Chapter-16
The Crownshields
The eyes that exerted immense pressure bore their gaze right into Ha-Jin's soul. Ha-Jin's legs trembled under their gaze. His golden eyes glimmered as if some kind of magical force were imbued in them.
The man put a hand on Ha-Jin's shoulder, suddenly making him kneel. Ha-Jin could tell by this feat alone that this man was extremely powerful. "Do you have no manners? You just bumped into me, fool!" The man spoke, his tone speaking of authority.
"Why the hell should I?! You're not some prince or anything of the sort that I have to kneel to you for bumping into you!" Ha-Jin yelled, equally distributing mana through his body and getting up, brushing the man's hand off of his shoulder. "If you want to fight, just say so." He added, which he soon regretted as an almost non-existent blow hit him on the face, blood spurting out of his nose.
Ha-Jin swung at the man with practiced control and form, distributing mana to all of the muscles used to punch swiftly one by one.
The man dodged it, however it did push the hood off of the man's head, revealing a beautiful face and light brown hair. His golden eyes gleamed even brighter under full exposure of the sun.
Now Ha-Jin could tell that the man was not a man at all. He was a boy his age. Ha-Jin ignored that fact and jabbed at his face. The punch grazed the boy's face, cutting his cheek slightly as blood spilled from the cut. Ha-Jin quickly followed up with a dempsey roll and spun around to perform a back kick.
[You have successfully used a Combo]
Ha-Jin was about to hook his leg around the boy's neck but it was simply grabbed by the boy. He smacked Ha-Jin across the face and grabbed him by his waist. After he picked him up, the girl that was beside him impaled him in the back with her hand. Blood poured from the wound. Ha-Jin had turned slightly to prevent the strike from impaling his vital organs.
Ha-Jin grabbed the boy's head and headbutted him in the middle of his forehead, making blood spurt out of his forehead before using his knee to kick him in the groin, making the boy release him from his grasp. Ha-Jin spun 180 degrees before grabbing the girl's head and performing a flying knee kick on her face and blocking the strike from the boy with her body. The girl coughed out blood from the sheer force of the attack from the boys.
Ha-Jin followed up with a kick on her stomach. As soon as Ha-Jin thought he had an advantage, the earth closed around his body as it shattered after being hit by the boy, sending him flying before the girl grabbed him by the hand, slamming him onto the ground and slammed into him on the ground with her elbow. She then started to use her earth-covered elbows to strike his face repeatedly.
Ha-Jin suddenly bit her forearm, his teeth digging deep into her forearm, drawing blood before tearing the flesh right off. The girl let out a yelp before releasing him from her relentless grip, allowing Ha-Jin to use his own elbow to strike her in the solar plexus. Ha-Jin clapped his hands over her ears. Her hearing was filled with ringing, her entire world suddenly distorted.
[You have used 720° Spinning Roundhouse Kick]
The notification appeared before Ha-Jin launched off the ground gracefully. The only way the staring girl could describe the move was that he was flying right in front of her eyes, even if it were for just a moment. She stared, completely forgetting she was in a fight before the kick quickly hit the girl's face with a loud sound of impact as if something had been crushed, sending her flying before she hit the ground, unconscious.
Ha-Jin glared at the boy in front of him. The boy only had a bleeding nose even after the combo. A crowd had gathered around the place where the fight was taking place. The boy's lips curled into a smirk before he spoke "You are worthy to know at least my name, commoner."
"No thanks, I don't want to hear your shitty name, asshole." Ha-Jin barked. Ignoring Ha-Jin, the boy spoke of his name anyway. "Arthur." He said before adding "Arthur Crownshield."
"Crownshield? What a stupid bloodline." Ha-Jin scoffed before commanding "Inventory!" A pair of daggers materialised in his hands as the Sun rune on his left palm gleamed a bright yellow. A bright dazzling red flame engulfed his daggers.
Arthur did not bother to use a sword as in his perspective, it was too easy to deal with a fodder commoner on the street—even if it were one that had single-handedly dealt with his sister.
Ha-Jin rushed towards Arthur, turning into a flurry of blades as he activated Weapon Mastery. The crowd surrounding the fight ran away in a panic, screaming and yelling for their lives. A few were not lucky, fire engulfing their bodies as they died in immense pain, burnt to death or either cut to pieces from the AOE of the slashes. A few of the shops caught fire from the burning bodies strewn across the floor, spreading the flames like wildfire. Ha-Jin and Arthur paid no heed to the area now engulfed in flames as Arthur kept striking Ha-Jin's daggers away, some of them managing to cut him.
Arthur clapped his hands over one of Ha-Jin's daggers, catching and holding it in place as he kicked Ha-Jin away along with his dagger. Ha-Jin skidded a few meters away from him, his dagger clattering on the floor as he quickly swept it up to his hand before both of them simultaneously yelled "Fit Check!"
[Name: Ha-Jin] [Age:17]
[Title: Beast Hunter]
[Strength]:SSS+
[Speed]:SS+
[Durability]:SSS
[Endurance]:SSS+
[Mana]:???
[Intelligence]:A+
[Potential]:???
[Overall Stat Evaluation]:SSS
[Name: Arthur Crownshield]. [Age:19]
[Title: Heir to Greatness]
[Strength]:SR+
[Speed]:SR+
[Durability]:SR
[Endurance]:SSS
[Mana]:SR
[Intelligence]:S
[Potential]:???
[Overall Stat Evaluation]:SR
As the notifications appeared before them, both of them were dumbfounded. Ha-Jin because the boy in front of him was stronger than him and Arthur because he never knew a commoner could be so strong.
Ha-Jin took a stance which Arthur immediately recognised as the attack he had used on his sister. It was a 720 degree spinning roundhouse kick. Arthur got ready to guard against it as Ha-Jin launched off. He soared through the sky, spinning twice before the kick connected with Arthur's face. However, before it could connect, Ha-Jin retracted his leg and spun around forward once, slashing Arthur on the arms which he had tried to use to guard against the spin kick.
Ha-Jin landed deftly on the ground before pulling off a knee kick on Arthur's solar plexus. Arthur collapsed onto the floor, blood spilling from his mouth.
Just when the crowd erupted into cheers and Ha-Jin thought he had won. A notification appeared before him.
[A powerful enemy is in the vicinity]
[Run]
Before Ha-Jin could react to the notification, he was sent flying through the area, crashing into a nearby stall, falling unconscious. A notification in red appeared before his iris turned black and pupil white.
[User is Unconscious]
[Initializing Auto-Battle Mode]
Arthur pushed himself off of the floor using his arm, stretching his limbs before his gaze landed upon the boy that was supposed to be unconscious, getting up, his eyes a weird color now. The daggers in front of Arthur dematerialized into Ha-Jin's inventory as Arthur stared in front of him, letting out a sigh.
[Royal Restraints have been relieved]
Ha-Jin—or rather, his body got up from the floor and blitzed towards Arthur, Arthur materialized his sword in his hand and both of them swung at each other.
That was until Jae-Woo interrupted their fight, pushing both of them onto the ground, hitting Ha-Jin on the back of the neck, knocking him out as Arthur yelled "Goddamnit! Let me go, Jae-Woo! Just because my father lets you serve him doesn't mean you just get to touch me and treat me like a child!" He thrashed around as Jae-Woo said nothing, calmly holding him down before knocking him out as well.
As if right on cue, Alex came up to them, bruised and beaten but dragging the unconscious body of the bloody brother of Arthur Crownshield.
"Woah, what happened here? Oh–Oh, wow, Ha-Jin really gave that girl a beating." Alex said, clearly surprised. His comment made Jae-Woo look to his left at the black-haired girl. Her face was bloody, her forearm's bone visible to some extent as it spilled blood, her stomach still caved in from the repeated blunt force. Her head was bleeding from Ha-Jin's kicks.
***
Ha-Jin's eyes fluttered open in a royal bed in a room adorned with ornaments. He pushed himself off the bed, resting on his elbows as he looked around the room, a large crown clearly painted on one of the walls. He looked behind him and saw a shield. He connected the dots and made out the name "Crownshield"
He tried to run his brain and bring up anything about a "Crownshield"
Nothing
Suddenly, Jae-Woo barged into the room, a frown clearly on his face as he calmed himself down before speaking "What were you doing picking a fight with the emperor's family?"
"Wait Wait Wait Wait. What do you mean 'emperor's family'? Wasn't he just some random joe with a fancy name?" Ha-Jin asked, dumbfounded.
"No, he wasn't, dumbass!" Jae-Woo yelled and was about to continue until the door creaked open once again, revealing a man dressed in a beautiful red robe lined with white fur. He had a grey beard and a shimmering gold crown rested atop his head.
Jae-Woo immediately dropped to one knee and greeted the man before him "Greetings, Your Majesty."
"Greetings. I suppose that is the boy that has forced Arthur to release his seal?" He spoke in an authoritative but cheerful tone. Jae-Woo nodded his head as the man passed by him, flicking his hand as Jae-Woo stood back up on his feet. The man stopped right beside Ha-Jin's bed, studying his features carefully.
The Emperor extended his hand to the boy before him. Ha-Jin looked surprised, expecting some kind of punishment for beating up his children like that. He felt relieved that he was not to be banished to some outskirts of the continent. Though somewhere in his mind, he was wary of the man standing before him, perfectly composed and not a shred of emotion on his face as he extended his hand to him. He quickly pushed that wariness away to a corner of his mind and took the Emperor's hand, shaking it. Just as he was about to greet him, his entire world turned upside down. Before he had realised what happened, he was suddenly brought crashing down by the Emperor's hand onto the ground, hitting the back of his head as his eyes faded, pulling him into the realm of unconsciousness again.
[User has fallen unconscious]
[Bloodlust has been detected]
[Initiating Auto-Battle Mode]
Ha-Jin got up from the ground, the familiar black iris and white dot of a pupil appearing in his eyes. Jae-Woo tried to intervene, though he was quickly stopped with a wave of the Emperor's hand, telling him to stay back. "Do not fret, I have wanted to see for myself what this Auto-Battle Mode is for myself ever since you have told me about it." The Emperor spoke, his voice still that same cheerful albeit authoritative tone. "Ah, and do not worry, for I will not kill him with the full extent of my power." He added, extending his left arm into the air, putting his right behind his back before declaring to the imaginary crowd in the royal room "This hand, this sole left hand of mine is all I will use."
Ha-Jin had been standing there, tapping his foot on the ground below him in impatience as he let out a loud yawn. Though he was like a beast in this state, some of his original shreds of pride and dignity still dragged him down from becoming a total Mana Beast.
As soon as he sensed that the Emperor was done talking, he blitzed him, attempting to land a strike using Taekwondo. Despite his long reach, his arm was suddenly in the grasp of the Emperor who had sidestepped the attack, successfully evading it.
Ha-Jin felt his entire body being lifted off the floor before he was smashed down again. His eyes widened as he let out a grunt. The Quest Window suddenly appeared before his face, the voice ringing in his head.
[Quest is being created]
[Quest: Prove Your Worth]
[Land a solid hit on the Emperor 0/1]
(Reward: 1 Epic Consumable Item)
Though Ha-Jin did not give a crap for the Quest in this state, it did not reduce his resolve by a single bit. He let out a warcry as he suddenly planted his feet on the ground, raising himself up with the intent to headbutt the Emperor.
The Emperor moved his head back, which was the grave mistake he made. He was so focused on dodging the headbutt, he did not notice the leg hooked around the inside of his inner thigh. Ha-Jin pulled his leg forward, bringing the Emperor down with a thud. The Emperor tried to get up but his leg was numb. Ha-Jin had taken advantage of temporary nerve impairment by targeting his inner thigh.
He quickly got on top of the Emperor, straddling his hips before hitting him with a barrage of mana-infused hits.
[Quest has been Completed]
[You have been rewarded with 1 Epic Consumable Item]
Before Ha-Jin could do further damage, the Emperor jabbed at his forehead with two fingers, knocking him out.
He got up from the ground, resting his hands on his hips before letting out a laugh. "Wow! That was great!" He cried out "It's been a while since I've fought like that!"
The Emperor's blue eyes glinted with childish excitement as he turned on his heel to face Jae-Woo. "He would make a great addition to the Royal Army, now would he not?" The Emperor said, a mischievous glint in his eyes as he spoke.
Jae-Woo's eyes widened as he stared at the man before him in disbelief. A child from the Junkyard in the Royal Army? If the Emperor were a Jester, it would make a great joke. However, he was not. He was the supreme ruler of the empire—no, the continent!
However, Jae-Woo could not help but feel proud of the boy. He had grown so much in so short of a time. "Indeed. He would make a great addition." Jae-Woo said, a smirk dancing on the edge of his lips.
The Emperor let out a laugh before speaking once more "Before he joins us, take him to whatever place he desires! He deserves it for he has given me the pleasure of a good fight after so long!"
Before Jae-Woo could speak, Ha-Jin, who had awakened just a few moments before, cried out "I want to go back to Yunxi City!"