[System Message: Through Dual Resonance, User skills - ‘Thà????????????????????????????natos’s Sovereign’ and ‘Thousands Become One,’ have been granted to Soul-Bound weapon ‘Eclipse’]

  [Skill ‘Thanatos’ Sovereign’ retrieving defeated soul designation ‘level 0??????0???????0???????0??????0??????? Blood Phoenix - Error - Soul Resisting Fracture - Soul inhabiting living body - Soul fragment retrieval failed]

  [Skill ‘Thanatos’ Sovereign’ retrieving defeated soul designation ‘level 0??????00??????0???????0 Proto Sapien - The??? L???ittl????e??? De???mo???n o???f??? Wind????ing Blo???o???????ds (Qi Gathering: Eight stage) - (D)’…]

  [Soul fragment retrieval success - 48% of Target Soul Retained]

  [Soul-bound weapon designated ‘Eclipse’ has gained a Soul Fragment]

  [Soul Fragment: ‘0??????00??????0???????0 Proto Sapien - The??? L???ittl????e??? De???mo???n o???f??? Wind????ing Blo???o???????ds (Qi Gathering: Eight stage) - (D) - gained!]

  ***

  The clash began without warning. With Alex’s blade cutting through the air in a blur with no wasted movement.

  He cut down at a speed much faster than all present could follow.

  Gideon’s eyes tracked the change. He stepped inside the swing—closer than should’ve been possible—his fist surged less than a foot away from Alex’s sternum, intent on causing life-threatening injury.

  Alex reacted instantly.

  He let go of the sword mid-swing, his grip loosening as the blade continued its path downward. His right elbow came up sharply, aimed directly at Gideon’s temple.

  Gideon raised his arm to block.

  And Alex smirked, driving his elbow toward Gideon’s chest. The impact cracked through the courtyard, forcing Gideon back a fraction. His boots scraped against the stone as he absorbed the force, but his expression remained unchanged.

  The blade Alex had released fell for barely a heartbeat before his hand darted down, catching the hilt again in one fluid motion. It was seamless—his fingers reflexively closed around the hilt just as Gideon reset his stance, eyes locked on Alex.

  The crowd stirred.

  Applicants and clerks, who had been watching the assessments in bored silence, now leaned forward. Even the healers stationed at the edges of the courtyard paused their work.

  Gideon’s expression remain unchanged. “That’s rare,” he said, taking a step forward.

  “No, it really isn’t.” Alex said almost lazily. His next strike would be probing, to test the strength of the city’s most prominent Assessor.

  Let’s see how he handles this, Alex thought, shooting forward in a blur, his blade cutting low before stabbing upward in Kenjutsu’s two-handed thrust; the morotezuki. His grip felt cold and steady, like stone under his palms, balancing the left hand's anchoring and the right hand's pressing.

  The thrust was swift—a bolt tearing through the sky before thunder could follow, splitting the air in a single line.

  Gideon caught the strike with his forearm. The crack of impact blasted through the courtyard, loud enough to make several of the gathered applicants jerk in surprise. But Gideon didn’t move. His forearm absorbed the force that would have shattered lesser men, holding steady.

  Not bad, Alex observed.

  The crowd of applicants remained silent, watching with wide eyes.

  Alex stepped forward, his body stretching and bending as if painted in water as he cleaved downward, the angle and style matching forms only someone from Earth would recognise. The moment the blade entered Gideon’s range, the man’s right hand surged forward like a hammer, inhuman speed meeting the speeding sword’s trajectory. They clashed —a blur of motion and steel, too fast for the untrained eye to follow.

  Blades met fists. Stone cracked underfoot. The sound of their exchanges swept through the courtyard like thunder, drawing the attention of even the most disinterested clerks.

  But it wasn’t Alex who faltered. The force of the impact reverberated along Gideon’s arm, a tremor that surprised even him. His fist held, yet the blade refused to yield.

  The impact had rang out across the courtyard. Gideon had clearly expected the weapon to shatter or at least falter under the force of his blow. But instead a jolt of force had run through his arm, vibrating from his knuckles to his shoulder.

  Gideon glanced briefly at his hand then back to Alex’s weapon. The blade hadn’t chipped.

  "That sword… What is it?"

  Alex stepped back, drawing the sword into position again. His expression remained calm, yet expectant, as though he was inviting the Hand to show him more, behaving as though he was the one doing the testing. “Just a sword, nothing more,” he lied.

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  Gideon eyes pursed at Alex’s statement, and then his form blurred. Neither man wasted energy in their exchange. The gathered clerks, bureaucrats, and applicants stood frozen, their eyes locked on the two figures.

  “You shouldn’t exist,” Gideon said.

  Alex struck. His blade moved in the tightest of blurs, cutting toward Gideon’s neck. Gideon raised his arm to block, the impact of steel on flesh causing a blast of wind and dust to shoot out in all directions, buffeting all witnesses and clearing the space of debris.

  “Strong,” Gideon muttered, stepping forward again. “Too strong.” He shifted his stance.

  “You’ve been hiding.”

  Alex remained silent and twisted his wrist, his sword spinning in his hand as he reset his stance with casual movements, his blade already coming up for another strike without missing a beat. His eyes stayed locked on Gideon, calculating each movement, adjusting his stance as needed. He struck out, repeating Kenjutsu’s two handed thrust.

  The blow connected.

  Gideon slid back half a step, his boots skidding slightly on the stone. It was the first time anyone had seen him give ground.

  The murmurs in the crowd grew louder, spreading through the gathered crowd. Clerks whispered among themselves. Applicants exchanged uneasy glances.

  One of the applicants whispered, “He forced back the hand...”

  Gideon watched him closely without admiration in his gaze, and no sign of respect that could be seen. Only cold calculation.

  “You’re stronger than you should be,” Gideon’s voice cut through the noise of clashing steel and hardened flesh. “But you don’t look like one of them,” he spoke the words as he drew back a fist.

  Alex’s sword flashed in a blur of movement without response, cutting toward Gideon’s shoulder. Gideon met the strike with an open palm, gripping the blade with fingers that didn’t falter even as the blade dug deep into his flesh, blood pouring from a deep wound halted only by bone. Alex noted with mild curiosity that the wound was constantly healing itself despite the blade lodged within it. A passive skill, makes sense, he noted.

  Gideon’s grip on the blade splitting his palm was like iron, locking them in place for a breathless moment.

  “Which house do you serve?” Gideon pressed, his voice low, cold and indifferent to the injury.

  “None, I don’t serve a House,” he replied.

  Gideon’s grip on the sword tightened further. “Liar.”

  With a shove, Alex forced Gideon back. The sound of steel scraping bone crackled across the courtyard.

  “No crest. No sigil,” Gideon said, his eyes tracing Alex’s form with detachment. “I’m not interested in ghosts.”

  The gathered clerks and applicants watched in tense silence. None of them dared to move or speak as the two stood still. And none of them had expected to see the Hand of the Crown to be the one being tested.

  One applicant whispered, “He did it again. He really forced him back...”

  Gideon ignored them all. His focus remained entirely on Alex.

  “Why do you want this badge?” He said, his voice cold.

  Alex’s blade remained steady and he met Gideon’s gaze without wavering, his breathing calm and unlabored and his response measured. “I think I already answered that in my application.”

  Gideon didn’t argue. Instead, he stepped past Alex, his gaze turning toward one of the clerks. “Mark him well.”

  The clerk hesitated.

  “Now,” Gideon snapped.

  The clerk moved quickly, fumbling with the ink and seal. His hands shook as he prepared to mark Alex’s registration papers.

  Alex left without a word. As he stepped away, the murmurs in the crowd grew louder before briefly hushing as they split before him like the ocean’s surface before a boat, each witness unwilling to even momentarily block his path. Applicants whispered to each other, glancing at the cracked stone where the two had clashed as Alex leaned against a pillar, watching as Gideon studied him for a breath, before addressed the applicants that surrounded him.

  “Next.”

  ***

  When the registration finally ended, Alex was directed to a side chamber where his badge would be issued. The clerk gestured to a stack of papers. “Sign here to confirm your registration, and you’ll be added to the city’s official hunter registry.”

  Alex took the quill, signing his name with a swift stroke.

  The clerk stamped the document with a practiced motion, the wax seal pressing into place with a satisfying snap.

  “Congratulations,” the clerk said. “You’ve been registered as an official hunter.”The clerk handed him a sealed envelope and slid a small metal badge with trembling fingers, avoiding eye contact. “Welcome to the Crown’s service,” the clerk murmured.

  Alex picked up the badge, inspected its engraved number and symbol.

  “This marks you as an official hunter,” the clerk continued. “Your badge will grant you access to hunting contracts, guild resources, special requests and priority clearance at checkpoints.” the clerk continued. “Keep it safe… Sir!” He added the last word hastily before darting off with speed, without looking back. The clerk’s elevated heart rate and perspiration suggested simply being in Alex’s presence caused him to fear for his life.

  Jheez, it’s not like I killed anybody, Alex shrugged, storing the badge and document in his Inventory before turning to leave.

  Alex walked out of the hall, idly glancing back toward the at the space, his eyes scanning those present in search of memorable passing hunters. Then he spotted Gideon.

  The man remained near the end of the hall, stood on a far balcony with his arms crossed as he spoke quietly with one of the senior clerks. His expression remained inscrutable, but his gaze flicked briefly toward Alex before returning to the conversation.

  A small packet of mana mixed with sound entered Alex’s domain, unstructured. It came from the direction of Gideon. Alex watched the minuscule collection of magic and sound, idly, before finally deciding to allow it to reach him, whilst prepared to expel it at the slightest hint of attack.

  The moment the mana reached him, he heard Gideon’s voice. “You’ve lived without notice longer than most. But untethered men are buried long before anyone comes to know their names.”

  Alex paused in his stride, he could see Liora in the distance, beckoning him with a soft smile, but he didn’t move. Instead, Mana Burn erased his mana reserves, engaging the 2-hour cool-down that would allow him to utilise a Qi technique to whisper back.

  “You think you’ve seen worse than me,” Alex said finally, a hint of mild amusement in his tone and his body now filled with circulating Qi.

  “I have,” Gideon replied, his words as firm as the stone beneath them, the depth of his inflection implying he referred to things that held true horror. His fists clenched briefly, the leather of his gloves creaking before his palms relaxed. “More than you’d think. But that doesn’t mean you’re free to go.”

  Gideon turned from his position on the balcony to stare at Alex, his voice carrying through space unheard by anyone but its target. “Power must serve the Crown,” he said with cold finality.

  Alex looked back, his response was measured, still calm, and prepared for any outcome.

  “I’m not here to serve anyone.”

  Gideon’s lips pressed into a thin line, but he didn’t press the issue. Instead, turned to walk away, his voice sounding in the recesses of Alex’s mind.

  “Then prove you’re not a threat…” he said with cold indifference.

  “Or I’ll make you one.”

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