13 Mink Street

Kensey, sitting in his wheelchair, slapped the table with his hand and shouted, “There are many funeral homes run by the church, what advantage does yours have?”

Karon looked over, smiled, and said, “Group bookings get a discount.”

“Fuck!”

“Fuck!”

Karon’s appropriate answer earned him unanimous approval from the entire table, and the string of curses that followed were the most pleasant form of praise in this group.

Soon after, dishes were served one after another, and everyone began eating and chatting. The pace of the gathering was faster than expected, because after the group’s main meal, smaller gatherings would follow within the squad, not for power struggles, but simply because of different interests forming small circles. After all, certain niche hobbies were not suitable to invite others into.

Before settling the bill, Nio stood up first and had Karon gather the unopened beers from the table, then brought him along to the cashier.

“There are five bottles of beer untouched,” Nio said.

“Understood, sir, we’ll deduct them.”

After paying, Karon asked, “Captain, are you heading back?”

“I’m going to see Elisa. After every mission, I visit her. She’s waiting for me. What about you, are you heading back?”

“Yes.”

“You can wait for Paige and the others. They seem to want to take you somewhere; It should be beneficial for you.”

“Alright, Captain.”

“I’ll head off first.” Nio walked out of the barbecue restaurant, his figure quickly disappearing into the night street.

Soon, the others also came out of the private room and began discussing where to go next. Paige took the initiative to walk up to Karon and said, “Want to go somewhere?”

“Sure.”

“You agreed pretty quickly,” Paige said, somewhat surprised.

“Did I? I didn’t notice.”

Paige drove a convertible. Karon wanted to sit in the front passenger seat, since the back was clearly cramped, only to then see Gray and Fannie also approaching the car. He got in the back, and when Gray arrived, he sat down beside Karon, the two men slightly bending their knees due to the limited space.

Fannie took the front passenger seat, then turned around and asked Karon, “Is it cramped?”

“It’s fine.”

Fannie smiled. “The luxury car has already been returned to management. We can only request it during missions.”

“I see.”

Paige drove for about twenty minutes. They arrived at an industrial factory area. Some had already closed for the day, while others were still running night shifts.

At the entrance, a large man sat guarding the door. Seeing Paige, he immediately greeted her respectfully and opened the gate. Karon followed them inside and found the place lively, resembling a combat arena. Many people were training, and in a somewhat absurd arrangement, part of the large space of the factory had been turned into a shooting range, and there were people practicing shooting there.

It was truly a scene where primitive combat and firearms coexisted harmoniously.

Everyone greeted Paige and Fannie with lowered heads, and no one dared to make any inappropriate remarks. The two of them clearly held the status of leaders in this place.

Paige led them deeper inside and down a set of steps. She soon opened an iron door. Inside was a separate area, with a similar layout to the area above; half shooting range and half combat arena, though this large space contained only four of them.

In the storage racks of the combat area were not only boxing gloves, but also a wide variety of cold weapons.

Fannie said, “Your pistol still needs time to be fully modified, so today you can practice combat techniques with Paige and Gray, or you can watch me practice shooting if you prefer.”

“I’ll go with combat first.”

“Come with me,” Gray said to Karon, taking a long spear from the rack. “Pick one.”

Karon remembered that during the pursuit that night, Gray’s weapon had been a black spear. It was obvious that the weapons in the rack were ordinary ones, unrelated to holy relics. Originally, Karon wanted to choose the curved blade, but after a moment’s hesitation, he picked a longsword.

“Come up.” Gray had already stepped onto the ring, wrapping the spear tip with cloth.

Karon took the sword and stepped onto the ring as well. Paige sat below with a bottle of beer, watching, and reminded him, “Karon, Gray and Wynn are recognized as the strongest in the squad after the captain, so make sure to learn well.”

Karon remembered that during the previous battle, both of those men had pursued and killed a target on their own, while the other squad members had operated in coordinated groups.

“No using Arts,” Gray explained. “Everything else is allowed.”

“Understood.”

“Then begin.” Gray walked forward. Karon lowered his stance, holding his sword horizontally as he charged.

With a dull impact, Gray casually deflected Karon’s sword with the shaft of his spear, then smoothly spun around and struck backwards with the tail of the spear.

The blow took Karon in the chest, sending him flying back several meters until his body caught on the ring ropes and he then fell to the floor.

Gray looked at Karon and smiled. “You’ve never received formal training?”

Then he added, “No, not even informal training.”

“That’s right,” Karon admitted. He rubbed his chest and slowly stood up.

“Your physical condition is quite average,” Gray said. “Perhaps you should focus on Arts, or study ritual arrays like Marlow, or even specialize in firearms like Fannie, because close combat requires too much accumulation.”

“I’ll consider it.” Karon stood up again. He did not feel mocked, because everything Gray said was true. As for his physical condition, since awakening in this world, Karon had already improved his originally ornamental body to something decent, though still average.

Further strengthening it would be difficult, and more importantly, he did not enjoy that kind of struggle.

Gray approached again, repeating the same deflection and lift. Karon was knocked down once more. Gray could have followed up with another strike to the chest, but held back.

“Paige?” Gray looked toward Paige. It was clear that this training session had been her suggestion. She glanced at Fannie, who also had stepped closer. She had not seen Karon fight before.

“This is no longer training,” Gray said. “I don’t even know from which angle I should begin instructing.”

Fannie also did not know what to do.

“You can use Arts. Let’s try again, if you trust me.”

“Alright.” Karon chose to trust the man. When someone is willing to teach you, hiding things would be inappropriate, and more importantly, he trusted the atmosphere of the squad.

Darkmoon Blade. A red mark appeared on Karon’s body and shrouded his sword. Seeing this, a faint black sheen appeared on Gray as well. He stepped forward again, but halfway, he stopped.

Blue armor had also manifested over Karon’s body, and it had a dynamic form.

“I’m afraid if I fall a few more times, I won’t be able to walk,” Karon explained.

Gray shook his head. “Dividing your spirituality to defend while attacking is foolish. It weakens your offense and doesn’t provide optimal defense. You should learn to switch instantly according to the situation.”

“I understand.” Karon nodded seriously, showing that he was truly accepting the advice. Even so, he did not dismiss the Sea God’s Armor, because there was something he could not say directly, and that was that his own spiritual reserves were vast beyond his rank and he could afford the division.

He was concerned that saying such a thing might provoke an unintended reaction.

Gray advanced again. This time, Karon did not rush his attack. The older man’s spear swept forward, and with his enhanced speed, Karon struck instantly.

The clash rang out, but Gray still blocked the sword. However, the man noticed that his ordinary spear, even reinforced with his strength, was starting to melt.

He quickly withdrew, intending to lift Karon away, but Karon spun and locked the spear again, then closed the distance rapidly. Sparks flew from the friction between sword and spear. Gray attempted to kick Karon away, but his foot could not break through the armor, and the force failed to transmit. Instead, his shoe was caught by the armor’s pull.

The distance was sufficient. With his back to Gray, Karon held the sword in his right hand while striking the sword hilt with his left, sending the blade backward toward Gray’s chest.

A green light flashed from a pendant on the man’s chest, blocking the sword while Gray used the opening to press his spear down towards Karon’s shoulder.

Even with the Sea God’s Armor, Karon felt a strong shock, and he dropped to one knee.

Gray pulled back, creating distance, retreating several steps. Below the ring, Paige and Fannie exchanged glances. They sensed that Gray had underestimated Karon, as well as the fact that the older man had also been put in a difficult position.

Karon stood back up, but before he could speak, Gray asked sharply, “Were you pretending just now?”

“Pretending?”

“Is it amusing?”

“What was I pretending?”

“You’ve trained before.”

“I haven’t.”

“Then what was that just now? Arts can enhance speed, attack, and defense, but how can they also improve technique and application?”

“That move?” Karon asked. “You used it earlier.”

“You learned it just now?”

“Yes.”

“You think I’ll believe something so absurd?”

“I’m telling the truth.”

“Fine, I’ll get serious now. You might get injured.”

“The captain said we’ll have an important mission soon, go easy on me,” Karon reminded him seriously.

“There’s enough time for Kensey and the others to get out of their wheelchairs.”

Gray charged again. In the resulting exchange, Karon’s sword was knocked away, and after he was struck three times, his Sea God’s Armor finally shattered. Gray stopped as soon as he broke the armor.

“I already said, when attacking, focus on attacking, when defending, focus on defending—”

The Sea God’s Armor reappeared on Karon, and Gray fell silent. The armor had broken due to the attacks exceeding the armor’s load, not a lack of spiritual power.

Karon picked up the sword again and assumed a stance that seemed correct to him, but appeared amateurish to a professional.

“Again!” The one who shouted was Gray.

Karon had no intention of provoking the man further, as he sensed Gray was becoming heated.

For their next round, Karon lasted longer, but still ended with his armor being broken, only for it to appear yet again.

“Again!”

“Again!”

“Again!”

Gray gradually realized that the repeatedly broken and restored armor was not Karon mocking him, but a demonstration of the young man’s terrifying spiritual reserves.

Eventually, after breaking the armor again, fatigue began to set in. It was like cracking eggshells repeatedly; simple in action, but exhausting in repetition. Gray also understood that Karon trusted him not to harm him, choosing to engage actively instead of fully defending. More importantly, Karon was beginning to replicate the older man’s techniques. Not merely copying, but understanding.

Gray gulped. There were only two possibilities: either Karon had been hiding his abilities, or he was truly learning in real time. That sort of learning speed was absurd.

“Want to take a break?” Fannie called out.

Gray prepared to stop.

“I can continue,” Karon replied.

The fight resumed.

Finally, after breaking the armor twice more, Gray’s arm grew numb and fatigue overtook him. Breaking the armor was becoming increasingly difficult.

“I’m tired,” Karon called out.

Gray inwardly sighed in relief.

“Three more rounds?”

Gray was rendered speechless. The third to the last round lasted for nearly five minutes, the longest exchange so far. Gray eventually increased his output enough to break the armor and send Karon flying. He immediately regretted using too much force. But seeing Karon stand up again with the armor restored made him feel slightly dizzy.

The pen-ultimate round lasted nearly five minutes as well, though this time Gray was unable to break the armor, despite loosening his control.

Finally, the man pressed his spear up to Karon’s armor, while Karon raised his sword, conceding the round. This was the first time Gray had failed to break the armor.

The final round lasted ten full minutes. Gray no longer held back, but his strength was gradually depleted, whereas Karon started to integrated everything he had learned. His movements started becoming structured and precise.

It was somewhat unfair, using Gray’s restraint to gradually exhaust him. In the end, the man’s spear, lacking reinforcement, snapped when he tried to block Karon’s strike. Karon up followed with a slash at Gray’s neck.

The man instinctively raised his arm, and Karon twisted his wrist, changing his attack from striking with the edge of the blade to the flat.

Gray was struck and knocked to the ground, the point of impact showing slight burn marks. Karon immediately dropped his sword and dispelled his Arts. He stepped forward to apologize sincerely, “I’m sorry!”

Gray lay on the ring, exhaling deeply. “It’s fine. You just haven’t learned how to hold back yet.”

Fannie and Paige both climbed up. Fannie treated Karon’s minor injuries, while Paige gave Gray a potion to restore his energy.

Once that was finished, Karon walked over to Gray and bowed low. “Thank you, Mr. Gray.”

“I used to think I was a genius. Then I met the captain and thought he was the true genius. Now I’ve met you, and my definition of genius has changed.”

“Thank you, Mr. Gray.”

Gray rolled his eyes. “Tomorrow night, same place.”

Karon’s expression brightened. “Yes, Mr. Gray.”

Gray stood up. “I’m going back to rest. I’m exhausted.”

After Gray was gone, Fannie looked at Karon. “Gray is a very proud man. Aside from the captain, he looks down on everyone else. We had to ask him in front of the captain to get him to agree to teach you.”

Paige leaned closer to Karon and inhaled deeply. He shifted a little ways away. “It’s just sweat.”

“No, this is the scent of a genius.”

“I’m not a genius,” Karon said. Because this time, while using Darkmoon Blade and Sea God’s Armor, he had also sensed the power of his family’s faith system activating within his bloodline, invisible to others.

The same had happened when he first learned the two Arts. It seemed that the Immers family faith system, inherited from Tiz, would activate during high-level learning to assist Karon. At those moments, Karon always felt as if Tiz was standing behind him. Because of this, he felt as though he was cheating, which left him feeling somewhat embarrassed when called a genius.

“Oh, being modest now,” Fannie teased.

“I’m not being modest. I’m not a genius. I just have a good bloodline.”

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Fannie challenged, “Which genius doesn’t have a good bloodline?”

Karon suddenly realized that made sense. If receiving an inheritance counted as cheating, then all who had family faith systems were cheaters, while priests who borrowed divine power were also cheating.

At that moment, clarity and acceptance settled in his mind.He smiled. “You’re right, I am a genius.”