Ten days later, in a forested area somewhere in j.a.pan.
A man in his twenties was holding the hilt of his longsword with his eyes closed. In front of him was a tall tree with a diameter of half a meter. He held his stance for several seconds before he unsheathed his longsword with breakneck speed. There was no signs of movement from the tree until he sheathed back his sword to its scabbard. A diagonal cut can then be seen as the upper part of the tree slowly slid down.
"Bang!"
The huge tree dropped on the ground. The man slowly opened his eyes and bowed his head towards the tree. He then glanced at both his hands while shaking his head with a disappointed expression. "I"m still too weak. And with the current state of peace, I can never learn the real essence of swordsmans.h.i.+p. The power, the skills and the techniques I learned, will they become wasted?" He sighed while looking at the blue sky with a longing expression. He then stared at a certain direction and put his hands on the hilt of his sword.
"Who goes there?! Show your face! You can"t hide your presence from me!" The man shouted while focusing his gaze on a certain spot in the forested region.
He then felt a hand patted his shoulder lightly. His face turned cold and he hurriedly unsheathed his sword and slashed the s.p.a.ce behind him.
He then realized that no one was there. He glanced around the forest, but he did not feel any presence everywhere. His face was suddenly covered by cold sweat and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva as he scrutinized the trees all around him.
"Good day Ken Seijin!" A calm voice came from behind him startling the living daylights out of him. He turned around and forced himself to stay calm. This was the first time he encountered someone stronger than him, and the difference in strength was clear for everyone to see. He was not even able to feel the presence of the man in front of him.
He did not release his hold on his sword"s hilt while staring at the smiling man in front of him. The man"s irises were grayish in color and his pupils were white which made it seem like he doesn"t have one. His figure was tall and lean, but a dangerous presence revolves around him. "An expert! And not just an ordinary expert, but I high level one!"
"What do you want from me sir? I don"t remember having met you somewhere." Ken Seijin asked warily while maintaining a safe distance from the mysterious man in front of him.
The man smiled in response and shook his head lightly. "I am just a messenger sent by the Tyrannical Tower to invite you and become one of its disciples." His voice contained confidence as if the "Tyrannical Tower" that he spoke of was a behemoth existence in the world.
Ken Seijin looked confused, but he was still wary of the man. "Tyrannical Tower? I haven"t heard of that group." He shook his head lightly. He then saw the man toss out a card towards him. He caught the card and saw the man"s ident.i.ty.
"A security company?" Ken Seijin was a bit disappointed, but he did not show it outwardly. He did not want to train his martial arts and swordsmans.h.i.+p just to become someone"s dog.
"You will know once you come with me. And there are a lot of strong sword masters there as well. If you want to train your sword skills then I can say with great confidence that our Tyrannical Tower is the best place to go." Zero spoke calmly.
Ken Seijin thought for a moment and nodded his head. "Fine, I"ll go with you and have a look." Although he was not sure about the man"s ident.i.ty and if what he said was true, he knew for sure that the man was not simple. And he might even advance his swordsmans.h.i.+p if he followed the man.
Zero smiled lightly and motioned Ken Seijin to follow him. The latter hesitated a bit, but his thirst for power won over him. "I hope one day I can experience the real essence of swordsmans.h.i.+p." Ken Seijin thought to himself with yearning.
Zero then took out a list of names from his pocket. There were eight names written on the list and four names were already crossed out. He then crossed out another name on the list with a satisfied expression.
"Ken Seijin also known as Leo"
"Three more to go." Zero muttered to himself as he glanced at the three names with a smile.
"Baron also known as Minotaur"
"Uriel also known as Sniper"
"Lang Xunfu also known as Warwolf"
He kept the list and walked with a slight smile as Ken Seijin followed behind him with an expectant look.
"Ring! Ring! Ring! Ring!"
Zero took out his phone and spoke in a reverential voice. "My lord, is there anything you need me to do?"
Ken Seijin was surprised at the sudden change in Zero"s atmosphere. "Who could that caller be to make someone as strong as this guy speak in a reverential voice?" He just kept quiet and provided him a s.p.a.ce for his privacy.
"I want you to go to France and capture someone alive for me. But be careful, this guy is quite cunning and strong. I will draw you photos of him and send it to you in less than thirty minutes." Cale spoke over the phone.
"As you wish my lord." Zero replied confidently as if capturing anyone in this world was very easy. And of course he had the right to be confident, because the only mission he had failed was the mission to kill Brogen.
"Good! Okay thats it, bye for now!"
Zero kept his phone after saying goodbye to Cale and gestured Ken Seijin to follow him with a nod of his head.