As another day has passed by, so did the count of Rei's hunt, leaving one alive to interrogate before executing them on the spot when there was no information or anything worth that he could get from them.
"Another dead end…" Rei uttered to himself as he crossed the list of people of the paper who were involved in the case for Sylvie's loss of prowess or anyone in general.
The male could only wonder how he could find anything that could help him to advance with Sylvie's case in order for him to get his revenge for what they did with her. At the same time, he was at least becoming more decent and stable when practicing a new technique of his prowess.
He had already written a new document for his prowess with Jinwoo's approval to send to the headmaster for updates as Rei had already named his new technique.
Channel Master. The aspect of it was to manifest a stockpiling energy that acted out as a boost for power, speed and durability while the other one acted out as a way for him to recreate prowess from memory itself.
The easiest ones were shadow manipulation from what he assumed from his mother that stored it within her kit as an aura manipulation user then Jinwoo and Jinah's shadow prowess. He asked Jinwoo about using emotions as a medium to which the Korean male was surprised since his shadows are just mainly used from spiritual energy itself.
Despite the difference, the latter advised him to do some meditation or to find a certain emotion that triggers him the most in order to gauge his control over the shadow. It helped him a lot as the more he refined his channeling technique through shadow manipulation, the more he could control his output, reserves and execution.
The shadow manipulation prowess proved to be versatile and powerful as all he did was control the darkness that he felt through negative emotions or one feeling that he had felt from before.
Death.
Rei sighed as he gauged his current strength by using the facility in Jinwoo's headquarters, the place where he could go all out for training and letting out his frustration when stressed. The male immediately pressed the button for the prowess level assessment test as he activated his prowess, already calling upon the darkness as both aura manipulation basic enhancement and channel master technique had boosted him.
His speed was almost as quick as Sylvie's time manipulation, beating his own record then almost on par with her speed stat as Rei had a feeling that he had a massive jump towards his growth. Despite it, he still craved power as he went for the next test. The power and defense test which consisted of the punching bag then him defending himself from the test dummy.
His powered punch from totality stockpile then along with using the shadows to wrap his fist to avoid massive backlash had exceeded his expectations on a whole new level as he had managed to break his own record by a thousand or two more above his entrance examination from before.
Definitely more improvement as Rei went to the next gauging test which was now related to the defense part as the test was brutal from getting hit by the test dummy several times at each level. His former record when he first gauged it in Jinwoo's facility during the first day was barely a level five but now, he was barely reaching level seven.
Rei went further for his own assessment as the next ones were Ethereal's gauging methods. An orb that he had to use his spiritual energy for both output and reserves. To gauge his output, it was just to pour his spiritual energy into the orb onto the corresponding amount that the device had set into four stages. Low amount, medium amount, high amount then full capacity.
For the reserve part, he just poured all his spiritual energy in one go before getting the results as Rei felt satisfied with it before printing everything out on the paper. "Nice. Looks like I'm heading down such a nice path." The male uttered to himself, his mindset much better than before due to his sudden lashing out and anger issues that were now all controlled although he still had depression.
The final test was execution and durability which he excelled as he managed to improve a level or two. Rei was sure that this time, he had grown stronger than before as he was leaning more onto his channel master technique rather than his usual mimicry.
Mimicry had a lot of downside from what he had experienced throughout his life by constantly forcing others to activate their prowess for him to copy then amplify it to have a greater advantage except for those higher than him, but now he had an advantage for using his channel master by using what he remembers the most without needing to copy directly.
...…
It wasn't long enough until Jinwoo had entered the facility, wondering who was up early to train although he could only have one person in mind. Rei Nishimura, the intern who improved at such a monstrous level. After all, people don't grow that strong almost immediately within a short span of a week or two.
To his surprise, Rei had already finished as he saw the result posted on the board. "You're kidding… that quickly?!" The Korean male uttered to himself as he stared at the intern in total disbelief.
"At this rate. He may even grow further like those legends…" Jinwoo thought to himself, comparing Rei to one the legends that Ethereal had always praised for their ability and prowess.
One who was a god to their term and perspective.
'The one who walks along the trail of the dead. One who harbours calamity as each strike leaves nothing behind.'
'The Black Reaper'
The Korean male sighed to himself as he wondered if Rei was somehow gonna grow as strong as them or behind them after gauging everything from the intern's experience for three weeks.
"Rei. Duty calls. Extermination Request. We're requested to search near Ethereal instead of here. It's related to that case." Jinwoo said with such seriousness in his voice upon getting a feeling of the sudden shift in Rei's demeanor.
"I'll be there in a minute or three. I'll get ready and get down to the lobby, sir." Rei said as Jinwoo felt creep out upon seeing the eyes that spoke out that same possessiveness and obsession.
"A-Alright…" Jinwoo uttered weakly, completely caught off guard as the only person that could make him feel this uncomfortable feeling was Eunji yet the male before him had made him feel the sensation of a grim reaper.
...…
A group of bandits were running away, fear evident in their eyes as they desperately ran for their lives before meeting their inevitable end upon seeing a sharp sickle that immediately went through them. Mutilated immediately as the rest couldn't even have the opportunity to fight back as they were immediately slashed into multiple pieces.
The limbs scattered all over the area had enforcers struggling to keep up as they vomited at the other side in order for the scene not to be contaminated. Most of them were fearful of the hooded figure as Jinwoo had reassured them that they were allies before looking over at the area.
"Jeez… The moment when they have no information regarding her… He doesn't spare the time to leave them alive nor try to get them arrested…" Jinwoo thought to himself before looking over to the one who was still alive, being interrogated by Rei before dying by his hand upon having their head pulled out of their body with the now sharp Shadow claw that Rei's hand had become.
"Senior. There's a lead. At the same place where the incident happened." Rei said as Jinwoo became intrigued with what the latter had found. "There should be a teleportation seal that they've used to stay undetected and how they managed to separate us while using the weakening technique at the same time." The intern added that the Korean male didn't waste any time as the two had immediately proceeded with their work while the enforcers behind were wrapping up the scene after backup had arrived to help them.
Upon arrival, Rei had immediately sensed something was wrong as he had called Keith through their mental link to confirm his suspicion. "Brat. Someone is watching. Tell that senior of yours since I can sense what belongs to me within the area." The ancient being said through their link as Rei had relayed everything to Jinwoo by whispering.
"Alright. Let's go then." Jinwoo said as they wrapped themselves up with shadows which the supposedly person who was watching them thought they had left.
"Hmmm… They are gone… Looks like we're fine with collecting what that rxtard had forgotten to get rid of." The person said before feeling a chilling atmosphere behind them while a sharp sensation tickled around their neck.
"If you dare to move or think about it. This sickle will cut your head off."
Behind the person, a pair of glowing eyes stared into theirs although what seemed to intimidate them was the black wisp of shadows that flickered around the hooded figure.
"Either answer my question or challenge my authority…" Rei said with such coldness in his tone, no hint of remorse as he was prepared to do the worst.
...…
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