*