Chapter 216

Chapter 216

"Are you sure that's okay?"

Elena asks, raising her eyebrows in disbelief but I give her a shrug instead of an answer.

"You promised me that if I subdue you, you'll let me help my grandfather."

"Of course."

"Let'smove, because if we make a scene here, it might interfere with his meal."

With that, she starts walking ahead of me, and I slowly follow behind her, feeling the cool breeze.

It's a rural village after all, and it's soothing to just look at it.

We arrive at the forest at the bottom of the hill feeling refreshed.

I feel a magical movement up ahead.

"Tinker Bell!"

Elena's voice rings out, and the wind begins to whip up and rush toward me in the form of a blade.

"You didn't even say you were starting."

"I made no such promise!"

I smirk as she sticks her tongue out in my direction with a smug grin and sheath my aura in my left hand.

"Certainly, I made no such promise."

The first thing I felt was a blade flying toward my leg so I dodged it with a light jump and was immediately met with a blade aimed at my waist.

Apparently, it was thrown this way so that I couldn't dodge it when I jumped into the air but this was really only for beginners.

"Your attack is too light."

The blade of wind disappeared in an instant with a slight wave of my arm as I used my aura as if to shoo away a fly.

The other blades were blocked similarly.

"I'm not done yet!"

She stretched out her hand towards me, her eyes full of determination despite my deliberately overwhelming defenses.

"Emission!"

With a sharp cry, a sonic boom of extremely compressed air shoots out from her pistol-shaped fingertips.

"Haha!"

That thing would be a bit dangerous to take a direct hit from.

I concentrate my aura into my fist instead of spewing it out, and swing my fist as if to hit a flying ball.

Quang!

Compressed air spreads around along with the scattered red aura.

My fist tingled as it seemed that she had been attacking quite sincerely this time.

"By any chance, have you ever learned to fight from anyone else?"

" No!"

So shes able to do attacks like this on her own.

Combat sense passes.

"I'll head over there now."

I lunge at her with my right hand trailing behind me.

In response, she quickly raises her hand and points it at me.

"Emission!"

As she yells, I draw my pistol, match her finger and pull the trigger.

Bang!

With a sound like a burst of air, the air bullet strikes the Aura directly and her eyes widen at the sight.

"I thought you said you would only use your left hand!"

"I pulled it with my left hand, but I didn't promise you that I wouldn't use a weapon."

Her brow furrows as I paraphrase my line.

"You really! Emission! Emission! Emission! Emission! Emission!"

She decides that single shots won't do, so this time she starts firing in bursts but as I squeeze the trigger in time with the trajectory of the air bombs, I hear a series of explosions.

"No way!"

Maybe she's angry that she kept getting shot out of the air, but this time she aimed at me with both hands and for some reason I felt a different vibe from what I had seen earlier.

"Tifone!"

A gust of wind that covers a huge area, different from the one before, swirls around and hits me directly.

In other words, the stance she had just taken was a fishing ploy to confuse me.

The massive wind blowing against me tilted my center of gravity for a moment, but as I activated Aura all over my body and enhanced my physical abilities, the pushing backwards gradually stopped.

"Will you stop?!"

She says with both hands outstretched and a scowl on her face.

"I've got plenty of time."

"What school are you going to now?"

"A small school in the village. Aunt Emily, who used to teach in the city, is teaching there."

Are you registered as an awakened person? What about the Academy?

"I'm enrolled, but I've never thought about the Academy, it's expensive."

The set-up is perfect.

I wondered if this was the kind of flavor that would draw people to scour the international free agent market.

I felt like I had found the ultimate gem.

"Then you can go to the Seoul Hero Academy next year. I'll pay for your tuition, room and board, food, and living expenses."

"What?"

"Of course, it's not free, you'll have to work in my club and company. What do you think, it's a pretty good deal?"

I get early access to a future star, she gets a job, and she gets to train at one of the best academies in the world with a ton of support.

An offer she can't refuse.

"But I think I'll have to ask my mom."

"Well, it was a bit abrupt, so take your time. I'm going to be here for a while."

Then, for now, were moving together, right?

She hasn't accepted my deal yet, but she cautiously lifts her head to look at me.

As she watches intently, I remove the Midas gloves from my hands and with a mischievous grin, I held out my hand.

"What?"

"I'll do you a favor."

"Eugene Han Corleone. Call me Eugene."

"Monica Anna Elena. You can call me Elena."

She smiles as she clasps my hand in response.

Promising overseas prospect.

GET.

or

I've captured a wild elementalist'!

* * *

"Huh, you guys are back on good terms after all the commotion outside, huh?"

As we walked back up the hill, we ran into Ludvio, who was smoking a pipe outside the door.

"Grandfather, how long have you been out here?"

"I've been watching you since you were beating the crap out of each other. You seem to be much stronger than you used to be, don't you?"

"With how hard I've been training with Tinkerbell lately, of course I am!"

Elena scratched her head, seemingly overwhelmed by Ludvio's praise.

"And Eugene. You really do seem to take after your father."

"Do I?"

"Yes. You look so much like him when he used to run through the woods. And the way he always sticks out his hand after a fight, too."

With that, he empties the contents of his pipe onto the table and looks back at Elena.

"So, you've decided to get in on the action?"

"."

He seems to have realized how we got into this.

"I know how much stronger you are than your peers. That you're strong enough to match any other Awakened butI can't help but worry."

"Grandfather."

"Please. Don't overdo it. And, Eugene. Please take good care of this child."

"You need not worry, Maestro. I'll protect her no matter what."

How could I give up a jeweled gemstone I'd been so lucky to find?

I was planning on taking this child with me after she graduates from the Academy.

Ha-ha! That's right! Yes, please do me a favor.

Ludvio bursts out laughing, and Elena hangs her head in shame.

"Now, then, let's get down to business. Eugene. First of all, how are you going to make your move?"

Ludwig looks at me expectantly with his now-empty pipe in his mouth.

"Well, I suppose we should start with greetings, shouldn't we?"

"Greetings?"

"Greetings?"

"Yes."

A real mafia greeting.