For the story's sake, the time will now be turned back to the day of the Mountain God's funeral. 

It was on this day that hundreds of Heroes had come to mourn the death of a recently departed S rank. 

And it was also on this day that Wang Jin and Donna Arison had arranged a meeting together. Specifically, lunch!

While Donna initially hesitated in heading to the meeting place, she figured she could at least let Wang Jin indulge. After all, he did save her from Kruos. 

"Speaking of that Kruos person… I wonder who he was." Donna wondered. 

It was on the same day of the entrance exam that the demonic invasion had occurred. And by chance the same one when both Donna and Wang Jin were ambushed by an individual. 

She hadn't stopped thinking about it since. She could still vividly recall the image of Wang Jin glaring at Kruos, and how he had urged her to leave the two of them alone. 

"...no matter. I should hurry up and get this over with." 

It was no use trying to get anything with the little amount of information she had. For now, Donna resolved herself to an entire hour or so of listening to Wang Jin's obnoxious voice. 

The sound of heels clicking against the floor entered Wang Jin's ears. 

Turning in the direction of the noise, Wang Jin's eyes laid upon the beautiful figure of Donna Arison.

Her hair that was usually tied in a ponytail was let loose, allowing it to move with the summer breeze.

For the occasion, she had worn a somewhat-casual summer dress that stretched to just above her knees. 

The dress was also colored particularly dark, not giving Wang Jin any chance to sneak a peek at the promised land. 

Not that he would be successful even if Donna wore more skimpier clothes. 

It was mostly because even with the already eye-catching outfit Donna wore, she still held her katana close to her side. Any men that had tried to approach her before were sent away with a mere click from the katana sheath. 

Wang Jin himself wasn't wearing anything relatively formal, either. His wardrobe mostly consisted of the dismal amount of mismatched outfits that he had scrambled to pack when he headed for the Academy. 

As such, it took extra difficulty to even think of an attire that would make him look good. 

For today, Wang Jin had managed to somewhat create a good looking appearance for himself. He wore a simple striped polo and dress pants that were of a somewhat similar color, creating an image of a neat student.

Still, his overwhelming confidence was more than enough to steal a few subtle glances. 

"Hey, Donna! Good morning." Wang Jin called out to the girl. 

"Good morning. How long were you waiting?" Donna replied.

"Eh, not long. I just got here myself, honest." 

Although Wang Jin said this, he had actually been here an hour ahead of the arranged time. It was, specifically, due to his misfortune with directions. He couldn't risk being late just because of a few wrong turns, so he made sure to come extra early. 

Though he might've taken the "extra early" part a bit too seriously. In his hurry to arrive early, he had forgone breakfast. 

"I see. Lead the way then, Wang Jin. Have you decided on where we will eat, by any chance?"

"Hmm… not yet, actually. Does a ramen stand sound nice?" Wang Jin's voice brightened. 

"*sigh*" Donna sighed.

"What… Did I do something wrong?"

"I'm not very knowledgable about occasions like this, but usually you'd take the girl to somewhere… nicer?"

"Ah! Right, of course. Then, how about this really nice buffet that just opened up on Morrison street? It supposedly has all sorts of food." Wang Jin looked through his phone and showed Donna a picture of the place he said.

After staring at the picture for a few seconds, Donna smiled slightly, and agreed. 

"It's not what I would've chosen, but it's good enough. Come on, let's go."

"Wah, then what would you have chosen?"

However, Donna did not reply and instead made her way in the direction of the street. 

***

Donna placed her plate, full of various foods, onto the table. Wang Jin had started eating long ago, and was somehow on his second plate already. 

"You know, for a girl, you sure took a lot of food." Wang Jin remarked as he grabbed a bite of the muffin to his side. 

"The pot calling the kettle black. You've been stuffing your face with food for the past half hour, Wang Jin." Donna snapped back. 

"Oh. Right, right, fair. Anyway, how're you holding up? You know, in the wound department." 

During Wang Jin and Donna's initial confrontation with Kruos, the latter had managed to leave a few marks on her body. 

"Already healed. Once I was in the clear I used my magic to reconfigure my body to regenerate faster."

"Oh, that's right. You did have that skill… what was it? Cage? Sounds kinky."

"...it's Chamber. It changes depending on my mood, but that's what I usually call it."

"Hah… I admire you, Donna." Wang Jin sighed as he stuffed a piece of bread into his mouth. 

"Wh-where did that come from?" Donna almost yelped. 

"I mean it, haha. My problem's this thing right here." Wang Jin tapped his finger onto his temples multiple times. "I always feel like I'm not utilizing my skills to their absolute limit. Like there's something missing with the way I fight."

Donna tilted her head. From what she could tell, Wang Jin was a formidable fighter himself. Few could, at his age, reach his power level. 

"I always feel like my skills only have one use. And then I see people like you and Digni, who can somehow create new ways to use their abilities." 

"This Digni person…" 

"He's the leader of my party. Smart dude. I'm glad he's my friend." Wang Jin answered. 

"Hmph. You're stupid, Wang Jin." 

"Yes, yes, ma'am." He replied, laughing. 

"Just so you know, my feats aren't due to my brain. It does some of the work for me, but I believe in the end it is up to your heart to think of a way to innovate new styles."

"Tell me, Wang Jin. What comes to your mind when you think of wind?" 

"Uh… the air blowing against me? Maybe a breeze that will carry me forward?" 

"In that case, why do you wield flames?"

"Huh? I don't wield flames, I wield Asmode–oh."

"See? You're already there. Wind normally wouldn't be able to create flames. They only either strengthen them or put them out. I don't know how your spell works, but something tells me they have a property that allows them to conduct heat in the same way lightning strikes form."

"I don't get it, but does that mean I can use lightning abilities?" Wang Jin asked.

"No, I don't think it's that simple."

"Ah, well, I wasn't hoping for that anyway. It would've been nice to hear, though, hehe."

Donna smiled inwardly. It seemed that she had managed to make Wang Jin cheer up slightly.

"My turn. Tell me about that person. The one we met that day." Donna asked. 

"Huh? Oh, you mean him."

Wang Jin instantly knew who she was referring to. He still had minor nightmares every night about his killing of Kruos. 

Did he do the right thing? 

Wang Jin always believed he made the correct decision, but that didn't mean there wasn't a semblance of his mind that haunted his head.

"Let's say… he's an old brother who turned against me because of a couple of power hungry fogies."

Wang Jin's situation was delicate. He knew if he revealed his past and history to anyone, there would be a chance the clan would pick up on it and send more dangerous assassins. 

The Jin clan's homeland was very far from the mainland. And as such, the elders had no reason to be suspicious yet. Just the journey to get here would have taken at least a month, maybe two if Kruos didn't want to get caught. 

Counting the time from when Wang Jin entered the mainland, half a month should've already passed. 

He still had time. Time to train himself. Time to surpass the people back in his homeland.