Shadow Blood and Fire

Milliette Visoki's face hardened, and she knew she had got herself into a hot mess.

However, she was not afraid.

Milliette Visoki's father, Raiden Visoki, was near the center of power of Hutton District. She doubted that Vulcan Tanheln dared harm her. However, she wagered that he wouldn't let her get away easily, either.

Even as Vulcan Tanheln's bodyguard was about to fetch the girls for his boss, someone put a hand in front of him, stopping him cold in the track.

Everyone was surprised by the turn of the event.

They watched as Eli stood beside Milliette Visoki and Aurelia Thalassa, one hand in the pocket and the other reached out, blocking the bodyguard. He turned his head over his shoulder and said to Vulcan Tanheln, "Mister Vulcan, they are both my friends. Give me some face, and let them go."

"Are you crazy?" Milliette Visoki poked Eli's back and whispered.

It could have been a simple, although unpleasant matter. She would sit down with these disguising old men, have a few drinks with them and endure some uncouth banter and then they should be on their way home. However, Eli's involvement would muddy the water beyond saving.

"Oh? Who are you? Why should I give you face?" Vulcan Tanheln asked coldly. His patience was wearing thin. First, one of his guests was beaten up by them, and now a kid dared to talk to him as if he was his equal. It was as if no one took him seriously any longer.

"Who am I?" Eli pitched his head to a side and pondered for a while:

"I am someone you don't want to mess with."

The boys and girls could only stare at Eli. Most of them were convinced that Eli had one too many at the bar.

"For fuck sake! He is going to get us all killed! " Oliver Garth was shocked by Eli's folly. He knew he shouldn't have brought him with them to the ZUCCHINI.

He was truly frightened by how quickly the situation had escalated. This whole mess wasn't that much of a big deal until Eli rose up to challenge Vulcan Tanheln.

Dennis Prager's legs started to tremble; he could not imagine what Vulcan Tanheln would do to them next.

"Ha ha ha ha!" Vulcan Tanheln laughed out loud. "I can't afford to mess with you?"

He smiled and pointed at Eli; his words were laced with conceit.

"It's over." Knowing the situation was out of control, Milliette Visoki shut her eyes as if she was too afraid to see what was going to happen next.

"That, idiot! Even Oliver Garth couldn't confront Vulcan Tanheln directly. Why would he intervene? It is not the time to play hero. He would only bring all of us more trouble."

Aurelia Thalassa face had turned pale. She nudged Milliette Visoki and urged: "What should we do? We need to save him!"

"How? Vulcan Tanheln might not harm us because of my dad, but Eli had no family in the city. Plus, he had openly spoken up against Vulcan Tanheln. He wouldn't let that slide easily." "Milliette Visoki said." "We are so very fucked!"

Anvil Abbott, the bodyguard, shouted at Eli, "Kid, you asked for this!" The others stepped back, creating a makeshift arena around Eli and Anvil. Frost began to spill from Anvil's right hand, solidifying into a crystallized ice spear. Anvil smiled mischievously and hurled the spear at Eli without hesitation. The others gasped, thinking it was Eli's funeral as the spear sped toward his head.

Just before the spear could pierce Eli's head, it exploded, forming a net that wrapped around him, continuously condensing and releasing cold vapors. "Hahaha, do you think I would just kill you? Death is a gift. We will do much more than that to you," Anvil taunted, licking his lips as he eyed Eli trapped in the ice net like a caught insect. Only Samantha and Vulcan had strange looks on their faces. Eli remained calm, his expression unchanged despite the freezing vapors leaking from the net.

[Phantom Step activated]

[-10 Energy]

[-5 Stamina]

Eli's figure blurred as he phased through the ice net, causing the guards to gasp and stare in disbelief. How was it possible for Eli to use his ability? Did he possess a nullifying node crystal? Eli remained silent, staring at Anvil without any signs of attacking. Anvil felt mocked by the teenager and didn't want to lose face in front of Vulcan. Determined to prove himself, Anvil's skin turned a greyish metallic hue as he closed the distance in two strides and threw a punch at Eli with an arm thicker than Eli's thighs. His fist whizzed through the air, aiming squarely at Eli's chest. If the punch landed, Eli would likely break a few ribs at best, or face death at worst.

Aurelia Thalassa screamed, "Get away!"

To her surprise, Eli turned around and gave her a mischievous smile. "Don't worry. He's just a piece of cake." He reached out one hand and stopped Anvil's punch cold in its tracks. Eli then landed a solid kick on Anvil, sending the bodyguard flying back as a damage screen popped up over Anvil's head.

[–500 HP]

Under the incredulous eyes of many, Anvil's body flew back half a dozen meters and slammed to the ground right in front of Vulcan Tanheln. Oliver and the rest stared at Eli as if they had just seen a ghost, and it was not out of reverence.

"Why don't you find a better time to flaunt your gimmick? Not today, not now. You're making everything worse," Oliver Garth gritted his teeth.

"Anvil, are you alright?" Vulcan Tanheln's face was taut with concern.

Anvil felt like he had been hit by an armored rhino, the impact shifting his innards. Suddenly, a powerful wave of pain shot through his body, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

"He actually beat that guy up?" Oliver Garth's eyes were wide open in disbelief. Anvil's ability was common—the hardening ability. At level three, the first quantitative change happens, turning the skin a greyish metallic hue. At level four, it turns bronze; at level five, red bronze; and at level six, golden, earning the nickname "golden body." Everyone could immediately tell Anvil was at level three, and Eli had squashed him like a bug. Perhaps they could do the same if they weren't affected by the Nullification Crystal, but none of them were certain as they lacked battle experience.

During Milliette's brief encounter with Eli, she found nothing extraordinary about him and was convinced he would forever live at the bottom of society. However, it appeared she was wrong. The dramatic turn of events felt like a TV show playing out in front of her. Oliver Garth was also at a loss. The thought of Eli retaliating against him for his previous humiliation gave him the jitters.

"I hope that was convincing enough for you?"

The room suddenly became pin-drop quiet. Vulcan Tanheln looked at Eli, anger roiling inside him. He was a veteran and a shrewd businessman, and he didn't let his feelings show on his face. Judging from how Eli handled Anvil, it wasn't far-fetched that he had something that made him immune to the effects of a Nullification Crystal. His performance was exactly how Vulcan would fare against Anvil, so he could tell the kid was at least level five at the introductory peak stage of his advanced battle arts, or level six at the introductory early stage. Vulcan had not been lucky enough to learn a level six ability book after his test came out as F. He chose to ignore it and kept training his advanced battle arts. He had been a level five for ten years, so he was sure he could take on the newbie. Even if Eli was a level six, the chances of him being at the initial stage were minuscule, as those with more potential find it more difficult to advance in battle arts. Level five or level six, the only way Vulcan would lose to the red-haired kid was if he was at the initial stage in his advanced arts. Judging from Eli's dressing, it was obvious he couldn't afford even E-rank advanced battle arts. Perhaps someone was breeding him, which is how he got his hands on an ability book and a gimmick.

Samantha still had her mouth open, staring at Eli. Such boldness. She found Eli even more alluring, though he was just a kid. She couldn't help herself.

The Grundal suddenly jumped towards Eli like a bolt. Eli had been paying attention to the beast, conscious of everyone in the room, even the slightest shift.

[Arcane Energy Conversion added to Agility] [Agility: 25 = 45]

Eli had underestimated how fast a 50 stat speed would be. He could only discern a blur, but that was enough.

[Hammer Activated]

[–5 Energy]

Eli threw his right hand forward. The beast was going for a bite, and Eli's hand landed right in its mouth.

[Critical Hit]

All the energy from the Hammer was transferred straight to the brain. The Grundal's head exploded into bits, staining Eli's clothes and face with dark, sticky blood.

[You have killed Intermediate Tier Beast Grundal](Level 3)]

[First time killing (Grandul) bonus Exp awarded 1000 Exp]

[You have gained 1 Intermidiate Tier Crystal (Grundal)]

[You have gained +3000 EXP]

[EXP 26000/50000]

[Congratulations! Hidden quest completed: Speed Kill: Kill a beast with 2x your agility stat]

[Reward: 10,000 DBS ]

[Congratulations! Hidden quest completed: One Shot: Kill a beast with a single attack]

[Reward: 10,000 DBS]

[Balance: 45,500 DBS]

He had been wondering how to earn DBS coins. It seems completing hidden quests is the way to do it.

Eli stared at the dead beast on the floor. He had expected the fight to last a lot longer, considering the beast's high defense, but the beast had vastly underestimated him, blinded by its speed.

Everyone stared at the scene with wide eyes. They couldn't even see when the beast moved. One second it was there, and the next it was on the floor in front of Eli, its head exploded into bits and its blood sprayed everywhere.

"Just how many of those gimmicks does he have, or is it high-tier equipment probably underneath his clothes?" Oliver Garth felt pained and even started harboring thoughts of how to steal all the nice things from Eli.

Eli cleaned his hands with one of the Persian Empire Champagnes from the cold stool in the room, even washing his face and every other place stained with the beast's blood with the drink before drying his hands on one of the guards, which made the guard visibly tremble.

"You might want to ask around what happened last time someone got on my nerves. A Comm call will put you behind bars for the rest of your life because killing you is such a waste of talent!" A smug smile surfaced on Vulcan Tanheln's face as he rolled back into the sofa. What the kid did was something he couldn't even do. Grundals are known as speed blitz, their burst speed attack can easily claim the life of a level five ability user if it's a lethal strike. Vulcan Tanheln only saw an afterimage of the Grundal, but this kid was able to kill something moving that fast.

Eli closed in on Vulcan Tanheln slowly and then sat right in front of him. "Let them leave, and I will stay here; we have lots to talk about" 

Vulcan Tanheln studied Eli's face for a second and then glanced over his shoulder at the group of teenagers. "Sure, why not. Rouge, let them get the fuck out of my face. While you… like you said, we have LOTS to talk about."

Oliver Garth heaved a sigh of relief and got out of the room as quickly as he could. The situation was beyond their control; the best they could hope for was not to suffer any collateral damage. Aurelia Thalassa did not want to go, but she was dragged away by Salopot Migrandes. Milliette Visoki was the last to leave the room. She graced Eli with a concerned glance before she disappeared behind the door. She reckoned that the boy was not at all who she thought he was.

"No wonder he looked so relaxed. But I hope he realizes that Vulcan Tanheln wouldn't let him go easily now that he has killed his favorite pet."

Nonetheless, she reckoned that she could only be a hindrance rather than help to Eli if she stayed. Despite her concern and guilt, she followed her friends out of the room. It wasn't until Eli saw that everyone had left the room that he finally heaved a sigh of relief. He didn't want Milliette Visoki and Aurelia Thalassa to get involved in this; one was Auntie Visoki's daughter, whom he had promised to protect, and the other was the only one who looked at him without animosity.

Vulcan Tanheln opened his mouth to start a conversation, but Eli's comm rang out disruptively..