Jade stared at Ian with mockery and said,
"Ha ha ha... Your father's soul must be in agony having such a useless son. He was a great hunter—died defending this village from bandits. But you? You're just some orphan who swings a sword at lifeless targets all day."
Ian shouted, "Shut up!"
He lunged forward and attacked Jade, slashing from all angles as fast and hard as he could. But Jade blocked each strike with ease. While defending, Jade sneered,
"What's wrong? Got mad? I'm just telling the truth. If you hadn't listened to your crazy mother and her fake 'clan techniques,' you might've become a decent hunter. Who becomes a warrior swinging a sword ten thousand times a day? Your mother was insane. That so-called clan never even existed."
Ian roared back, "Shut up! You don't know anything about my mother! She wasn't insane… and our clan was real! I'll prove it to you all!"
He struck Jade's sword with all his might, throwing it off balance, then punched him in the face. But Jade didn't even budge. He smirked, dropped his sword, and slammed a series of brutal punches into Ian's body, sending him crashing to the ground.
Standing over him, Jade said,
"Even if your clan existed, it must have been weak. You're weak. Accept your defeat."
Ian gasped for breath, his whole body aching. For a moment, doubt filled his mind.
Maybe Jade's right… Maybe everything I've done was for nothing.
But when he looked at his hands—calloused and scarred—he shook the doubt away. Gritting his teeth, he grabbed his sword, stood up with effort, and growled,
"Hey, you oversized brute... I'm not done yet."
Jade, irritated by Ian's persistence, charged forward. He gathered all his strength into one punch and slammed it into Ian's stomach. Ian spat blood and flew backward, crashing through the wall of a nearby house.
The crowd cheered wildly for Jade. The village elder turned to Goblin and said,
"Seems like it's settled."
But Goblin replied coldly,
"Look closer. It's not over yet."
The dust began to settle, and from within the broken house, a shadow rose.
It was Ian.
Jade scoffed,
"Still standing? Just give up already. Maybe Captain Goblin will let you join out of pity!"
But then he saw Ian's eyes—and froze.
They had turned blood red. Steam rose from Ian's body. The air around him grew heavy. The villagers fell silent. A few stepped back, their faces pale. Something inside Ian had awakened.
Something dangerous.