VOLUME 1

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I followed Chester to were s.h.i.+rley was already waiting in the courtyard of the mansion.

The word 'courtyard' brought to mind something like a park with flowers , but… whether simply by the owner's preference, or perhaps for the purpose of exercises like this, the courtyard in Chester's house, the pinnacle of gaudiness, looked extremely plain.

The ground was very even, and there was plenty of s.p.a.ce for exercise. It was the perfect place to fight. A single young girl stood in the middle of the courtyard under the dreary sky without even bothering to hide her killing intent.

"…You're late."

Where did the innocence from just a while ago disappear to? The killing intent alone was enough to fend off men of a certain caliber.

She caused all of that chaos just because her grandfather was late. She had a short fuse—just like her grandfather.

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting, but you could have at least told me where to go, right?"

At any rate, she was only a 15 year old girl. No matter how capable she was, she would still have a long way to go before she could catch up to her grandfather.

In which case, being evenly matched with Chester, I had nothing to fear.

When she saw me say that without any care, s.h.i.+rley, who was br.i.m.m.i.n.g with anger, calmed down.

"I see… In that case, it's fine. …Sorry?"

I was surprised to see her hold back her killing intent in an instant.

It is said that a woman's heart can change at the drop of a hat, but this was just too much.

Seriously, just what kind of education was Chester giving her? I was worried for her future.

"…say?"

"Hmm? What?"

I let out a disappointed sigh when I noticed s.h.i.+rley's red eyes looking at me.

She tilted her head in an expression of pure curiosity.

"Is Slava-kun strong…?"

Now then, how should I answer?

I had confidence that I had a certain level of mastery but I had yet to reach the level that I sought.

…More than anything, I had just lost to Chester.

While I was having trouble answering her inquiry, Chester walked closer to me.

What did he intend to do?

I eyed Chester suspiciously. What was he thinking? Chester put his hand on my shoulder.

"He's strong. So give it your all, s.h.i.+rley."

My eyes widened at his unexpected behavior.

I was thinking about it too much, huh?

I don't know if I should be saying this myself, but my being a sore loser was truly troublesome. After getting the approval of the one who, as far as I'm concerned, is the second strongest person in history, it was not the time to be overly prideful.

"That's right. I'm strong. So you don't need to hold back."

I walked towards s.h.i.+rley. Leaving a suitable distance between us, I took my stance.

s.h.i.+rley compared my face to Chester's and smiled bitterly.

"…Ok. I can't wait."

s.h.i.+rley's cheeks barely moved when her mouth had already turned into a crescent moon.

As expected of a djinn. They were really sensitive to the smell of blood.

Her murderous intent was like a child crus.h.i.+ng insects. s.h.i.+rley was clad in an incredibly pure murderous aura as she smiled unlike any young child and took up her stance.

–Her whole body relaxed. She turned her whole body into a whip and swung a punch that was a one hit kill. This was the Prime Fighting style pa.s.sed down directly by Chester.

For me to be able to see the day that someone would take up this stance other than the person that created it… It is worth it being able to live a second life.

However—that stance was impossible for a 15 year old girl.

No matter how powerful the flow of her magical power was, the level of her stance was… it was a half-hearted attempt far from Chester's level—it was higher than some random martial artist.

Of course, since I had crossed fists with Chester many times, the flaws in the stance were obvious to me. However—

What amazing talent!

A mediocre martial artist would stand no chance against this girl. Her natural talent was amazing.

"Come!"

I had found a truly interesting girl. If she were my granddaughter, I am sure that I wouldn't be able to stop smiling, just like Chester.

"—Here I come!"

However, she still had a ways to go. If it were my in my previous life, I am sure that I would have been jealous of this talent that would shape the next generation. However, I was now part of that very generation.

The first one to reach the pinnacle of strength would be me!

Towards the incoming fist, I bent my body as if I would burrow in.

Her fist inevitably missed. The first strike of the Prime fighting style, which had crushed many with a single hit-s.h.i.+rley was surprised to see me dodge that deadly blow that she inherited.

However, that lasted only an instant. The first strike of the Prime fighting style was certainly powerful; however, it was not a martial art that relied solely on that.

Just like a swordsman's sword changes from one strike into two and two into three like an illusion, the ability to change attacks at will was the essence of the Prime fighting style.

This girl's fists, which were slender with beautiful white skin, became deadly whips.

An all-out attack that changed directions. It was every hardcore martial artist's dream technique… She smiled with composure as she struck out. She looked nothing like a little girl.

…However, something of this level would not work against me.

Certainly, it was fast. Martial artists sought high striking speed as a way to cheat.

However, I was looking at the future, a more polished way of cheating.

"…huh?"

I bent my body even further. I bent down far enough to touch my elbow to the ground.

There was no way for her to stop her fist, or her body, which were pushed forward by their momentum.

In which case, it was inevitable that she would fall if there was an obstacle blocking her feet.

s.h.i.+rley fell forward, riding her own momentum.

Her silver hair fluttered as her body lost its balance.

Still, she was Chester's disciple. With her overwhelming sense of balance, she immediately corrected her posture and struck out with her left fist.

"—but, it's not enough."

It was impressive that she could fix her awareness at while moving at that speed and even counterattack.

However, was while she was still getting her balance–

A punch thrown forcibly from a bad stance was practically a G.o.dsend to pract.i.tioner of the s.h.i.+jima style.

In exchange for her right fist, which still retained its form, I took her left fist. Since I was bent over, I could not use any big moves, but if I was only redirecting her force, there was no problem.

No matter how much magic it overflowed with, it was only the fist of a little girl with no weight behind it. From the moment that she lost her stance until now, that fist had become a hundred different things.

It was a punch simply thrown out. It lacked any deeper understanding. She was gradually putting her weight into it. I pulled on it now, when it was still an incomplete move.

If it had been Chester instead, he would have put his weight into it the moment he threw out the punch but, it seemed that s.h.i.+rley was still a little too green to be able to do that.

The result was that her punch had a lot more weight into it than she originally expected and it pulled her off her feet.

She had already lost her balance to begin with and had no way to correct her stance, so she landed on the lawn face-first.

"—?!"

The only one surprised was s.h.i.+rley.

It was obvious since I had used the technique myself, but Chester, who had watched the flow of the match, was also able to predict this outcome.

Furthermore, the only one that did not understand was s.h.i.+rley.

Her porcelain white skin was wet from her nose. The fingers holding it back were died red and blood dripped on the ground.

"A—ah. s.h.i.+rley… You lost just now?"

It seemed that he didn't just simply spoil her.

s.h.i.+rley was watching the blood drip down from her nose without realizing what happened. She turned to look at Chester.

"No way. I haven't lost… I'm still standing."

"Pathetic. He let you stand up. If he had felt like it, he could have stepped on your head and split it open. Pathetic. Pathetic. You don't even realize that much?"

s.h.i.+rley's blank face turned into obvious anger.

…As opposed to her smile, this expression was somewhat more child-like.

For some reason, even though she seemed ephemeral, her rage seemed to have substance.

–A gust of wind blew. It was an unpleasant, lukewarm, moist breeze.

Even if we were outside, being surrounded by high walls inside the garden, the wind was a too strong.

A monstrous amount of magic power stormed around s.h.i.+rley's body. He may have actually said something to make her angry for this reason.

"You have poor taste, old man."

"Hahaha. But, isn't this amazing? It's amazing right?"

Shut up old man. I could not look away while I yelled that.

…Her magic power until a moment ago was nothing when compared to this gale.

Strangely, now that she was angry, her magic power flowed without obstruction.

If her magic power from a moment ago was a muddy stream, her current magic power was a proper and violent cascade.

Her pure rage got rid of the impurities. It was said that a djinn's magic power surged with their mental state but, for it to be this much…

"—You won't break from just this much. It's fine, right? It will be fine, right?"

The way she smiled while angry was truly the picture of insanity.

As if she had forgotten her quiet impression, she seemed to be purely running wild.

This was why djinn were hated so much.

Being the object of such pure bloodthirst would obviously make other people shrink back.

However, that only applied to normal people… I was a martial artist. I was introduced to this really interesting fellow.

Unlike the small taste just now, her fist came at me with clear bloodl.u.s.t and immense magic power.

It still had a ways to go when compared to Chester but, this amount of magic wouldn't easily lose in the underground world.

Drowned in her anger, her punches rushed in sharper than before.

Both speed and power were much higher than before. Even I would lose consciousness if I took a direct hit. But, in exchange, her movements became excessively dull.

Snake-like unpredictable movements were the essence of the Prime fighting style. This, on the other hand, was just a machine throwing punches.

Each and every one of the punches that poured in like rain were parried and rendered powerless. I did not allow a single hit, but s.h.i.+rley, who I thought would only feel anger, gradually smiled more and more.

"Ahahahaha! Awesome! Why won't you break? Why?"

The way she seemed happy from the bottom of her heart while each strike contained clear murderous intent was vaguely disconcerting.

…This was just too cruel. It was too much madness for such a young girl to be burdened with.

When this was over, I would complain to Chester.

–Now then, I would end things as gently as possible.

I pushed aside the relaxed fist thrown out without any acceleration and held back as I used 'Strength'.

The explosion of magic that burst on s.h.i.+rley's defenseless abdomen blew her body away.

Even if I did hold back, it was an attack that damaged the internal organs.

She should have felt enough pain to writhe in agony on ground, but… even so, s.h.i.+rley paid it no mind and kicked off the ground.

The distance that opened up between us was crossed in an instant, and s.h.i.+rley struck out her fist.

–Perfect. Why don't I show her?

I relaxed my right arm from the shoulder all the way to the tips of my fingers. Just like a puppet with its strings cut, my fist dropped from its stance.

Not only was she young, she also had the same range that I did.

Just as I grasped the s.p.a.ce between us, s.h.i.+rley's left fist disappeared into the air.

She had a good eye. For her to be able to see through the range between us during such a high speed clash, her vision was well developed.

However, s.h.i.+rley's fist which disappeared into the air was unable to reach me.

Even so, a dry sound, like a balloon popping, reverberated.

At the same time as s.h.i.+rley's fist appeared again—s.h.i.+rley lay collapsed on the lawn.

I achieved victory even as she still swung her fist out.

Why didn't s.h.i.+rley's fist reach me?

It was simple.

"Slava, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d… that attack just now…"

My attack simply hit s.h.i.+rley's chin first.

The acceleration from zero to maximum speed. Normally, a counter thrown after the fact, would simply pa.s.s through the air.

"That's my 'Vanish'…!"

–Yes, it was a secret technique based on the Prime fighting style. Going from nothing to the limit born from draining my strength.

Originally,'Vanish' used the elasticity of the entire body to reach maximum speed, but I modified it into my own 'Slava style' attack.

"Since it only uses the elasticity in the arms, it loses to yours in power and speed. But you could say that mine makes up for it by being able to use it with both arms. -I know, I'll name it 'Night Serpent'."

An attack just like a snake that melds into the night.

I imitated my rival, but it is an attack only a step away from the s.h.i.+jima style 'Strong'.

As expected, against Chester it would lose out on speed but, since I could efficiently put the theory to use, I could start late and finish first against a little girl.

It seemed to be more than enough to knock some sense into any fool that underestimated the soft techniques of the s.h.i.+jima style.

I picked up s.h.i.+rley, who was bent over with her face in the ground, with both arms.

Using only elasticity from my arms it seemed that even if it lost in power to Chester's 'Vanish', if I aimed for the head, I could get a one hit knock out.

"That's impressive. For her to take a counter and still be uninjured."

I walked towards Chester while holding s.h.i.+rley who was unconscious just like a sleeping little girl.

When I presented his granddaughter in the so-called princess carry, Chester started to shake.

Did I really go too far? But if I hadn't knocked her unconscious, who knows how long it would have taken?

Now then, what excuse should I use?

"b.a.s.t.a.r.d. Don't go stealing the moves that people create after so much effort, you idiot! Stupid!"

…Huh? What did he just say?

Umm. What? He doesn't seem bothered by what happened to his granddaughter…

Certainly, it was a situation in which she would not stop unless I stopped her. It seemed that he understood that.

…However, I could not let that pa.s.s.

"Ha! Even I would remember this much after seeing it and taking it. If it's so precious, how about you lock it in a jewel box?"

"Huuh?! Don't get ahead of yourself just because you made some half-a.s.sed copy, you stupid brat! If s.h.i.+rley wasn't here, I wouldn't mind finis.h.i.+ng things with you!"

He was well ahead in years but here he was raising a fuss.

There was no copyright for techniques. What was this old man complaining about?

Neither of us would back down. The first verbal fight with Chester in decades lasted until s.h.i.+rley opened her eyes and Chester returned to his complacent old self.Previous Page

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