Juan was caught in a moment before the thrill started to kick in. “Thump!”Juan fell to his knees and said emotionally, “Please accept my deepest respect.” Rose was dumbfounded. What was going on? Juan was basically the age of Rose’s father. Yet, he wanted to be Kaze’s student.Kaze was lost for words. Juan was quick to take action. Kaze had not even finished what he was going to say. Kaze waved his arm and said indifferently, “Get up. I never said that I’ve accepted you as my student.” “I won’t get up until we establish a mentor-mentee relationship.” Once again, Juan put on a shameless act, insisting that he would kneel forever unless Kaze agreed to his request. Kaze said callously, “If I don’t take you as my student, you can kneel there for all I care. I won’t even bat an eye.” Just as the disappointment overwhelmed Juan, Kaze said, “You can be a nominal student to me, seeing that you come in good faith.” “A nominal student?” Juan was taken aback. He had ple
Without the right interpretation, no one would be able to decipher the secret manual of other schools. The result could be disastrous if another school’s manual was interpreted wrongly. Juan’s jaw dropped, and he stared blankly at Kaze. Kaze’s interpretation was an exact match with Juan’s school. He read out the 16 cosmic keys which were fundamental to Juan’s school. “How did you learn to read our school's secret manual?” Juan asked, his throat dry.Juan even suspected Kaze to be a spy sent by other schools to steal his manual. However, Kaze deciphered the Kawaskys’ deepest secrets in no time. There was no need for Kaze to be a spy. “Who told you the key to interpreting my family’s secret manual?” Kaze grinned. “I have the Oracle before. As far as I know, there are 32 cosmic keys.“I have no idea how your ancestor obtained an incomplete copy. “Bring me a pen and paper, Rose.” Kaze waved at Rose. “Sure.” Rose went to grab a piece of paper and a pen. Half an
Kaze smacked Rose’s head. “Jesus Christ. A date in the morning? What’s in that head of yours?” “Well, I’ll never know. Maybe you’re scared Darcy will check up on you at night.” Rose meant business. “I need to watch you like a hawk for Darcy’s sake. “What’s with you and Ms. Gwake?“Zenika texted me this morning to scare me. She said word has been going around the Riverbank higher society that you were alone all night with Ms. Gwake. Casius will make you pay when he returns.” Kaze said helplessly, “Oh, please. You should know better than anyone where I was last night.” “I know that you were home, but no one else does.” Rose pouted. “Besides, you were talking about making Ms. Gwake your woman and getting handsy with her last night. What are you really up to, Kaze? “I’m going to have a hard time justifying your behavior to Darcy.” With Rose driving him up a wall, Kaze sighed and replied, “Fine. I’ll tell you the truth, but you need to promise to keep this between us.” “I
Though Kaze was not fond of Alexander, he nodded in acknowledgment since it involved Agnes. “Alright. I’ll pick out a nice gift for him. You can come along. I could use your opinion too.”Rose was on board with the idea. Her phone then rang. “Zenika’s calling again.” Rose looked at the screen display and scrunched her nose. She really did not want to take any calls from Zenika. Despite Rose’s repeated rejected calls, Zenika continued to bombard her phone. Kaze said with a stoic face, “Why don’t you take the call and see what she has to say?” If Zenika was out to get Rose, Kaze would need to send a stronger message to Zenika. Rose accepted the call. The call ended briefly after that, and Rose gave Kaze a strange look. “Here comes trouble for you, Kaze.” “What’s the trouble?” Kaze asked nonchalantly. Rose replied, “According to Zenika, Luis instructed her to make the phone call. Apparently, Luis went back and realized his mistake upon reflecting on the incident at
Among these fighting schools, the most prominent dojo was Drake Gym. Though Drake Gym was linked to the Viper’s Den South River Branch, the school was run by the Gwake family. Kaze parked the car. While walking with Rose to Drake Gym, he came across a Ryokanian-inspired building across from the gym. “Refined Blade Dojo!” Kaze narrowed his eyes at the signboard hanging on top of the door. Only Kaze could pick up on the killing intent surging from the signboard. The Refined Blade was consistently ranked among the top three swordsmanship styles in Ryokan, with a long history of producing renowned masters.Kaze was aware that the ninjas of the Kailan Clan were taught in the ways of the Refined Blade. Daiso, who died at the hands of Kaze, was also a master in the Refined Blade. In other words, Kaze’s long-standing nemesis, the Kailan Clan was connected to the Refined Blade. Having spotted the Refined Blade Dojo, Kaze needed to keep an eye on them. His biggest enemy in Ri
Luis lowered his head humbly in Kaze’s presence. Zenika and the others said ingratiatingly, “Please give us a chance to redeem ourselves, Kaze.”“Adversities bring us together. Kaze, you’re a big brother to us!” Rose was confused. Since she knew Luis and his friends were bad news, she prepared herself for some nasty stuff they would do to Kaze. To her surprise, they apologized to Kaze. What was going on? “At least you can recognize your mistake. I’m not a petty person.” Kaze said indifferently, “In that case, we can forget about last night. We can still be friends.” “You’re such a generous man, Kaze. Had I known, I wouldn’t have crossed you in the first place.” Luis was overjoyed by Kaze’s cordiality. He drew close, put his arm around Kaze’s shoulder, and said with a smile, “Though you’re younger than me, you are stronger than all of us. “I think Zenika is right. You are a big brother to us.“You heard me. He will be our big brother. “Just address him as such
Joel reigned supreme as the top fighter in his age group at the Viper's Den South River Branch.He had proven his worth to Jude through his contributions. There had been whispers that Joel was a protégé of a senior in the West State. Apparently, Joel was with the South River Branch to hone his skills to be the next branch leader. Joel’s competence even rivaled Hannah, the top ten most promising members of the Viper’s Den West State. That was only a year ago. Joel would have become stronger by now. Rumors went around, saying that Joel would represent Jude in fighting Hannah and Collier in the ring. Joel rose to be a hot commodity in the Riverbank higher society. The feud between Joel and Luis started six months ago. Luis came to Drake Gym and took a fancy to a female student. He started feeling her up. For the first time, Luis met his match. The female student was involved with Joel. Joel was not going to stand by as his woman was harassed. He showed up, beat the
Joel’s crew were Jude’s core members in the Viper’s Den South River Branch, and they were skilled fighters. However, Luis’ socialite group was no pushovers. They did not just rely on their family’s connections. They had equipped themselves with skills to go against Joel’s party. It did not take long for both parties to engage in a fierce brawl. Nevertheless, they kept things physical without involving weapons. Both parties were rooted in powerful organizations or families. One was affiliated to the Viper’s Den South River Branch while the other had the backing of Zoro, Casius’ right-hand man. Injuries were to be expected in fights. However, the trouble was when fatality was involved.Still, the fight quickly got out of hand. “These clowns have the nerve to show their faces at Drake Gym. Did they forget the time we threw them out?” “I’d kill you if we weren’t here at the gym!” “Bastard!” The fight got serious really quickly. Luis was beside himself with rage,