Axel came out of the Masuda Dojo with a battered body. Ken did not go easy on them; even with Luna being his granddaughter, he still caused bruises on their bodies. Despite that, Axel was still thankful. Before he bid them goodbye, he pulled Luna to the side.

“What?” Luna asked.

He noticed Luna was careful as she walked. Just like him, her bruises ached even as she moved.

“Stand still first.” He put his hand on her shoulders and mustered his healing ability. A smooth, warm sensation floated from his hand in contact with her shoulder. It traveled down to her body, sending a cool, soothing relief to her bruises.

Luna tilted her head. “Is this your ability?”

“Yes,” Axel smiled.

“Hmm.” Luna nodded and closed her eyes, enjoying the cool feeling as the pain subsided.

While she closed her eyes, Axel observed her expression. She had long eyelashes, a small nose, and plump red lips. Her small white face was so pretty that Axel couldn’t help but stare a little longer.

“Is there something on my face?” Luna asked, startling Axel out of his trance.

He hadn’t meant to stare. It must have been uncomfortable for her. Axel’s face flushed, and he looked away.

“I’m sorry.”

After healing her, he removed his hands from her small, butterfly-like shoulders and stepped back.

“Thank you,” she politely nodded at him.

It could be because it hadn’t been long since they met, but he could feel Luna was still guarded against him. Someday, he wanted to break down that wall and be closer to her.

He watched as Luna’s back retreated. Her long hair swayed as she walked. Under the full moon, she looked like a goddess descended from the sky. Her white skin seemed to glow, coupled with blue eyes that were as deep as the ocean. Unknowingly, Axel’s heart started to beat loudly against his chest.

He scratched his nape and tried to calm the loud beating of his heart.

“Luna!”

Luna was standing in the entrance of the hall. She was about to remove her shoes when he called. She stopped what she was doing and looked at him.

Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

“Yes?”

“I will come again tomorrow.”

Luna tilted her head. Her expression seemed to say, ‘Isn’t that obvious? What’s the point of telling me?’

But Axel just wanted to tell her that. He wanted her to be aware of him. That he would come here every day to learn with her.

With a brilliant smile, he left the dojo.

Even though it was already late at night, he chose to walk toward his home. Axel wanted to practice the skill of Uncle Tom and discover his ‘limiter.’

In the first try, he was able to stay invisible and run at top speed. But after thirty minutes, he was already exhausted. He canceled the skill and rested for fifteen minutes. Then he resumed running again.

As he ran forward, he took a shortcut through an alley. That’s where he ran into ten men desperately fighting against one monster.

In the tower, the monsters cannot come out and wreak havoc in the outside world. That’s because of the dungeon sweepers that kill any creatures attempting to escape from the tower.

So, what is this thing doing here?

These ten men were obviously workers at a restaurant. Five of them wore chef’s uniforms, and some of them were still in their aprons.

“What should we do?”

“Have you contacted the Challenger’s Association?”

“Yes, they said someone is on their way.”

“Okay, guys! Continue to hold on. Let’s use our abilities together to at least control this thing and buy time!”

One of them was a fire user. He used his fire to set the surrounding area of the monster ablaze. It seemed to be scared of it, but the fire had a devastating effect on the nearby residential houses. It easily burned them down, causing fires to break out.

“What are you doing?! The houses are burning! Where’s the water?!”

“You, water guy, put out the fire!”

The said water guy had been gathering water and sprayed it onto the houses. Slowly, he managed to douse it. But the main problem was still there.

The monster was as big as a one-story house. It had a grey color with disgusting long legs like a spider. But its body shape was like a mushroom. Its round top head had one huge eyeball.

The creature doesn’t have a nose or ears but right under its eyeball, is a big mouth with sharp canine teeth.

The men were firing nonstop at it, but it was very elusive and quick to evade. In the end, these men were firing and destroying their own restaurant.

Axel observed the monster and glanced down at the information skill of Uncle Tom. He still had fifteen minutes of [Stealth].

This should be enough. Hiding behind a truck, Axel had a clear view of the one-eyed monster in front. Its attention was on the ten men busy firing at it. The buildings and houses in the surrounding were on fire. Some were put out, but thick black smoke was steaming out of the burnt materials.

Axel conjured wind blades on his hand, and five long, thin wind blades appeared. He raised his hand, and all of them flew towards the thing.

Axel did not realize how sharp they were or how strong this ability was. He was stunned when these five wind blades sliced the thing into five parts.

“Wow.”

“What was that?”

“Who was that?”

“Did someone see who did that?”

“No, where did it come from?”

“I think it’s from that truck.”

Axel heard footsteps approaching his location. Afraid to be exposed, he ran straight to the alleyway and hid.

“There’s no one here.”

“I think the person who did it is a Challenger. And they must be really strong! Look, just one attack, and the monster was killed.”

The men understood that the Challenger who helped them didn’t want to be exposed.