The Seven Demon's Tamer

All that was left behind was a trail of dust.

Hinata closed the distance between him and Ryder faster than Ryder's eyes could trace. Movement faster than a black-marked summoner could trace.

One moment he was standing fifteen feet away from Ryder at the other side of the platform, taking his preparatory stance. The next moment, he was directly in front of Ryder, close enough that Ryder could feel the displaced air from his movement blowing into his face.

What was truly impressive wasn't just the speed—it was also the control.

Hinata had covered the distance in what appeared to be a single fluid motion that even Ryder surprisingly could not track. He had stopped precisely where he intended to stop, with no overshoot, no correction, just perfectly accurate.

"The key," Hinata said, his voice perfectly steady despite the fact that he had just demonstrated an extraordinary movement, "is not just speed, but controlled speed. Power without precision is merely destructive force. Precision without power is merely dancing."

"I... I think my brain is about to explode," Brok whispered, his voice barely audible as he tried to process what he had seen. "Did anyone else see that, or am I having hallucinations from too much excitement today?"

Mara could only nod wordlessly, her mouth hanging slightly open as she continued to stare at the spot where Hinata had been standing moments before.

Leo seemed the most composed of the three, though his eyes held evidence of recognition.

"That technique is truly remarkable," he murmured, almost to himself. "I could see his aura movement in his body. They weren't kidding with their explanation."

Brok and Mara, from the side, shook their heads vigorously like bobblehead dolls. They just couldn't get out of the state of shock.

Ryder nodded slowly in acknowledgment, though his mind was racing, giving Leo a side-eye stare once in a while.

"I do understand the principle," he said carefully, "but your movement didn't seem like something that could be learned in a single day. Perfecting such movements like that would take months, even for the most talented individuals."

"So how do you intend for us to learn it? Master Sung made mention that there would be quite a lot for us to learn. If the explosive rush is just one technique and it's already showing the potential to consume a huge amount of time, what about all the other techniques?"

Hinata's lips curved into a smile.

"You won't be learning it from me," he responded. "My orders were to show you how it is performed so you'll have a real-life experience with the techniques."

Turning his head towards Master Sung, who was still sitting calmly in the spectators' seats at a far distance away, he added with a slight bow of acknowledgment, "I believe Yuki will be doing the big job."

"Yeah, that's right! How could I have forgotten about that?" Ryder slapped his forehead with his palm, the sound echoing in the spacious combat room. "Yuki's affinity allows her to directly transfer knowledge into others' minds and experience."

"Now," Hinata continued, his voice taking on a more serious tone as he prepared to demonstrate the next technique, "the next technique I'll be showing you is the Phantom Step."

Before they knew it, hours flowed by, and a total of seventy-seven techniques were displayed to them. Ryder and Leo both noticed something about the techniques displayed to them: it was the fact that they all required the use of energy—gamma energy.

There was the "Stone Crusher Palm," which allowed the practitioner to focus gamma energy into their hand with such intensity that they could shatter solid rock with a single strike.

The "Wind Walker" technique enabled the user to move across any surface, including walls and ceilings, by altering and reducing their body weight through gamma energy manipulation.

"Iron Skin" was a defensive technique that temporarily hardened the user's skin to the durability of steel armor.

"Wait a minute," Leo said suddenly. He hesitated for a brief moment but then continued. "The way you're channeling energy through your body, the focus on specific body parts at a time—it's almost identical to how I enhance my physical capabilities."

"You've noticed the similarities, huh, summoner slayer?" Hinata responded with a smile that startled even Leo.

Hinata wasn't surprised by what I said. Does this mean that he knew all along?

"Tell me," Hinata continued, "how do you manipulate energy?"

Spilling out his trump card in detail to strangers isn't something Leo would have done, but his trump card suddenly didn't feel so special or confidential now.

"I focus my life energy into specific parts of my body—my legs for speed, my arms for strength. Sometimes I concentrate it on a section of my skin to harden it for protection. However, I don't have any gamma energy since I'm not a summoner."

"Fascinating," Hinata commented sincerely, still bearing his smile. "You're manipulating pure life energy directly. That's... that's supposed to be impossible according to our current understanding, but I am not so surprised."

"You are quite popular amongst low-ranking and rising guilds, so I knew about you for a long time. Ever since I heard of how you can defeat summoners despite not being a summoner yourself, I guessed that you either have some mystical items, or you could use techniques."

"But that's a discussion for another time," Hinata continued, glancing toward Master Sung. "For now, we should proceed with the bidding of our guild leader."

Returning to Brok and Mara at the edge of the platform with no strain evident on his face, Ryder spoke.

"That went fine," he said, stretching casually as he continued. "Why were you all terrified like you were going to die? Like he was going to harm you?"

Ryder couldn't help but grin at the question. "He didn't touch a single hair on my head. Have you forgotten what Master Sung told him? We are privileged allies that must be respected."

"Yeah, yeah, we weren't afraid," Brok scoffed, waving his hand dismissively while trying to appear brave. "I was just, uhm... strategically observing from a safe distance, you know."

Mara rolled her eyes at Brok's obvious attempt to save face. "Right, and I was just making sure I had a good view of the techniques while staying unhurt."

Master Sung was already approaching the platform with the three exclusives walking right beside him.

"I believe you have all seen how all the techniques of the Luo are performed," Master Sung said, his voice echoing loudly in the combat room.

The question was clearly rhetorical, only said to divert everyone's attention to what was coming next.

"Please climb down from the platform, all of you," Master Sung requested politely, "except for whoever wishes to go first with the initiation process."

They all knew what this was for: the knowledge and experience transfer that would implant the understanding and muscle memory of seventy-seven advanced techniques directly into their minds.

Trying to regain his pride after his earlier pathetic display, Brok remained on the platform while everyone else climbed down.

His chest was puffed out slightly, and he had adopted what he clearly thought was a heroic pose, stealing side glances to get a good glimpse of Mara's expression.

"I'll go first," he announced, his voice carrying more confidence than he probably felt.

Yuki joined him on the platform, and unlike the previous time she used it on them, there was no altar for her to place her palm on. The technique would be performed directly, skin to skin.

Brok literally howled and jumped backwards the moment her soft palm touched his chest. "It tickles," Brok spoke, wiggling like a little worm.

A visible vein bulged on her forehead in annoyance. If not for the privilege Master Sung had bestowed upon him, she certainly would have launched forward to teach him the lesson of his life.

Moving her hands to Brok's head instead of his chest this time around, she firmly pressed her palm on Brok's head. This time, he didn't cause any problem.

"Are you ready?" she asked softly, her voice carrying a gentleness that her eyes didn't reflect.

Instantly, she activated her affinity, causing her palm to pulsate with white energy. Brok's body soon reacted to the affinity and began to float upward, suspending about three feet above the ground.

Just like the previous time, lights began to emit from his eyes, nose, and mouth. It took several moments, but then the light faded off, returning Brok to the ground on his knees.

Then, slowly, Brok's eyes opened. He looked around in confusion for a moment, as if trying to remember where he was and what had happened. Then suddenly, awareness of everything flooded back to him.

"I don't know why the hell we always end up in a state of loss momentarily after the mind alteration," he pouted as he got back to his feet.

It was a success. He gave a thumbs up as he walked down from the platform like nothing ever happened. "I feel my being filled with a lot. It's making my head ache."

He fell to the ground after getting to the others.

Ryder went next, and the process was over as quick as it began. Soon Leo and then Mara went for the initiation.

Finally, they all gathered back with Master Sung.

"Alright," Master Sung spoke carefully, giving them a thumbs up of approval. "We are done in the Luo district."

"Now," he continued, "we should be going to the Tian section."

"Right," Mara stressed as they all walked out of the combat room and then out of the building.

The first thing Mara said when they were finally outside under the clouds was, "Time truly flies."

She was right. They knew they had spent quite a bit of time in the Luo district, but they hadn't realized just how much. It was night! They had already spent a whole day simply visiting two of the Red Eastern districts, and there were still two more to go.

"Don't you think we should rest?" Mara quickly whispered to Brok, whom she saw as someone in the closest rank to her.

"Yeah, I know," Brok whispered back in a hushed tone. "But do you think they'll be willing to let us? Look at Master Sung—he seems like he could keep going for another day without breaking a sweat."

"Why don't you tell them?" Mara inquired, still in a whisper.

"The hell will I dare!" Brok responded, his voice dropping even lower. "It was your suggestion, so you should carry it out yourself. I'm not about to be the guy who complains about being tired when we're getting access to techniques that people would kill for."

Their whispered conversation was interrupted as Master Sung called out, "Koji!"

Immediately, Koji knew what he needed to do without any more words being spoken. Koji, the portal creator, walked forward, stopping in front of the group before activating his affinity.

Sparks began to weave together in the air, forming into a portal in no time. It was the portal to their next destination: the Tian district.

They all stepped through without further ado.

*Vwoom*

The moment Leo stepped into their destination, his eyes widened in shock and his body immediately tensed in response to what he encountered.

It was nearly as if a gust of violent wind had swept past their faces before an oppressive weight settled on their shoulders, pressing them down with overwhelming power.

The aura from the area alone was suffocating. It wasn't just for Leo—the others felt it as well.

"What is this power?" Leo gasped, his voice strained as he struggled to maintain his composure.