On top of a bell-tower, Arthur and Alex watched as the man walked out the church. They had marked a person, and that individual was someone they missed quite a bit. It was why they could do this.

Brandon came out to talk to some 'holy' priest. 

Arthur was feeling pretty cold.

Not from the blowing wind... 

...but due to his friend's eyes.

Alex's stare was chill-inducing.

"Hehehe, I'll be applying a metal rune to your fist a few times. Give him my 'greeting'~" Alex licked his lips. A wicked expression appeared on that overly frustrated face. Though this reaction was actually understandable... when remembering their past.

"Aren't you going overboard? Teach' is not an enemy here" Arthur didn't want to REALLY hurt his mentor too bad. Like they were saying, this was just a greeting from the student to their 'good' master.

"You know how strong our teacher is. You're being too arrogant if you think you can hold back...!" Alex did not agree. Seeing his friend's confidence as sheer arrogance. Who said he'd be able to hurt the man?

"Still..." Arthur made a complicated look at him.

Not understanding why he was going this far.

"Hey, remember that you only have five chances to give him a good hit. I've mixed a light rune into them, so it won't get in the way of your regular techniques." Alex was surprised himself that his friends's body could handle five runes on them.

Normally, a person could barely handle two without feeling irritated. His own method of using rune magic was also different in how it affected others. It was a difference in the tolerance level they had...

Alex tended to workout in his free time.

His physiology was also different from the norm.

Those he applied runes on had to wait compared to himself, who he could instantly conjure them on his body. Thus, allowing for a multitude of 'Skills' and 'Runic Formations' that created various effects.

Like the 'piercing' effect he added just now...

"Fine... He kinda deserves it anyway. Your Bro over here shall beat him up for you! Mwahahahaha!" An egomaniacal laugh echoed through the air. They were acting like villains trying to harm the hero.

"Punch that arrogant face of his!" Alex roared.

His looked a little like this: (｀㊥益㊥)Ψ

Alex was so burning with enthusiasm. The thought of beating up the mentor that picked on them daily was exciting. Especially when he thought of all them torturous 'spars' they had with him at a young age.

Being thrown, disorientated, stomped, struck, etc...

This made them reminisce of the past. Those times when this jerk made them go through extreme spartan training just because they pranked him once. Brandon had them once was petty enough to increase their training to an unbelievable level...!

There were two 'Basic Skills' that everyone built the foundation of their abilities on: One was any combat-related ability they were born with while the other was called 'Partial Whitening', a skill that focused the body's energy to boost one attribute.

By applying it to a person's fist, they can punch at high speed. By applying it to a person's legs, they can move themselves at high speed. This was most useful in combat. Where speed meant many advantages.

Application of this went beyond the level of 'Skills'.

It could even reach the point of being a 'Spell'.

By exploding this whitening at a person's feet, they could use the 'Rapid Movement' Half Spell to break through any situation. The best transport and dynamic battle steps, but at the cost of nearly depleting their reserves. This, or they could just casually hasten their steps to a degree that even people sprinting had a hard time catching up to. 

Partial whitening, or the use of 'Lightening', was the best skill even for those of non-combat classes. The latter being the application of partial whitening all over the body. A technique that lowered its effects.

Their usefulness depended on the situation.

The lightening skill was better used in daylight.

As for what reason?

Only those who fought beasts could say why.

Using the spirit essence as a guide, and 'Magic Pathways' as a medium that could took in External Energy (Ether) of the world, you could mould it into pretty good physical enhancement techniques.

However, even if you could augment your attacks, it needed mastery to put that to good use. That's why their mentor taught them how to fight in a very irregular manner due to his abnormal 'stats':

{Spirit Essence- Sacrificial Gauntlet:

• Innate Ability- Nature Affinity

Magic Slots- (Foundational Attribute- Light, Holy), Lightning, Fire, Wind, Water, Earth

Legendary Class- Grand Hero:

• Class Skill- Universal Prodigy

• Class Skill- Mana Burst}

What did it mean to be a 'Universal Prodigy'? It meant that he was talented at anything he did without question... to the point that he could easily look down on every one of the other professions.

He wasn't the strongest 'Lord Rank' on Gaia for nothing...! Whether it was swordsmanship, battle arts, horse riding, cooking, etc. The man had never had any setbacks when it came to learning the techniques he wanted, which turned into a very annoying nature when he took in students. This clean-freak would act all high and mighty whenever he had the chance to show off... He was such a man.

What was the definition of a 'Mary Sue'? This 'Gary Stu' (male version) was that! He was so perfect and beloved by everyone that no one would blame him even if he became a 'Jerk Stu'; A bag guy paragon.

Whose self-insert was this guy...? 

...Because he was way too perfect!

Even his teaching methods and medical skills were so top-level that a normal 'Sword Warrior' like Arthur was able to learn hand-to-hand skills. He called his close combat chops: 'Swordless Skills' 

Or 'CCC' for short.

Even a unique class holder like Alex was able to sharpen Brandon's self-taught fighting style over time, and made it fully his own. There was definitely perks to having a skilled mentor, but 'he' was cruel.

Too cruel...

Before Alex was reincarnated, he was actually part of an Internal Martial Arts Lineage that went by the title of the 'Dragon Family'. They were strong fighters of the 'Western Hegemony' that passed on their techniques without care about bloodlines.

That's why even an adopted child like Alex was able to learn from the best. If it weren't for the fact that he was born frail in his past life and didn't have the best personality for a fighter, he might have been given the opportunity to be the next family head.

Too bad... he died at an early age and was thrown into the 'Dark Forest', where he'd met Arthur. A strange turn of fate that would eventually lead him to civilisation. Of course, this had taken some time.

The duo went on a great and epic adventure! 

Even after learning his own brand of arcane skills like 'Runic Imbue' (which Alex had JUST used on his friend) and other battle type skills, he had never forgotten the basics of his family's martial arts that had been ingrained into his body from a young age.

Since he didn't have much physical ability, his parents had decided to teach him 'Unorthodox Karate'... so he could utilise the strength he had without wasted movements. This turned into the favourite striking tactics he'd kept in his heart.

Of course, that was ignoring the unique signature techniques of each dragon in their family: 'Dragon Impact', 'Devil Break', 'Arcane Fingers', and the legendary 'Dragon Breath' Divine Art of white.

Alex couldn't always whip out the big moves...

Both of these youths had already matured their fighting styles, so it was only natural that Brandon felt a chill down his spine. They both smiled at him sinisterly from a high place like the bell tower...

Since this was just a 'greeting', Arthur wasn't willing to use his sword spirit essence. However, he cracked his knuckles menacingly at the man. The meathead with a craze for battle wasn't willing to hold back!

The unique class skill their mentor had called 'Mana Burst' wasn't a normal technique like Arthur's 'Slash Sharpening' class skill. The way mana burst could be changed and moulded to fit the situation was something he was well-aware of, without question.

It was to the point that Arthur was inwardly happy Alex had added metal runes to his fists. After all, that particular worldly attribute was the best at chopping through any and all types of magical defences. 

He hadn't thought there would be a day he could experience the wonders of being able to use the metal attribute himself. Especially in order to physically punch through their mentor's defence.

Just as he was about to go, he stopped.

Alex drew a dark runes in the air and reached into the shadow before pulling out a certain weapon. His mouth twitched a bit. Arthur remembered the specifics of his friend's class, and 'fighting style'.

{Unique Class- Arcanist:

• Class Skill- Magic Prodigy

• Class Skill- Runic Insight}

Though Alex was supposed to just be a variant of a magic users method of using mana... the guy had a knack for creating things. It was to the point that Arthur was certain that the 'Magic Technology' that Alex came up with couldn't be reproduced.

"Are seriously going to use 'that'? Don't you have better weapons?" Arthur remembered there being this thing called a 'gun' that his friend had been using back then. He wasn't sure how that had changed over the years, but it's better than THIS.

"You don't like it? I call it my masterpiece... this Metal Bat is a 'Metal' Bat I integrated Metal Runes into. I call it: 'Number Algebra Cannon Neil Armstrong Cannon'... or NAC NAC for short~" Alex kissed the light-weight metallic weapon he made and smiled cheerfully. This made Arthur really confused... What was with this guy's naming sense?

What part of that bat looked like a 'Cannon'?

"...You're merciless." Arthur sighed.

"Hehehehe~ Let's get him to kiss dirt already!"

Alex hysteria looked like this: Ψ( ｀▽' )Ψ

He was definitely an extremely dangerous man.

One who loved to beat up others like a thug...

They were finally ready to give a 'Stuman style' greeting to their mentor, and from that very moment they had decided what to do. The two of them jumped off the bell-tower simultaneously.

Only these two were crazy enough to jump...!

And from such a height...

"Woohoo!"

"Yeah!"

A rush of adrenaline pumped through their brains as the wind was fluttering their clothes. Alex's hand drew many wind runes and threw the magical symbols below them. They were sky-diving off the largest building that was near their destination.

"Runic Skill— Launch Pad!" Alex thought.

The moment they fell on the magical circle that formed underneath them, Arthur focused his light mana to his feet and 'Partial Whitened' it. Alex held onto the back of his friend. His hand tightly gripped his NAC NAC bat. Readying strength in his arms.

"Leg Whitening— Light Movement!" Arthur thought.

A burst of energy similar to the 'Mana Burst' happened the same time the young warrior's legs bent down on the 'Launch Pad'. They went from being falling apples... to beam-like shooting stars.

A brilliant glow covered the Arthur's figure. 

The brawny youth aimed to make a beeline straight for their mentor, who was casually talking to a church priest. Unaware, but was getting suspicious with the fighting spirit being thrown in his direction.

This was their only mistake.

It was too bad the priest, who had been talking earlier, noticed. Quickly alerting Brandon before they could give a great 'surprise'. Though the tan-skinned grand hero didn't see it necessary to dodge.

"Mana Burst— Earthly Defence!" Brandon thought.

A singular but strong burst of energy, similar to the one that had happened around Arthur's legs, covered the Brandon's body. Yet... it did not fade moments after. Instead, rigid and firm earth mana Brandon drew from his magic slot made his skin bronze.

This was a layer of defence the Arthur and Alex, who were familiar with their powerful mentor, were expecting. A cheeky smile curved onto their lips at that moment... Not stopping their little ambush.

They shot towards him like beam of light!

Though Alex was fine, it was only good because he hid behind his brawny friend's back to shield himself from the wind resistance... Alex had held on as long he could for them to get close to their 'target'.

The moment they were close enough, the bodies of the two youths no longer seemed 'separate'. They moved like a single entity. Showing off how deep their synergy was despite their years being apart.

Brandon slowly turned around and used his great technique in martial arts to block Arthur's first strike with his hand, only to suddenly reel in pain as the metal runes had pierced through his defence.

"So it IS you two...!" Brandon thought and smiled fiercely in response, but didn't stop his ascending hand that was about to grab Arthur by the collar. All to free-flow a judo throw. Arthur was the target! 

Brandon was going to end this in one grapple!

However, Brandon's knee buckled after feeling a metal bat slam into it. This caused him to miss his target dizzily. Arthur swayed back his body, giving Alex a chance to continue their brilliant combo.

The caused him notice the scholarly young man's presence. Brandon was happy for their growth. He instantly changed his tactics to get the weaker one first. This was the basics of fighting many foes.

His hand stretched towards the scholarly young man's moonlight hair, yet was unable to grab anything but air the moment Arthur's closest arm did a crescent motion and touched his wrist.

This was what Brandon saw before it fully redirected his stretched hand to the ground, which was then followed by the sneaky chuckle of these youths. A fist struck the man's face. A metal bat hit his leg again...

His body disoriented and slipped. Falling to the ground with a thud. They deliberately made their mentor's face hit the floor, and their synergy were harmonious. The duo continued to beat him up!

Brandon tried punching Arthur instead, but Alex seemed to have predicted his movement and pulled his friend's collar to get him out of the way. Away of the man's unfathomable fist covered in mana flames. 

The air had been disturbed, but the student team's eyes were completely still as water. Alex followed the motion of Brandon's punch and forcibly tilted it further into the sky using NAC NAC metal bat.

They were swaying themselves back...

The two youths continued like one entity-

"No, it's like one entity is fighting as two!" Brandon thought. He reminisced and remembered his two students from 'back then'. Despite their differences in nature... they seemed to get along just fine.

At first, he wouldn't have imagined this tactic.

However, time had changed them.

Their 'journey' had changed them.

They accepted each other's flaws.

Their teamwork had refined itself to the point it felt like Brandon was being beaten up by a four-armed, four-legged, two-headed creature when fighting them together. It was hard to find anyone else with such refined combination techniques as these two.

"Nice!" The impassioned mentor laughed heartily at their growing. Brandon had accidentally became 'a little serious' from their point on. Fighting spirit has erupted into an explosion of purple magic flames.

"Mana Burst— Lightning Rapture!" He thought.

Brandon's outstretched fist recoiled back, vanishing like a puff of smoke... before cutting through the air once again. He used 'Lightning Mana' to enhance his body. This caused the man's speed to be so fast that both weren't able to react the moment he got up.

Arthur felt an uppercut smash into his chin. A strike that was so clean it broke his pain tolerance, and launched him up into the air in a straight line similar to way the 'Launch Pad' did. His consciousness faded the moment his brain was rattled by the direct hit.

Not realising he went overboard, Brandon's other fist was ready to head into the exposed chest of his other student. It was too bad that in that split second, Alex was the first one to take action.

A burst of electrical energy covered Alex's body in a similar way to Brandon. The young scholar threw out his own final strike. Throwing everything he had learnt over the years into an explosive punch.

"Runic Skill— Lightning Rapture!" He mimicked.

After a slight delay, Brandon suddenly felt his 'eggs' break. It made his knees buckled to the ground in great pain. He looked at his student like he was a merciless demon who knew not human emotions...!

"That's cheating...!" Brandon cried out in fury.

"...It's a Stuman style greeting." Were the words Alex responded as time started moving again. The boy backed away as Brandon was holding the area between his legs. Sparks lingered from his strike.

Alex looked up and saw a falling figure coming straight at him. He sighed and opened up his arms to catch his brawny friend. The moment Arthur landed in his arms, he realised how outrageously heavy the guy was. He used his metal bat as leverage to stand.

Even though Alex felt his arms were going to break by doing so, he didn't let his unconscious friend hit the floor. It was only after the force of Arthur's descent was nullified did he put him on the ground and glare at Brandon. The guy he knocked him out!

He crossed the line first!

"But... Hey! You guys were the ones who ambushed me...!" Brandon didn't say this though. He only thought it inwardly. There was a lot of times in the past this 'Grand Hero' would surprise attack his students to teach them how to be alert at all times.

The church priest at the side didn't know what he was looking at as things happened too fast. There was also this lack of context of where the two young men appeared from. Did they fall from above?

All for man saw were blurry movements... before seeing the grand hero kneeling down while holding on to his nuts in an embarrassing fashion, and then saw a foreign mage young man catch another brawny figure that descended from the sky...

He was even shocked speechless after hearing their weird interaction. Hinting at their relationship.

"???" Would someone explain what happened?!