Kretos licked his lips as he faced the man that suddenly appeared before him. The man was just standing there with a weird smile on his face, but one look and Kretos could already tell that the man before him was the same kind as him. It was obvious that the guy was itching for a fight, seeing the subtle moves he was making."So have you come to play as well?" Kretos asked the newcomer.
"Normally I would say yes, especially with a playmate like you. But seeing your current state I"m not really in the mood anymore." The man shrugged his shoulders as he answered.
"Hahaha, don"t make excuses for yourself. Even in my current state, I can still kick you around."
"Hmph, trying to provoke me? You and I really are of the same breed. Unfortunately for you, I don"t want an incomplete meal. I-" Before the man could continue to speak Kretos lunged at him. Kretos punched the man with his burnt hands and kicked him too, but the man simply took the strikes. After hitting him for a while the man was now a little bit bruised. Kretos no longer hit him and spoke a bit annoyed.
"Why aren"t you fighting back?! You didn"t even circulate your mana."
"Like I said you and me we"re of the same breed. I knew that you wouldn"t want to fight someone who isn"t fighting back. I already told you I don"t want to fight you in your current condition." Kretos sighed hearing the man"s response.
"So what now?" Kretos was finally able to calm down. The man then spat a tiny bit of blood before answering.
"For starters aren"t you going to finish those guys off?" The man pointed at the men on the ground who had fainted from mana exhaustion.
"They gave me quite a good fight, so I no longer care about their fates. If they"re strong enough to survive this then they should. If they wish to come at me for revenge then they"re free to do so."
"I see... So you and I do still have some differences." The man then raised his hand and snapped his fingers. The entire field turned into an inferno as flames rose from the ground devouring the hundreds of men. Kretos wasn"t surprised by this move as he already sensed that the man was going to do that when he asked about the men on the ground.
"You see, I believe that to honor warriors who are defeated in battle, giving them a swift and honorable death is what they deserve."
"Heh, I actually think the same way."
"Then why?... I see making me do your work for you." When the man realized what Kretos did he couldn"t help but laugh heartily.
"You and I truly are the same. The name"s Amon, it"s a pleasure to meet you."
"I"m Kretos-" When Amon heard the name he moved swiftly to stand before Kretos.
"What was your name?" Amon asked Kretos, who was surprised by the sudden change in the atmosphere.
"I said my name"s Kretos, what, do you know me?" Amon then looked at Kretos from head to toe and found nothing out of place. Though the personality and skills were similar, the power and looks were totally different.
"Also this guy smells like a pure human."
"What, is there a problem?" Amon looked at Kretos and smiled.
"Nothing, your name just sounds familiar."
"I keep on hearing that nowadays."
"Hmm, is that so..."
"So what now, if we aren"t going to fight then I"m leaving." As Kretos was about to leave, Amon blocked his path.
"What else do you want?" Kretos was starting to get annoyed by this fellow that claims to be like him but doesn"t want to fight.
"How about I treat you to a meal, and introduce you to some of my friends that are quite strong as well."
"Alright." Kretos didn"t hesitate to agree the moment he heard that he would meet strong individuals.
"Then follow me." Amon and Kretos left the battlefield that had nothing left but ashes.
...
Afeus who was back at school heard that Kretos was teleported away by the Osted family. Some of the students have shown their concern for Kretos"s plight, not because they worried about him personally. No, the only reason they were concerned was because of Kretos"s revolutionary way of using mana without the elements. They wanted to study it some more. Of course, they could start their individual research on the subject, but it was much quicker to simply extract the information from Kretos himself.
On the other hand, Afeus wasn"t really worried about Kretos"s safety. Based on his understanding of Kretos"s abilities even he could not win he could easily escape.
"Though based on what I"ve seen of him, he doesn"t seem like the kind of person to run from a fight."
...
In the hidden cave where the fourth hero stays, shadows were flowing into the cave. Seeing this scene s.h.i.+n the fourth hero frowned.
"So it"s finally going to happen. So you guys are still trying to break your seals... Didn"t you already have your fun a few thousand years ago? Why bother coming out now?"
The beings inside the cave roared at s.h.i.+n as an answer. s.h.i.+n shrugged his shoulders as he started checking the seals.
"It"s cracking... Based on the rate of deterioration this might only last a year at most, a few months in the least, might be even weeks. If a war breaks out now, all those negative emotions will feed these things. The seals might actually break in a couple of days if that happens."
s.h.i.+n felt his head hurting as he looked at the breaking seals. "My last mission as a hero is finally about to end. I wonder if I should feel happy or sad? Hmm, I guess a little bit of both... If possible I would"ve liked to have one final battle with you... But it seems like fate is a cruel thing to a hero like me."