Chapter 69: Kina’s little trick

The host understood exactly what everyone here was so eagerly waiting for, great families included.

This event usually ran fairly quiet, with only a handful of prominent figures bothering to show up scouting for talent. But today was different, an extraordinary talent had drawn enough attention that the Association had deliberately placed Kina as the final competitor, even pairing her against an opponent who could arguably be considered far too strong for her.

So, how would this play out?

Could this little monster actually win against a Hunter far stronger, far more experienced, and far more skilled than herself?

The host made the announcement with enthusiasm. A man walked in, a massive sword in hand, while on the other side, Kina stepped onto the smooth, polished field as well.

A smile crossed her face, and for a moment, the girl paused mid-step, her gaze first landing on Julian, watching calmly from above.

Kina smiled sweetly, then that smile shifted into something else entirely as her gaze drifted toward a specific direction, precisely toward the Mivelo family’s room.

She only glanced there briefly before turning her attention back to the man who’d be her opponent.

A Rank-F Hunter about to reach Rank-E. If this had been the old Kina, she might have been terrified, wasn’t that exactly how she’d felt facing that Scavenger before?

Back when she’d first met her Master, back when she’d been betrayed, back when the Grusk had hunted her down?

All of it felt so unreal now, time had passed so quickly, and in what could honestly be called a fairly short span, here Kina now stood.

Before long, she’d finally reach the academy that was rightfully hers all along, and at that moment, she couldn’t wait to finish this and watch their reactions.

Kina had even personally prepared a small performance of her own.

"Both of them are here now! You two know the rules, right?"

Kina and the man nodded. The man then drew his sword, smiling crookedly.

"I’m Darkan. As you know, I’ll let you strike first."

Seeing how confident the man was, Kina matched his confidence with an equally bold smile, one that formed into an unmistakably mocking expression.

"Aww, you look like a real man," Drawing her own sword, Kina tilted her head. "But, uncle, you’re going to regret this, you know?"

The moment the match began, Darkan’s brow furrowed.

"I’m not that ol—"

His words cut off, because Kina had suddenly vanished from his sight. The air around him shifted, dropping into a bitter cold, and a sharp whistling sound rang out right behind Darkan.

"Heh."

Darkan scoffed, spinning his body around, and with a sharp glint in his eyes, raised his sword instinctively to guard his throat.

Clang—!

Baam!

Freezing energy billowed through the air, Darkan could feel it clearly as his own sword took the brunt of it.

His gaze met Kina’s widened eyes, her pupils shrinking, her lips curling into a wide smirk, radiating a mix of delight and something almost manic.

Kwaank—!

Taking advantage of the slick, wet trail left by her sword, coated in frozen ice, Kina scraped the blade across, the friction melting the ice, splattering droplets across the floor and onto Darkan’s face.

After that, Kina took a few steps forward, raising her sword straight in front of her head.

This was exactly what the families from the Elite Region had been waiting to see. Could a student still stuck at Rank-F, holding only an F-Grade Talent, genuinely develop a skill all the way up to E-Grade?

And Kina gave them precisely the answer they needed.

Dense, tightly controlled Mana gathered around her frozen blade. That Mana shifted the air around her, and as Kina let the sword fall, she cut downward in a single line.

Everyone saw it clearly, a thin, pale white line, thread-like, barely visible, yet powerful enough to split the air apart in front of her.

Even her opponent, a Rank-F Hunter, looked genuinely disbelieving watching it happen. His eyes widened, trembling, if that attack landed on him, he’d lose instantly.

"Ugh...!?"

So, in a panic, Darkan raised his massive sword, cold sweat breaking across his face as flames slowly ignited, engulfing his entire blade.

Darkan braced his entire body, letting out a fierce roar as he slammed the strike into One Slash with everything he had.

Collision—BAAM!

His sword crashed against that E-Grade attack, trapping Darkan in a standstill, both forces pushing back against each other.

But eventually, Darkan realized he wouldn’t be able to hold it back, so he bent his knees slightly and spun his body around.

Slash—!!

The strike swept past him, letting out a deafening whistling sound before slamming into the wall far behind him.

His breathing ragged, he smiled with cold sweat dripping down his face. ℯℯ𝑙.

"Damn... is she actually a monster?"

It only lasted a moment, Darkan distracted by pure admiration, and Kina wasted no opportunity to press her advantage.

That freezing energy gathered once more, condensing further, and Darkan could feel that chill creeping up right behind him, so he spun around in a panic, spotting Kina’s sword already swinging toward him.

Darkan bit down on his lip, and the next instant, he clenched his fist around empty air, revealing dancing flames coalescing into a solid staff.

Clang—!

Another collision rang out between ice and fire, a sharp hissing sound filling the air, smoke curling upward while droplets of water splashed down onto the floor.

Darkan smirked. ’A bit surprising, but there’s no way I’m losing. Where’s my pride as a Senior Hunter!?’

He roared internally and swung his still-free sword toward Kina.

Seeing that, Kina smiled awkwardly, breaking into cold sweat.

"Eh, whoa! W-wait a second, uncle!?"

Panicking, Kina pushed her sword forward, using it as leverage to leap backward. Beneath her feet, the sword carved a sweeping arc, leaving behind a trail of wildly blazing fire.

Cold sweat and clear worry showed plainly on her face.

"Uncle! I’ve already got plenty of burns, please don’t add more to the collection!"

Darkan scoffed, his smirk laced with irritation. "You damn brat! Didn’t I already say I’m not that old!?"

Darkan bent his knees, and beneath his feet, wind gathered momentarily, spinning in place, before exploding outward, launching Darkan forward at tremendous speed.

Woosh—!

He closed the distance to Kina in an instant.

"W-whoa...?"

Seeing Kina’s startled expression left Darkan feeling a swell of pride, and he smirked, swinging his sword immediately.

He was confident there was no way Kina could dodge this one. However... Kina didn’t dodge at all, clearly, she hadn’t anticipated Darkan approaching that way.

Except, in combat, Kina’s mind moved incredibly fast, absorbing whatever unfolded in an instant and making decisions in that same instant.

Thanks to the considerable experience she’d accumulated by now, Kina had developed enough tricks up her sleeve to handle situations like this.

And right now, Kina had decided to play one particular card that would make everything considerably more entertaining.

The air around her turned drastically colder.