"Somehow you look more relaxed this morning," Kim said and sat down on the chair next to him. They were on the terrace, high above the sea and enjoyed a lavish breakfast under the blue sky. "I worked through some stuff last night, you on the other hand look awful Kim." Marcus said with a small grin. The man nodded and worked on a boiled egg. "You should really call me Ye-jun by now and you are right. I spent all night thinking about all the things you told me." He kept things vague because they were not alone out here, half a dozen people had their breakfast together with them.

Marcus stayed silent for a while, eating croissants and drinking coffee was a luxury he enjoyed even more since his odyssey. Last night's real talk with Xeen had lifted a lot of stress from his heart. For the first time Xeen had been forthright with his feelings and it allowed Marcus to be more open with his own feelings, too. It did not change the amount of things crushing down on him but now at least he did not feel the need to play the tough guy in front of Xeen. Something that had been a lost cause anyway. And now, Marcus felt lighter, unburdened even.

"I also had a life changing event not too long ago." Ye-jun apparently wanted to talk about something and Marcus went along "Did you meet a monster that you could not best?" he said honestly not knowing what could throw THE Kim off his game. "Something like that. I had the pleasure to visit the ginghi. Very interesting people." Ye-jun said and Marcus nodded "Did you meet Azaa and Uela?". The man smiled, but it was not a happy smile. "I did and I even had a sparring match with Uela." Marcus sucked his teeth "I take it, it did not go well." Ye-jun laughed and shook his head "You could say that. I never expected to hold my ground against her, not after what you told me, and what I could feel when I met her. But never in my life had I imagined to be crushed to this extent. I was completely helpless, and it was not just the level difference, I realized."

Marcus saw introspection in the eyes of the man "A hundred years of combat experience is nothing you can overcome easily. Uela is also a prodigy, maybe even more so than you." Marcus said without holding anything back. Ye-jun smiled "This is why I like you so much, you do not mince your words around me. You are right, I met a wall and realized I had to change my outlook completely. Until that point I had treated being a class holder like a sprint, running as fast as I could trying to get to the finish line. But now I think of it as endurance test, stay alive and move forward. Rushing is meaningless. Even if I could match her level in 30 years I would still lose. And the price for rushing is not small. Jura broke up with me, because I was not giving her enough of my attention and time."

Marcus stopped chewing his bacon and looked at the man, who suddenly had decided to be very familiar with him. He watched Ye-jun and now he saw something he had missed yesterday because of all the fuzz. Deep lines around Ye-jun's eyes and mouth, signs of exhaustion and pain.

He also keeps a lot bottled up.

Do you think I should say something about this matter?

If you can. He seems to value your opinion a lot.

"I honestly think changing your attitude is a good thing. For yourself and all the people who try to emulate you. And I agree with your thoughts, if there is a finish line it is far, far beyond the horizon." he stopped and took a deep breath. Was he meant to say something about the Jura situation too? Like, sorry? I bet you will be able to work things out? After a few moments Marcus said "I don't know, if I am in any position to remark on your love life." He put on an awkward smile.

"You still don't believe I value your opinion. Normally people are very keen to become friends with me and my own disciple is trying to keep his distance." Ye-jun said and smiled but it did not reach his eyes. Marcus thought for a moment, what the demon would say and worked up the courage to open his mouth "I do not know much about the two of you, but it is pretty safe to say if she wanted to really leave you she would no longer be in the clan. She would be somewhere else building a new life, with a new partner. Maybe she is hoping you will finally chase after her, choosing her over your career and ambitions? But that is only my opinion." Marcus finished and his new friend(?) smiled.

"Thank you for the advice. I will think about it." Ye-jun said and looked a lot more lively than a moment before. Marcus was not sure why The Kim valued his opinion so much but if he wanted to build a friendship with him, sharing personal information like this was important.

On that note, Marcus thought. "I'm in a relationship with Azaa. It is serious." He said feeling his ears turning red. Ye-jun laughed and nearly spilled his tea "How did you manage that?" and Marcus shrugged his shoulders. He really had no idea.

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After this, far more emotional breakfast than he had expected, they went to the filming location and both of them were more lighthearted. It turned out to be a real film set with professional cameras and a full team. Marcus had no idea what to do but Ye-jun and the crew took care of everything. They had already prepared a plan for the video and after Marcus went through the make up and put on some special pants he was looking for a shirt "No, no you are going to be shirtless, we want to show off your nice physique." A small Asian woman said and Ye-jun nodded "This is a performance after all. Get used to it, I have to suffer through Mei's demands too." The small woman squinted her eyes but was already gone giving orders to some guy holding the lights.

They recorded several pieces of the video, including an introduction from Ye-jun, his reveal of his disciple and then it was up to Marcus to introduce the Titan class. Things went far smoother than he had expected, mostly because of the people on the set. Next up they filmed demonstrations of his abilities in the training room. This took a lot longer than he had thought, because Mei was never happy with the shot, the lighting or his facial expression. After an hour of re-shoots she was finally satisfied and Marcus thanked everybody for their hard work.

Before he could finally put on a shirt one of the spectators approached him, it was Amy. "Great work, and truly impressive performance, I think you have talent for this kind of show." She said with a smile and Marcus wondered where this was going. "I would like to ask you for a favor." she said and Marcus nodded. "Could you hit me with a full power Impulse Hammer?" Amy said without a hint of sarcasm.

"Come again?" Marcus said surprised and Ye-jun behind him laughed "She wants to experience it with her own body. That means she is taking you and your class very serious." Amy nodded and took off her sweater and walked into an open area in the room.

No reason to be worried, she looks tough and a healer is close by. I would advise you not to hold back.

Marcus clenched his teeth and moved up to Amy. Blood flowing from her arms over her body covering her with a thin layer of Blood Armor up to her face. It looked uncanny and one would wonder what a bit of blood could help to protect her but that layer was much stronger than steel.

"Where do you want me to hit you?" Marcus asked and she pointed at her chest. He took a deep breath and she went into a combat stance. He moved his hand forward without much speed and touched her at her upper chest area and gave her 100%. With an audible "bang" Amy was thrown back and landed on the floor rolling over. Marcus watched her slowly come back onto her feet, her jaw muscles were working hard "God damn it." Jura came running and quickly tended to her. "I had hoped my Blood Armor would work against it, but it went right through and even though I knew it was coming I could not stay on my feet." she looked frustrated and cursed. "You heal any cut instantly, you hit through Blood Armor, how am I supposed to compete with that once you are on my level?"

Marcus thought for a moment and than decided to level the playing field. "Ye-jun can you cut my arm? And Amy can you draw my blood, but please not all of it." Both did as he asked and Ye-jun had a smile on his face. His blood dripped out of the small wound on his arm and did not stop. Amy watched it for a few seconds and then she understood "It can not heal while a lot of blood flows through the wound." Marcus nodded. "My restoration ability is not all powerful, it has weak points. Now for Impulse Hammer. I will hit you again but this time instead of trying to brace against it jump back into the direction of the attack."

They repeated the performance and as Marcus unloaded Impulse Hammer Amy pushed back on her feet. She moved nearly five meters and ached under the attack but she stayed on he feet. "It still hurts a lot, but far less than before." She said with a painful smile. "Thank you for telling me, that really helped me calm down. For a moment your Titan class looked untouchable to me."

You are so mature, if you continue like this she will fall for you, mark my words.

Don't try to turn this into a weird harem!

What is a harem?

I better not tell you.

Back in the recording room, and with a shirt on his back, Marcus watched how the professionals cut, merged and manipulated the raw video into a final product. At the end, Marcus could not believe how good it had turned out, they managed to make him look professional. "We will inform our community about a big announcement and we will stream the video at 21:00." Ye-jun said and Marcus had to swallow hard. Dear god, it is really happening, he thought.

Later that day, with a thunderclap Marcus appeared together with Gamma over the villa in Italy and slowly descended. A few clan members were outside training or running other errands. Before he touched the ground Janette, Kou and Grace came running out of the villa. "That was much faster than I thought." Janette said and Marcus took her by the hand dragging her into the villa while waving Gamma goodbye. The blonde man vanished a second later.

"What is going on?" Kou asked who followed Marcus together with Grace. "In a few hours Kim will announce that I'm his disciple and I will show the world the Titan class. There might be consequences." Marcus said and Kou's face turned white "MIGHT!? More like we need to turn this place into a fortress ASAP." he said and Grace followed along laughing her ass off.

"Grace, I talked with Kim and he is inviting you to some practice hours in two days. Gamma is going to pick you up in the morning." Marcus said and enjoyed the look on her face. She was not crying but her face turned red and she hugged Marcus so hard that he worried his spine might break. "Stop wasting time! We need to prepare for the reveal!" Kou shouted and the whole estate went on red alert.

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