The warehouse training room echoed with the dull rhythm of impact.
Steel plates. Reinforced concrete. Old bloodstains that refused to fade no matter how many times they scrubbed.
Stone and Kingston sat across from each other at a metal table near the far wall.
Neither spoke.
Neither moved.
The silence wasn't peaceful.
It was analytical.
The door opened.
Rika and Yumi entered in perfect sync.
Rika crossed her arms."You see it too," she said flatly. "Those kids aren't nearly strong enough."
A pause.
"Besides the one with the red eyes."
Kingston nodded once.
Stone bumped his chin lazily against the table. "Man… I was hoping they were hiding some secret monster power."
He leaned back.
"Guess we'll just have to drag them up to Lorenzo, Leroy, and Enma's level."
The warehouse doors clanged violently as they swung open.
Akira, Jackson, Sora, and Gaku stepped inside.
Stone stood.
"All right," he said, rolling his shoulders. "We've decided. You need to get stronger."
He pointed lazily at Jackson.
"The Hunter Games are for hunters within their first year. You might think you're above most rookies…"
His gaze sharpened slightly.
"…but Red Eyes joined in that same time frame."
Jackson stiffened.
"Imagine fighting someone like him," Stone continued. "Doesn't end pretty."
Rika stepped forward.
"We're going to need to see real passion," she said evenly. "Something that makes me say wow."
Akira blinked."Huh? I thought I was already strong."
Stone smiled.
"You're about one percent of my strength."
He paused.
"And that's generous."
Akira's eye twitched.
Stone clasped his hands together.
"Strength isn't just power. It's Tao capacity. Control. Output. Efficiency. Intent."
He looked between them.
"You have three days. We'll upgrade everything."
A clap.
"To test you—"
He shoved Kingston forward.
"You're fighting Kingy."
Kingston pointed at himself.
"…Why me?"
"Because you're free."
The Training Floor
A reinforced platform stretched across the center of the warehouse.
Akira, Jackson, Sora, and Gaku stepped onto it.
Gaku moved forward—
A hand grabbed his collar.
Rika.
"Woah," she said calmly. "You're stronger than the others."
She pointed across the room.
Enma was already stretching dramatically.Lorenzo leaned against a wall, arms crossed.Leroy gave a polite wave.
"You'll fight them."
Gaku blinked. "…All three?"
Enma grinned.
"Yup!"
Rika shoved him forward.
"You'll manage."
Kingston stood at the center of the platform.
Fifty meters between him and the others.
Hands in his pockets.
No stance.
"Whenever you're ready."
Akira stepped first.
Azure flickered across his knuckles.
He lunged—
And stopped.
Kingston was already standing in front of him.
Akira's body jolted.
Kingston tilted his head slightly.
"Sorry. That was probably too fast."
He stepped backward—
At the exact same speed he had advanced.
Akira grit his teeth and charged again.
He didn't make it three steps.
Ice exploded upward.
Akira froze mid-stride, encased instantly.
Jackson rolled his shoulder. Iron crept along his forearm.
Sora inhaled slowly. Golden energy flowed with her breath.
"I'm not going down that easily," she said quietly.
They attacked together.
Jackson rushed first.
Kingston stepped sideways.
"Still headfirst."
Jackson swung.
Kingston caught the fabric of his jacket.
Frost began creeping along it.
Jackson's eyes sharpened.
"Formless."
His sleeve tore off instantly as metal consumed the arm beneath it.
Jackson pivoted.
"Got you."
He drove a punch toward Kingston's jaw.
Kingston ducked—minimal movement—reaching for Jackson's exposed arm.
Sora leapt, aiming a kick for the back of his head.
Kingston shifted.
Her heel cut air.
Heat surged.
Akira shattered the ice in a burst of azure flame and launched forward.
His flaming fist tore through the air—
Missing Kingston by inches.
Jackson's iron fist came from the blind spot.
Kingston caught it with one hand.
Metal groaned.
Jackson's eyes widened.
Kingston examined the arm almost curiously.
"This is your output?"
He squeezed.
The iron cracked.
Jackson was thrown backward like discarded scrap.
Sora reacted instantly.
Red-gold energy condensed at her fingertip.
"Tao Technique: Vermillion Cannon!"
She fired.
The blast swallowed Kingston in blazing force.
Smoke filled the room.
Silence.
The smoke cleared.
Kingston stood exactly where he had been.
Unharmed.
The energy had curved around him—
As if refusing contact.
Sora's breath hitched.
"What—?"
Kingston exhaled slowly.
The temperature dropped.
The lights flickered.
Akira roared and lunged again, flames raging hotter.
He aimed for Kingston's ribs.
Kingston shifted his weight.
Two fingers pressed lightly against Akira's sternum.
The world vanished.
Akira felt weightlessness—
Then the floor.
The impact rattled the warehouse.
No explosion.
No flash.
Just perfect timing.
Jackson reformed his arm mid-roll and launched a storm of constructs—spears, blades, jagged shards erupting from the ground.
Kingston walked through them.
Each missed by millimeters.
No wasted motion.
No urgency.
He appeared in front of Jackson.
Palm strike.
Jackson hit the wall.
The wall cracked.
Sora extended both hands.
Golden energy compressed between her fingers.
"MOVE!" she shouted.
She fired again.
The blast engulfed Kingston.
When it faded—
He was still there.
Suddenly—
He turned.
Sora was already behind him, blade in hand.
She thrust—
A cold gust burst from Kingston's mouth.
Ice spread instantly.
She froze mid-motion.
Kingston tilted his head.
"You coordinate well."
Then—
He vanished.
Not speed.
Absence.
Akira tackled him from the side.
"I'm not stopping until I land a hit!"
Kingston allowed it.
Akira's flames surged violently.
Heat spiked.
The air distorted.
For a brief second—
Kingston's sleeve singed.
A pause.
Kingston glanced at the burn.
"There's your hit."
Two fingers touched Akira's forehead.
Darkness.
Akira woke on his back.
Jackson knelt nearby.
Sora lay barely conscious.
Kingston stood untouched.
Stone clapped slowly from the sidelines.
"See?" he called lazily. "One percent."
Akira gritted his teeth.
Kingston looked down at them.
"You're not weak," he said calmly.
"You're just early."
He turned away.
"You have three days."