Under the Veil of Night

Jason dropped off Kanae and Tommy on the Black Street where there were no security cameras around. He looked towards the two kids in front of him.

"You should be careful. The other groups are starting to be active again, and you're one of the easiest targets, Tom."

Tommy scoffed. "I'm not the same as before after the training."

"Just stay on the outside and middle area," Kanae patted Tommy's shoulder. "See you at school later."

Tommy watched as Kanae disappeared into the darkness. In the deepest part of the Black Street, sunlight rarely appeared there. It made the place seem to be in eternal night.

"Since I'm already back here, I better enjoy my time for now."

Kanae returned back home to drop off her belongings. After that, she ran deeper and deeper into the darkness. The atmosphere became even tenser as the people around her gave her unfriendly looks. However, they could sense faintly that she was strong, so no one tried to get closer to her.

Her feet made no sound as she ran on Black Street. The number of people decreased as she reached the deepest part of the Black Street. She could hardly see anyone as she purposely slowed down her pace. There were numerous traps in some of the most hidden parts of each block.

Most people usually avoided this place as they didn't want to lose their life just yet. If they were not careful, they would surely be dead.

She stepped on the ground lightly, and an arrow was shot right towards her. She moved her head to the side slightly and avoided the arrow. Her lips curled up slightly. Since there was a trap, it meant she was getting closer to her destination.

"Halt!" a young man appeared before her. "What are you doing in our territory?"

"I'm here to challenge your Boss as I have promised," Kanae answered calmly.

The young man looked Kanae up and down. He didn't recall anyone with Kanae's getup meeting his Boss. At this time, Kanae was wearing her usual fighting clothes, which made her look like a boy.

"Name?"

"Rei," Kanae answered.

The young man's eyes lit up. He remembered where he heard this name as he nodded his head lightly. "So you finally come back. Boss has been waiting for you for a long time."

"Thank you."

Kanae followed behind the young man deeper into the place. She made sure that she stepped very carefully as she knew that in their territory, they loved to set up numerous traps that could even kill someone.

They stopped in front of a small hut. In front of the house, a rather old man was busy sharpening his blade. He wore a simple but somewhat tight-fitting shirt, which revealed the bulky muscle on his body.

"Boss, Rei has come again."

The old man stopped his movement and looked towards Kanae. He scrutinized her appearance as he nodded his head lightly.

"You have grown stronger again, little brat."

Kanae smiled. "Your advice about the school is spot on, but it's too dangerous, Master Rudy."

Master Rudy laughed and tossed the big blade to the side. His action made the heavy blade look like nothing more than a child's toy. The young man hurriedly caught the blade, and his steps turned uneven as he alleviated the force of the throw. It was clear that he had to use all of his strength to make sure the blade didn't fall down.

"Are you ready to have another match, Rei? Last time you were here, I nearly broke all of your bones."

Kanae's face contorted a bit when she heard his remark. She came here a long time ago coincidentally and nearly got killed by this man. Ever since that time, she grew cautious when she passed this place, but coincidentally met the old man again after a mission.

At that time, Master Rudy took interest in her because she could survive after experiencing a thrashing from him, so he gave her precious information. If she wanted to beat him, she would have to be able to survive in the big battle. Following his advice, she nearly got sent to the gate of hell for the second time.

"I was still young and ignorant at that time, so I couldn't see Master Rudy's greatness," Kanae bowed slightly. She readied her sword. "This time, I have trained again and prepared myself for another battle."

"I can see that," Master Rudy chuckled. He took up a different blade near him and stood in front of Kanae.

The young man retreated to the back and forbid anyone to get closer to their fight. Unless they wanted to get killed, they had better stay back and not come any closer.

The two of them watched each other carefully as they knew that their difference in skill would be apparent in one strike. After several seconds, Master Rudy charged forward with his blade, coming closer at lightning speed. The moment the blade got near Kanae's head, she crouched down and escaped from the sweep.

The blade passed, and she moved forward towards the old man. She slashed quickly towards him, but he already retreated and returned the favor, bringing the blade down on her from above.

Kanae kicked the ground and moved back while the blade hit the ground. It made a deep mark in the ground.

"Your power has increased again, Master Rudy."

"Your reflex has been raised to another level, Rei."

The two of them looked towards each other before they charged again. That was only a slight probe to test each other, and there was only one word to describe their opponent.

Strong!

The next exchange, Kanae tried to block the blade with her small sword. She got pushed backward slightly, but her body was already capable of withstanding the force of this man's blade.

After he attacked her, she moved forward and aimed at his other hand by twisting her body to the side. To her surprise, she managed to strike him lightly and jumped back, but after that, she realized that his blade was coming for her from the side.

Using her small sword to block the attack, she got pushed back as she was in the air. She adjusted her position in the air and landed on her feet perfectly. Her eyes watched Master Rudy carefully.

"You're getting better," Master Rudy commented.

Kanae nodded her head. She was caught by surprise, but she didn't get wounded as she had feared previously. This was also the reason Master Rudy noticed that she has indeed grown far stronger than before.

The fight continued, and Kanae resorted to aim at the outer part of this man's body, little by little. She couldn't get too close as she would be dead the moment she did that, so her attacks were mostly shallow. Still, the wounds on Master Rudy's body increased while she nearly didn't get any wounds.

Most of her wounds were from her landing slightly unevenly and scratching either her hands or feet. However, none of them came from the blade.

On the side, the young man watched their fight with awe. He still remembered that previously Rei was trashed easily by Master Rudy, but now she already fought on equal grounds with him.

"Whoever manages to survive an attack from Master Rudy will surely come back much stronger," the young man nodded his head gleefully.

"Don't you need to help master? He's getting wounded continuously."

"What are you talking about? Don't distract me." At this time, Kanae managed to land another hit on Master Rudy. The young man was clearly a martial arts lunatic as he gazed at the two with hungry eyes. He wanted to get stronger as fast as possible.

The man beside him felt rather frustrated. He picked up the nearby bow and nocked several arrows in place. He couldn't bear to see Master Rudy get wounded like that.

The young man noticed that something was wrong. His eyes widened when he saw the bow and arrows. "What are you doing? Don't interfere!"

He was late, as the arrows shot towards Kanae, who had just landed on the ground after being pushed back.