"I'm not going to lie, Mr. Song," Jinchul said, his voice a low, steady tone. "The mission I'm building is unsanctioned. It's dangerous, and it won't earn you a penny more than you make now. But it will give you a chance to do what you do best"
Song Chi-Yul's gaze remained fixed on Jinchul, and a slow, thoughtful smile spread across his face. He had found his purpose again. "I'm in, Chief Woo," he said. "When do we start?"
Jinchul's smile widened. He had found his next team member. He had found his mage. And he had found him not through a test of strength, but through a shared understanding of what it meant to be a true warrior.
The new team had their mage. The path was set, and the alliances would begin to be forged. The world was changing, and Jinchul, with his small but growing team, was ready to meet it head-on.
"Let's meet at the association tomorrow, Mr Song" replied Jinchul, "I need to know your current level, so bring your equipment and meet Taeshik who will also be your teammate".
Taeshik who was using his power till now becoming invisible suddenly showed up near Song Chi-Yul saying while reaching his hand out for greetings "Not bad old man, even though you are C Rank, your perception is really good and you didn't leave an opening for me to attack. Let me introduce myself, I am Taeshik, B Rank Hunter, an assassin/scout"
"Oh a B Rank hunter with a good power working in an association, I didn't think Guilds would have left you out. Nice to meet you Mr.scout" replied Song with a low chuckle and also reaching his hand out for greeting.
"It looks like you guys will have a good rapport. Let's end our greetings now, I won't take much of your time Mr. Song as there should be a student coming in soon. Let's leave Taeshik" ,Jinchul intertwined as things were slowly escalating.
Song Chi-Yul looked up surprisedly and replied "You know too much Mr. Jinchul"
"Well we need to keep track of those people which is also one of the jobs of the association you know" shrugging Jinchul replied.
While they were returning to the association, Taeshik while driving asked Jinchul " So who was going to come to his dojo?"
"I thought you would ask me sooner" replied Jinchul laughing "Make a guess, Taeshik. Let's see how your brain works"
"Hmm, I have a good IQ, you know. Okay lets see, you mentioned that they were under our watch. It's a high ranker right?" Taeshik replied.
"You are right. So among those high rankers who use a sword" Jinchul questioned back.
"Dont tell me!!. S-Rank Cha Hae-In??" replied Taeshik in shock.
"Yep, she is the one." said Jinchul.
"So looping in this old man may help us get an S Rank in the future" exclaimed Taeshik for which Jinchul just s
"Let's meet tomorrow, Taeshik. Get some rest today" said Jinchul while getting down from the car in front of the association "Yes, Chief. See ya tomorrow" replied Taeshik while parking the car and waving his hand.
Jinchul walked to the association office while checking whether the training room which he applied for is ready or not.
"Sir, the training room is at the end of our association building. Right now the access has been only given to you" an admin officer informed for which Jinchul thanked him.
Jinchul went straight to the training room to work on his mana and attacks. But to his surprise his skills started developing exponentially which led him to find out - his mana bends to his will easier than he thought. This changes things as he can surely become strong enough to fight with those Monarchs. Few hours later, he goes out to take rest while informing the staff to clean it as he will need it tomorrow.
Later on when staff came to clean the training room. What they found out was that the room was destroyed thoroughly by their chief.
"Is our chief really powerful?" questioned a staff member for which he got smacked in his head by his superior and got a reply " Did you think his A Rank is just for name. Now quiet down your doubts and clean it up well"
The Next day
"Hello Mr. Song. Once again thanks for joining the association. I formally welcome you" said Jinchul with a hand shake
"It's my pleasure Mr. Jinchul, no.. It's my pleasure to join your team Chief and Mr. Taeshik you as well" replied Song while laughing a little.
"Welcome to the team," said Taeshik.
"So shall we have a spar?" questioned Jinchul after Song and Taeshik got settled in his office
"A spar with who. Me with this old man?" asked Taeshik.
"No no. You two are against me" replied Jinchul while keeping his glasses on the desk.
"Oh this will be fun" Taeshik said, smirking a little "What about you, Old man. Are you scared to fight with our chief?"
"I wanted to see our Chief's level. I am one of the people who wanted to see the chief for a long time" replied Song.
"Suit up" said Jinchul while he started to move towards the armory.
Few Minutes later
"Come on. Start" said Jinchul against Taeshik and Song Chi-Yul.
Taeshik started vanishing from his spot while giving a warning to Song "Hey Old Man, don't treat our chief as a normal A-Rank. He is different, so take care"
"Oh?" Song tilted his head a little and changed his strategy of attack with both his sword and magic.
Jinchul a flash of fire in front of him while he sensed an attack coming from behind.
Both Taeshik and Song widened his eyes as they as Jinchul suddenly vanished from their range of attack. Then Song saw a blur appearing behind a few meters from his previous position and suddenly Taeshik was thrown out from there to him.
Song immediately moved a little to the side while preparing another attack of fire magic but before he could thrust his hand with the fire. Jinchul appeared in front of him holding his hand and also cancelled Song's attack. While he was surprised by it, Song didn't stop moving his other hand which had a sword.
Before the sword could reach Jinchul he thrusted his hand to his right with mana where it looks like Taeshik was attacking and also kicked Song.
"Not enough guys. If you can only do attacks like this, then how can you solo a dungeon in the future?" Jinchul said, shaking his head "So, lets go again?" and started his attack this time instead of defence.
Both Taeshik and Song were lying down in the training room a little later panting.
"Is A-Rank really that strong?" questioned Song while panting to Taeshik
"No, our Chief is the one who is different and compared to before I think this guy is still growing strong. I can feel it" replied Taeshik while looking at the figure who was checking his mobile like he was not thrashing them a minute back.
His Skills:
Impact Vibration: Bypassing armor to destroy targets from the inside out.
Cloaking: Erasing his own mana signature so he becomes invisible to both sight and mana-sensing (which he got inspired from Taeshik)
Mana Pulse: Sending out a ripple of energy to map the environment (Sonar)
Mana Shield: Creating a solid pane of energy.
Also shaping his mana into gauntlets and other weapons etc.,