Hero of Darkness

Two days had passed since Kahn's deeds had spread across the entire city and many people in the city tried to look for his whereabouts.

Some wanted to hire him as their chief guard, some wanted to challenge him to a fight while some wanted to establish good connections with him so they could make deals with him like buying rare monsters and herbs from him.

Only now did Kahn realized how big of a deal minotaurs were. Everyone wanted to contact the source itself than go through Adventure Association and buy at a higher price. Plus making friends with an emerging Grandmaster Swordsman was their main priority.

Only a handful people from adventurer association and Black Griffin merchant enterprise knew of his current location.

"System, tell me the progress." spoke Kahn who was intensely training and perfecting his Combat skills and techniques. He had made the flowery garden as his training grounds instead. He had all the weapons and equipments from the space ring he robbed so there was no shortage on resources to aid his training.

[The host has achieved 100% Weapon Mastery in the followings :

Sword : 100%

Daggers/Knives : 100%

Archery/Bow : 100%

Axe : 100%

Shield : 100%

Spear : 100%

Greatsword : 100%

Cleaver : 100%

Saber : 100%

Hatchet : 100%

Throwing projectiles : 100%

The host has achieved 100% Combat Techniques/Skills mastery in the followings :

Shadow Walk

Firestorm

Windcutter

Sword Edge

Parry/Deflect

Side Hopper

Defense Fortitude

Knight Wall

Ripper Claws

Lacerate

Archer Sight

Frost Spike

Water Blade

Pincer ]

"Phew.. Finally!" Kahn sighed and finally felt like he could take some rest.

"What's my current Rank? How do I break through the Grandmaster Rank?" asked Kahn curiously because he thought achieving the 100% mastery would help him break through ranks.

[The host is currently comparable to a Peak Master rank fighter. And to break through the next Rank for any Weapon Mastery or Skills, the host must complete 100% mastery in that particular Weapon Mastery along with absorbing the skills and eat the core of an opponent belonging to the higher rank in those jobs/classes.]

"So to reach a Grandmaster Rank, I must kill a Grandmaster Rank opponent, eat their cores and absorb their skills?" questioned Kahn to the system.

[Yes.]

"Hmm... That makes it troublesome. There aren't many Grandmaster Rank individuals in this city in the first place. And I don't have an enmity with any of them either. So to kill them for the sake of upgrading my rank doesn't seem a reasonable choice. I guess I'll need to look for enemies in higher places and bigger cities from now on." he let out a worried expression.

At this very moment, in the same Military Fort in the South of the Flavot city.. A meeting was held by high ranking officers and some law enforcement authorities.

" I'm disappointed in you, Captain Nordak. It's been a week and you still haven't found who this Azrael is. It's a slap in our & entire city security department." spoke a slim and old white Lionkin elderly man.

"Please, honorable Magistrate; give me 2 more days and I'll definitely catch Azrael and bring him in front of you." spoke the middle aged Captain.

"I don't want to hear any excuses. You don't even have proper suspects about who could this Azrael be." reminded the old Magistrate.

"If I may speak, honorable Magistrate.. Recently we did have a suspect who has caught our eyes. It's an adventurer named Kahn. And according to the information we've gathered, this person has no prior information available about him except the fact that he once belonged to a mercenary group that was ambushed and killed by bandits close to the Abyss Forest. He was the only survivor who escaped in the forest and survived there for few weeks before appearing to save a merchant caravan that was ambushed by those same bandits. He killed them very efficiently and saved the lives of all those present there." spoke a brunette woman clad in armor. She then continued her findings..

"And he's also the first one to pass a test conducted by the Grandmaster Magic Swordsman, Arkham Holland. He now works alone as per our information and is presumed to be a Peak Master rank Swordsman. Based on the patterns Azrael does the killings, we assume that he is a Peak Master rank Assassin himself. So we have some suspicion about this individual." the woman expressed her thoughts.

"Lieutenant Beatrice, one is a swordmaster while other is an assassin. What's there to feel suspicious about? Since when has anyone managed to learn two different jobs and skills? Even a Grandmaster Swordsman like Arkham can only infuse some magic in his attacks and combat skills. And I'm friends with Solomon myself.. If there was something wrong or suspicious about this guy, he would've at least sent me a message." scolded the old lionkin magistrate.

"And I've heard the talks as well.. He killed not one but six minotaurs himself. If he was Azrael, why would he display his strength to the public that could lead many suspecting gazes at him given the current situation? It's no different than blowing your cover by your own hands." emphasized the old lionkin.

At this moment, the Captain Nordak of City Security Department interjected.

"Sir, I have some thoughts about this as well.. One thing I noticed about both these individuals is how quickly they rose to fame and became the talk of the city. Even though I admit that killing that many minotaurs alone is indeed an accomplishment worth noticing.. But don't you think it spread too quickly? Nobody gets that famous in just 3 or four days.. Nobody." remarked the Captain.

"Fine.. I'm holding a banquet at my mansion tomorrow night. Many influential figures and nobles will be present there, send this Kahn an invitation as well. That way, we can gauge his strength and know if he's actually a real deal. Plus, Commander Straze will be present there as well, he could be our way to test whether this person is actually close to becoming a grandmaster rank Swordsman or not. And I'm certain many of the powers & factions would like to know that themselves." spoke the old magistrate cunningly.

"As you command, sir magistrate. We will also provide a tight security in case Azrael decides to show up." said the lieutenant and bowed.

Both the man and the woman along with other officers left the room. The old lionkin leaned comfortably on his chair and rested his head.

"So, what have you found?" spoke the old man and suddenly a wolfkin, covered in assassin outfit appeared out of nowhere and stood in front of the old magistrate.

"It's true. We've done research on this guy and he's a real deal. But for some reason, he has always kept a low profile since he showed up in the city. The only two noticeable incidents were when he was accused of killing the second young master of Sigurd family and when he passed an assessment test which was conducted by Arkham Holland himself. Based on our intel gathering, he doesn't seem like to be the Azrael." spoke the wolfkin.

"This is going to affect my position if we let this Azrael roam free. We can smother the small time criminals with no background.. But it'll be a problem if he points his dagger at the nobles and law enforcement authorities. You know how many corrupted and sadistic bastards we have here.. Especially those nobles and their heirs." spoke the old man with a somber face.

The next morning, Kahn was practicing his newly merged skills and techniques in the garden when he saw Jerome coming towards him with a shocked expression.

"Sir.. You have received an invitation.. from the magistrate." spoke Jerome with a ghastly voice as if the information was too much for him to process.

"Huh.. What kind of nonsense are you talking about?" asked Kahn.

"The seal on the envelope belongs to the Magistrate's office, Sir. Anyone else using it is a crime in this city." replied Jerome as he handed the invitation.

Kahn read the context mentioned in the invitation and noticed how he was over-praised for his talent in swordsmanship.

"I see. So they want to check out if I'm a real deal or not." spoke Kahn to himself and decided that it was about time he introduced himself to the top brass of this city.

Kahn spent his afternoon looking for a fitting attire in a high class clothing store which sold one of the costliest clothes. He couldn't afford to go to this banquet in his regular clothes as that would make him look like a dirt poor nobody.

Because even the female shop receptionist gave Kahn a suspicious gaze as if he mistakenly entered inside without knowing what type of people came here.

Kahn paid no attention to her gaze and asked for an assistant and looked for most costly and regal clothes.

He chose a black set of highly delicate clothes made of rich quality materials and many intrinsic silver designs and patterns. As for the shirt, he chose one of those british nobles likes shirt.. A white shirt, red inner jacket and a green tie.

He handed 15 thousand gold coins to the store manager and left he store.. Leaving everyone gobsmacked in his wake since none of them expected him to be this rich.

As the nighttime came, he hired an extremely luxurious carriage and came to the magistrate's mansion. After handing out the invitation card and passing through the security, he finally entered the grand hall of the mansion.

As soon as he entered inside, he was the a crowd of many people in flamboyant clothes talking and gossiping amongst themselves.

The speaker on the side of the door announced his entrance to the crowd in a gentle tone..

"Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce you to the famous adventurer of our Flavot city.. Mister Kahn." said the speaker.

Sudden gasps of surprise were heard from the crowd.. And many eyes turned towards Kahn and gazed at him with expectant eyes. Especially the young and beautiful noble girls and women in the hall.

The combination of this attire along with his handsome and charismatic appearance made Kahn look no different than a prince of an empire.

Too charming and elating for all of them and his strong physique could be noticed even through his clothes.

Under these curious gazes and expectant eyes.. Kahn spoke to himself..

[ Fuck! I want to go back! ]