Chapter 42: Fight Against Lion Heart

Frederic didn’t stick around long. The moment he saw Lion Heart there, he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Good luck with your test," he said on his way out.

Lion Heart, an S-Rank Hunter, stood on the other side of the forest, sitting near a tree, waiting for me. He looked pretty normal, honestly, a skinny guy with brown hair. But that was just looks. The man was a fucking unit, some even said he ranked among the top 10 hunters in the US.

"Did you really come here to test me?" I asked him. "I just want my temporary C-Rank hunter badge, why does it have to be you?"

He laughed right in my face.

"Good to see you too," Lion Heart said, slowly getting up off the ground. "I heard you escaped an Unstable Rift. How convenient."

"Just luck, that’s all."

"Kid, you really think you can fool me? I’m positive it was your awakened power that saved you. Did you enter that pocket dimension of yours, where you store stuff, and dodge the deadly energy from the rift that way?"

That fucking guy was sharp. He’d guessed exactly how I got out of the Unstable Rift alive, and he was spot on. No wonder Lion Heart was an S-Rank Hunter. That title wasn’t easy to earn.

"Are you gonna tell anyone?" I asked him.

"Relax, kid," he said. "You and I are good friends. This power of yours could be really useful down the line. Honestly, I’m positive you could become an S-Rank Hunter one day."

"S-Rank hunter? No way. My ability’s just C-Rank."

Lion Heart wasn’t wrong, though. Sure, my ability was rated C-Rank for now, but I could upgrade it pretty fast with Bob on my side. And my newly acquired bloodline would definitely push me up further down the road.

"I know talent when I see it. Anyway, speaking of which, I’ve got something to run by you first."

"Go on," I said.

"You already know about the new continent we found, since you’re friends with Tom, whose brother’s also an S-Rank Hunter who’s missing right now. Anyway, I want your help finding him. But I can’t just bend the rules. You need to hit at least A-Rank before I can bring you along."

"A-Rank? That’s kind of far off, isn’t it? And how do you even know all this?"

Lion Heart laughed again.

"I’ve got my contacts. So, can you reach that level in 3 months? That’s when they’ll start letting A-Rank Hunters explore the continent."

Based on what Tom told me, only S-Rank Hunters were out there exploring right now, but weaker ranks would get cleared eventually. Hearing this from Lion Heart just confirmed it was true.

"I could try, but that’s not much time. Just 3 months?"

Lion Heart rubbed his chin. "Can you reach B-Rank instead? With me backing you, and your awakened power being pretty solid for support roles, I could probably get you approved even without hitting A-Rank."

Once again, the guy was going out of his way to help me. First the recommendation letter for the academy, now this. Lion Heart was either genuinely kind, or he wanted to use my ability to his advantage. I was leaning toward the second option.

Pretty sure he wanted me stronger so he and other hunters could explore dimensional rifts without worrying about that unknown energy anymore.

"B-Rank? Yeah, I think I can manage that."

"Good, good. Well, first, let’s see if you can even pull off this temporary C-Rank badge. Ready to show me what you’ve got?"

Lion Heart activated his ability. That’s exactly how I recognized him from the internet.

His body, once skinny, turned muscular almost instantly, and his height shot up to close to 8 feet. His hair went from brown to more of a golden color, constantly shifting like it had a life of its own.

The appearance wasn’t the only change. His aura got way stronger too, faintly glowing in a golden hue around him.

I looked like an ant standing in front of him. That’s how massive he was, even bigger than those giants I’d run into in the rift.

Considering his power, we were worlds apart. I couldn’t do a damn thing against him even if he didn’t use his ability, let alone now.

"So what’s the test, then? Not like I can actually beat or hurt you," I said.

Lion Heart put both hands on his waist.

"Just hit me, brother. Won’t hurt me, but I want to see how hard you can swing."

Was this guy a masochist or something? Anyway, the test seemed simple enough, and he wasn’t even going to move, so...

I summoned my dimensional cube. Before I made my first move, Lion Heart added something else.

"First, attack me with just your body. I want to see your base attributes for C-Rank. You can show off your ability after that."

I nodded, setting the cube aside for now. Same as I did against Zeph during our fight, I dropped into a fighting stance and dashed toward Lion Heart as fast as I could.

He actually praised me for it.

"You’re quite fast. No wonder that blond kid didn’t last a second against you."

Once I got close, I hit him with punches and kicks all over. Felt like punching solid rock. Lion Heart wasn’t taking any damage at all, but my own body was hurting just from making contact.

What the hell was this guy made of? Total tank.

"You were watching that fight?" I asked him.

"Yeah, I was," Lion Heart said, scratching the back of his head like I wasn’t even hitting him.

I kept swinging non-stop, and at one point I actually considered going for his balls. Had to hurt, right? A solid kick down there.

Lion Heart, somehow, read exactly what I was thinking.

"You can try, but those are hard too."

"The fuck? Nah, I’m good."

Why’d he have to phrase it like that? Unbelievable guy, honestly.

I kept hitting him non-stop. My body was stronger, faster and more durable after I got the bloodline. My stamina was pretty damn good.

Lion Heart noticed it.

"You can stop hitting. Pretty good. You’re better than most C-Rank Hunters, physical wise, of course. Now, show me your ability."

Once again, he didn’t move. I changed my cube into something new, this time though. The test could be a good way to actually test things.

Instead of the typical sword, spear, I changed it to gauntlets that wrapped around my fists.

I even changed the form to look like two lion heads.

Lion Heart frowned.

"You can do that with your ability? I don’t remember this."

He didn’t know everything about my ability. I had improved it with the crystals, that’s why he was quite surprised to see it.

With the gauntlets, I started punching him again. Each punch had the strength of my body and ability combined, making it way stronger than before.

Lion Heart didn’t move, though. It didn’t look like he felt any damage at all.

But at least my fists weren’t hurting anymore, so that was good. After 3 minutes, he asked me to stop.

"You have passed. This ability of yours, I think it’s comparable to a B-Rank ability, honestly. Pretty versatile. You should use these gauntlets more often. Your body is quite strong, so being more physical will help you."

Then, Lion Heart created two lion head gauntlets as well, using his golden energy. While mine were blue, his were completely golden.

"Now, let me test my gauntlets."

I ran toward the exit.

"Stay away from me!"