Under the Veil of Night

Black Street

"I can't believe you're now close to beating me, little brat," Master Rudy shook his head lightly as he rested on top of a big crate.

Kanae smiled lightly. She had just sparred with Master Rudy a few minutes ago. The result was still her loss, but this time Master Rudy had to employ several dirty tricks. In her heart, she vowed that she wouldn't lose to those tricks again the next time she fought against him.

On the side, Jason shook his head lightly. He was clearly only the spectator in that heated battle. Even though he has also been practicing very hard for the past two weeks, he was still far from Kanae.

"You have made quick progress lately," the young man on Master Rudy's side commented. This was only the fifth fight Kanae had with Master Rudy, but her improvement every time was obvious.

"It's not quite my level yet," Master Rudy scoffed. "But you have raided a few gangs in the deeper part of the Black Street lately."

In the past two weeks, Kanae had challenged three gangs in the deeper part of Black Street. Those who could rule from deep inside Black Street were extremely powerful, but Kanae managed to beat them up. Of course, she still suffered quite a bit from their attacks.

"There are a few powerful gangs in the Ryukalin Clan territory, I was merely practicing my skills," Kanae answered politely.

There were several gangs that the Ryukalin Clan left alone in the deeper part of the Black Street. Those gangs were usually not too famous, and they limited their movement to the deeper part of Black Street. However, they were the real rulers of the Black Street given how the prowess of their fighters exceeded most of the more well-known and active experts.

Those who flaunted their power and claimed to be the strongest were merely weaklings in their eyes. Only a few of the powerful gangs were known to the world like the Lightning Gang. The rest of them preferred to stay hidden and operate in the dark.

"You seem to be in a hurry to grow stronger. Is there a specific reason?" Master Rudy asked.

"I guess so," Kanae was in a hurry because she needed to face off against the Nali Family in six months. By the time she left the family, there would be no such rule as youngsters have to be protected anymore. Without that protection, she would be placed in constant danger.

The Nali Family could even send hired people to take care of her and she wouldn't be able to do anything about it besides fighting against them. At the same time, she didn't want them to know her fighting abilities, so she wanted to gather powerful people to act as the front. Of course, to do this, there were a lot of things she had to plan out and accomplish.

Master Rudy nodded his head. "I can give you personal training if you want to get stronger."

Kanae arched her eyebrows. "Why are you helping me so much, Master Rudy?"

"You deserve it, and I'm quite interested in what you can achieve when you get stronger. I always admire those who are strong," Master Rudy answered nonchalantly.

Even an idiot would know that that was not all there was to what he said, yet Kanae didn't try to pry deeper. She knew that Master Rudy didn't want to tell her more than this, so she didn't want to pester him for more. In the first place, their relationship was not that close.

"If she can train with you, can I too?" Jason raised his head and asked hesitantly.

Master Rudy raised his eyebrows. He crossed his arms. "From the way you speak and act, I know you're from a noble family. Are you sure someone with a high status like you can disappear for weeks on end? The training is going to require you to come here very often."

Jason's eyes widened. He had never revealed his background to anyone and certainly, this old man shouldn't have known about it either. How did he find out about this?

The young man on the side shook his head lightly. He knew that Jason was surprised from the facial expression on the man's face. "Sir Oro, it's not hard to deduce based on your mannerisms. Only those from noble families, and especially direct lineage, would learn about those kinds of things. Considering your young age, it was the most possible explanation."

"I see," Jason nodded his head in understanding. They knew about his background more or less, so they warned him beforehand. He sighed deeply for he understood how impossible it was for him to disappear. If the famous Jason Wells suddenly disappeared for several weeks, what would the media say?

They would be hyped and scramble to concoct stories about a possible incident.

Even if he didn't completely disappear, he could guess that the training might make his entire body hurt. If he limped during meetings, his employees were going to gossip. Who knew what kind of story they would come up with?

"Do you still want to participate?" Master Rudy asked nonchalantly with a bright smile plastered on his face.

Jason shook his head. "It'll be better for me to not participate. Many thanks for the reminder, Master Rudy."

"It's nothing much," Master Rudy laughed heartily.

Kanae looked at Master Rudy in awe. "You're really sharp, Master Rudy. This makes me wonder about your identity even more."

Master Rudy grinned. "Once you can defeat me cleanly, I'll tell you about myself."

"Is that a promise?" Kanae stood up.

"Yes. Now, little girl, do you want to practice with me? It has been a long time since I saw a girl as powerful as you," Master Rudy laughed.

Kanae was not really surprised that Master Rudy realized her gender. When she was trashed badly by this person in the past, her face cover was torn. From her facial features and long hair, it wouldn't be hard to deduce that her real gender was female.

"Is there any prerequisite?"

"You have to acknowledge me as your formal master," Master Rudy answered. "Of course, not a full-fledged master, but more like a half master since you're already quite powerful yourself. Also, you have to come here to practice every night."

Kanae pondered about this requirement. If she truly has to come here every day, she might not have enough sleep. However, she truly wanted to become stronger. Even if she was able to improve her strength and agility with her individual training, she wanted to learn more fighting skills too.

"Can I not come if I have some matters to take of in real life?"

"Of course, but you have to inform me. How is it?" Master Rudy grinned.

On the side, the young man sighed. He was going to get a junior who was stronger than himself. His master was always like this whenever he met someone young but powerful. They would be coaxed into being his disciple or his acquaintance at the very least.

"Rei bows to her master," Kanae kneeled on the ground and bowed formally.

Master Rudy laughed. "Good. Now, let's start training. I hope you can survive through hell, little girl."

"I will do my best, Master."

Jason felt rather envious, but he knew that his strength was not up to Master Rudy's standard. In the end, he decided to focus on managing their group. During this short period of time, the name of Fiore Group rang loudly on Black Street.

"Have you heard that the Fiore Group struck again?"

"That's already three times this week."

"They seem to be on a roll."

"Be careful, they might accept a mission to deal with us too."

"I'll surely increase the guards around my place."

"Yeah, no one is able to guess what kind of missions they take. I don't want to take a risk."

While the other three were busy expanding their group's influence, Kanae was busy training under Master Rudy's supervision. She did participate in the group's activities occasionally, but not as much as before as her body didn't allow her to. Facing those inhuman exercises, she had to exert every ounce of strength in her body to cope with them. The last three weeks of her vacation turned into hell as she practiced under Master Rudy.

Her only relief was when she saw that the young man also practiced as much as her.. At least, she was not alone facing this devilish training.