Under the Veil of Night

On Black Street, several people had congregated together. This time, Shiro was among them, looking as annoyed as ever. He never liked close quarters battle because he would always lose.

*tep*

"Rei, you came pretty quick," Tommy smiled upon seeing that Kanae came.

Kanae nodded. "I'm a little curious about the direction you took in our conversation, Oro."

"I'm afraid that the truth behind the news will break out," Jason smiled wryly. "You don't think that the experiments they're doing are completely harmless, right?"

"Not in the slightest," Kanae replied firmly. She would be the world's biggest idiot if she still thought like that after her father worked so hard to make sure she was no longer related to the school before his death.

Tommy tilted his head. "I only heard that the school would close down. Why is there a need to worry about it so much?"

"There are things that you still don't understand, Tom," Shiro shook his head. "With a brain like yours, it'll be better if you just become a guinea pig for my experiment."

Tommy shuddered at the thought. "Dream on!"

 Shiro's eyebrows shot up. "Are you sure you're telling me that?"

"You demonic doctor! Let me go!"

Kanae and Jason watched as the two of them started arguing with each other. The two of them didn't understand how a simple conversation could possibly lead them into a dispute once again.

"Do you want to intervene in the incident?"

Jason crossed his arms. "It's impossible. The name Fiore Group is too green; it's just a relatively new group formed only slightly more than a year ago. Even though we accept a high number of missions every single day, they are all low-leveled."

The missions they have done so far only consisted of them doing things under cover. They were mostly sneaking in, taking this and that, or battling a certain person at the very most. Never did they pick a high-level mission that would require a period of planning.

It was not that they didn't want to, but they couldn't possibly do that. The risk on their lives was too high and they had two people who couldn't afford to lose their lives on the street.

"Fiore Group."

The familiar voice from behind them caused the three who recognized it to be startled. Their bodies tensed up and reacted immediately as they put up defensive stances towards the person not far from them.

Master Rudy watched their reactions with a satisfied smile on his slightly aged face. Just his voice alone was enough to make them cautious of him. As he thought, this small group that didn't yet enter the eyes of the world had much more to it in them.

"Who's that?" Shiro's eyes narrowed. His keen senses were telling him that this man was anything but ordinary.

"He's the one who trashed us so badly before," Jason replied solemnly.

By Master Rudy's side, Matt shook his head. This master of his has just finished his training today with the young clan head of the Ryukalin Clan. Now, he was already roaring to go on another battle spree.

Stepping forward, he raised his hand to get his master's attention. "Master, should we go now?"

"No, I still have some business with these little kids."

Matt: "…" please don't tell me that you want to beat them up again.

Looking towards the four youngsters in front of him, Master Rudy assessed them once again. If he said that he was not impressed, he would be lying. It was only around two months ago that he met them, but the aura they had around them has become denser.

'They're truly in their peak of growth.'

His eyes landed on Kanae once again. The one whom he was interested in from the very beginning showed much more growth compared with the other two. From one look, he could guess that this little lass should have started to participate in real battles only a few months ago. If not for that, with her rate of growth, she should have become a peak expert a long time ago.

Just like that annoying brat that he encountered not long ago.

"You four are very knowledgeable about the insider news. That rotten school has become a terribly dangerous place now," Master Rudy chuckled.

Kanae looked towards the old man in puzzlement. "It doesn't have any relation with us."

"For now yes, but it can become your ticket to grow stronger," Master Rudy smiled. "Don't you want to grow stronger?"

It was truly an unnecessary question. The answer was unanimously yes. Kanae wished for nothing but to grow stronger in order to do more missions. Only doing low-level missions wouldn't earn her much money because of the inefficiency.

Jason's eyes flickered slightly when he heard that offer. Although he didn't really necessarily need to be stronger, he did long to grow stronger. In addition, he wanted to know what the government had in their store for the city. From what he could infer, the experiment was not the least bit ordinary.

Tommy and Shiro also gave some reaction to the question. However, Tommy's goal has always been Kanae because he couldn't believe how quickly she has been surpassing him. As for Shiro, he wanted to grow stronger too.

"How do we know that you're telling the truth?" Kanae asked.

Master Rudy smirked. "Do I have any reason to lie to you four?"

"There is more than enough reason. We're just strangers to each other and with your strength, it's easy for you to crush us."

Matt smiled wryly. For the first time, his master's plan backfired so badly that this old man was unable to say anything else. He couldn't refute the fact, though. However, in the deeper part of Black Street, everyone knew that this old master was an upright man.

Master Rudy's smile stiffened. "You sure have a sharp mouth, little lass."

Kanae frowned. "I believe that I never told you my gender."

Her appearance right now was extremely similar to that of a young boy. Her long hair was hidden beneath her clothes, a black male school uniform. If one didn't know better, there was no way they would be able to guess that she was a girl. The light here was scarce, giving the extra protection she needed to cover up her gender.

"You didn't need to tell me. I could tell that you're a girl right away," Master Rudy chuckled. "Now, do you want to listen to what I'm going to tell you regarding the school or not?"

"How do we know that we can believe you?" This time, Jason spoke up.

"Whether you want to believe me or not, it's all up to you," Master Rudy smiled widely. "Make your decision youngsters."

Kanae looked towards her teammates as they also returned her gaze. Seeing the hesitation in their eyes, she knew that they had doubts about this master. However, considering Master Rudy's strength, there was truly no need for him to lie to them.

They barely knew each other but had such discrepancy in strength!

Master Rudy watched as they silently looked towards the little lass. As he had thought, the real leader of this small group was none other than the girl. He had a hunch when he saw how they reacted after she got hurt, and now his suspicion was confirmed.

A playful smile made its way to his lips. 'These brats are truly interesting.'

Finally, Kanae looked back to Master Rudy.. "Please tell us what the incident in Lima School is about."