Marcus could hear his own heavy breaths and tried to get to terms with what just happened. He felt a familiar warm feeling in his chest, informing him that he had gained at least one level up from that fight and…

She is well and truly dead Marcus.

Janette came running to him, with Cherry close behind. Janette's face was covered in tears and her eyes were red and swollen while her wife looked white in the face. His best friend hugged him and he could feel her shaking. "You won, come we will clean you up." She took his hand, gently pulling him away. Cherry took his other arm and they slowly moved towards the villa.

Marcus turned and looked at his clan. Kou with his hands in front of his face all pale, Grace with a petrified face, Candis immobile but crying and many others in shock or in tears. Last he saw Ye-jun, no longer in his place in the background but standing right at the edge of the arena. His hands were fists and blood dropped from his fingers to the ground. These impressions stayed with Marcus as he was escorted into the building.

He took a shower and the two women got rid of the torn, bloodied clothes in the meantime. Are you not going to say something Xeen, Marcus thought.

You already know everything I could say. It is not your fault, she forced you. It was a fight of life and death by her choice. Killing is a part of being a class holder. Do you want me to go on?

No.

This does not make you a bad person. You have seen their faces, they were all afraid to lose you. You are being loved, and that for many good reasons.

Thank you Xeen, you are a good friend.

When Marcus got out of the shower again he felt a bit better, and there was a lot of activity in the villa. The whole fight had taken less than a minute but somehow it felt much longer. Marcus was hungry now.

He went into the kitchen and found Janette, Cherry, Kou, Achara, Candis, Rian, Luca, Grace and also Ye-jun. He got some coffee and food without asking, while everybody tried to look really busy. "Why did she try to kill me? And why the hell did you invite her here?" Marcus asked to the room while eating a boiled egg. People were exchanging looks and Kim sat down next to Marcus "We told you she was a bounty hunter. But she was not one of the nice kind." Marcus tried to understand what that meant "Illegal contracts?" He asked and Ye-jun nodded. "There is a bounty on your head." Janette blurted out, as if it was something she had been keeping in for some time.

Cherry stepped up and ruffled his hair "As soon as you were announced as Kim's disciple shady people put money on your head. You had to send a message, although we hoped it would not be such a cruel one. But that bitch did not leave you any choice," she said and things started to make sense. "How much am I worth?" He asked without looking up. "Currently about 50 million dollars," Kim said. "Actually a bit disappointing given you are my disciple," he grinned and Marcus smiled back. "And none of you thought it was a good idea to tell me? To let me know what was going on?" He said, but he already knew the answer. Now he understood why they pushed so hard to show the world how strong he was. To keep the vultures away from him, to scare them away.

"Than what about my mysterious last challenger? An even worse bounty hunter?" He asked with a joyful tone but his face stayed serious. Cherry bent down to him and smiled "What if I tell you it was me?" Marcus swallowed hard "Then I'm surrendering right now." The whole room laughed, but Marcus was actually a bit worried "Don't worry it is not me." Cherry smiled and he felt a bit better. Marcus looked for Grace and once he had her attention he asked, "What kind of training will you put me through today?" "We can train if you like, but we don't have to. If you like you can relax until your last fight," Grace said. That was unexpected and wonderful too.

Marcus spent an hour with his friends in the kitchen, discussing or just joking around before they slowly spread out again. Ye-jun gave him a pat on the back and left, while Marcus discussed how they should handle the video of the fight. They uploaded the fight with strong warnings and some well chosen words at the end, explaining Marcus did not want things to end that way.

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Marcus spent his two crests and was now only one level away from unlocking his fourth ability. Only now Marcus learned that the bounty hunter had been level 80. What an insane gamble they made, betting he would be able to bring her down anyway. They value your abilities this high. And you proved them right. Easy to say now, for me it felt like 50/50 at best.

Even though Marcus had decided to chill until tomorrow, in the afternoon he found himself training with Grace anyway. The training lacked the same pressure and intensity from the days before. They went over the last battles and how he could improve his chances against each opponent. Before he knew it night was falling, and he joined the whole clan around the fire pit. Besides talking to friends, he made it his mission to walk around the fire and to talk with all clan members at least a bit. He saw a lot of respect in the eyes of the rookies and the second squad. And yes it made him happy, XEEN.

Nothing wrong with a bit of an ego. Just don't let it get to your head.

You are already in my head, there is no space for an ego.

Hurhurhur.

Marcus also met the young man that watched him from afar. "Fin Olson, sir," he said and his eyes were glowing with joy. They only shared a few words, nothing meaningful, but Marcus had a growing feeling he should take some interest in the young man. The evening ended, and Marcus fell asleep much easier than he had expected. The morning came and went, together with a nice breakfast, which included teasing Sophon, together with his father. It was only now, with the next agenda being his fight with the mystery challenger, that Marcus started to get really nervous. He prepared himself and kept his eyes open for a newcomer, but nothing.

Minutes before the fight should start he walked up and down the field, and still there was no challenger. He contemplated if it was just a joke or if a clan member would step up. Grace or even Janette would be likely. As he kept his mind busy with such thoughts, he realized some new faces in the growing audience. Amy, Jack and Jura had taken a seat and waved to him and he waved back. At that moment he knew who his opponent was. His blood froze in his veins.

He slowly turned and saw the hooded man taking off his disguise revealing a well known training outfit underneath. The audience suddenly went wild and then completely silent as they watched Kim warming up. Grace brought him a sword and shield, and walked away without saying a word to Marcus. Those absolute maniacs! Marcus wanted to believe this would be a nice sparring session to build some hype, but he knew better. Kim was not that kind of a man. This was a test, one Marcus could not fail, because Kim was showing off his disciple to the world. No cheap show, no staged fight, a real and bloody trial.

For the record, I knew this was coming.

Thanks for telling me.

You would have gone mad with anxiety, that is why nobody told you in the first place. Now, concentrate on you opponent.

Marcus could barely hear the words from Grace, all his senses were focused on Ye-jun who faced him with a serious look. Marcus felt like in trance, he went into his combat stance and saw Kim do the same. His mind was blank, "FIGHT!".

Kim charged right at him, and in a fraction of a second his blade pierced through Marcus' chest down to the hilt. Marcus struck a blow, but Kim was already moving on. Suppressing the pain, Marcus Burst charged right after him delivering strikes and kicks, only to earn more painful stabs. Channel light cut into his body, sliced his skin, but could not stop him. They moved over the field attacking, defending, Marcus had no coherent strategy, all he could do was try to pressure Kim, and hope to see a weakness.

The battle raged on and Marcus started to get a feeling for Kim's rhythm and tried to predict some of his moves. The prodigy reacted by changing his rhythm, and delivering more painful stabs. This was not working, this was a disgrace Marcus thought. He was not doing anything, just swinging his arms around like an idiot. Kim was too fast, too experienced and able. Even though Ye-jun avoided deadly attacks and did not use Judgment, Marcus could do nothing.

Seconds ticked away and Marcus formulated a plan. One proper hit, he had to land at least one hit, or he would not be able to stay Kim's disciple. His own pride would not allow it. Anything but the most drastic actions would not work against Kim. So Marcus prepared for the worst.

He charged after his teacher, made a far too wide attack, and Kim easily forced him back with the point of his blade, but Marcus did not back off. He stepped right into the blade. Thanks to Channel Light the weapon cut through his body like a scalpel, fast and clean. The view of his weapon being stuck in Marcus' neck made even Kim hesitated for a moment. In spite of that, Ye-jun blocked Marcus' surprise palm strike with his shield. But shields don't work against Impulse Hammer. Kim was blown back, he staggered but managed to find his footing. Marcus fought with the pain of his healing neck and watched the Paladin drop his shield. Kim charged at him again, the bloody dance continued.

Marcus did not know for how long they fought, he could not even remember what happened ten seconds ago. The only thing on his mind was this very moment, and how to stay upright against his teacher. It was still not enough, he had barely done anything, he thought as his strength finally failed him and Marcus dropped to his knees. Constant fighting and healing had drained his massive endurance pool dry, he could no longer lift an arm or stand. Kim stood in front of him, breathing heavily but unharmed. One hit was all his disciple had managed, Marcus thought.

A weird sound buried into Marcus' mind, and he moved his head to see his clan clap and cheer. Kim and Grace gave him a hand and pulled him to his feet again. "Why did you not stop? You crazy person!" She said and Marcus blinked "What?" Grace looked at him with a perplexed expression "I told you at the start, the goal was two minutes not THIRTY TWO!" Marcus blinked again and did not understand. "You did very well Marcus," Kim said with a wide smile and lifted Marcus' hand to the sky. "MY DISCIPLE!" Ye-jun shouted and cheering filled Marcus' ears.

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