*Denki PoV*

My heart was beating so fast as I stood in front of August Kaiser, the Gáe Bulg and the captain of Heracles Familia. My captain to be exact. 

I arrived in Orario three days earlier, and in those three days I've heard many rumors about the man who'll be my captain in this familia. 

They said that his spear is like a tempest, fast and precise, that he brings death to any monsters who are unlucky enough to stand in his path. Those who saw him in action inside the dungeon spoke that he is brutal in his hunt. But the most popular rumor I heard about him is how he killed a monster rex in his very first dungeon dive. 

I used to think that those were only rumors, that they were over exaggerated, but as I stood in front of him, I felt like what they were saying was tame in comparison.

"Holy shit." I could only curse, as a thick and sinister aura oozes out of August. It clings to my body and feels on a lack of a better term disgusting. It feels sticky and vile, like I'm stuck in the deep end of one of those tar pits in the jungle of the far east. 

My body felt heavy, and moving became hard. Even breathing seemed to be a challenge right now. Standing in front of him felt like Death.

But this is what I want. August is the strongest opponent I've ever faced, and I know that I will learn so much from him in this spar. I won't let this opportunity pass by.

My concentration became deeper as my heels dug deep in the earth below. I controlled my breathing as I remembered the training I did before coming here. 

Right now my mana has expanded in a sphere 5 steps around me, this is my space, and whoever breaches my space would be cut. 

"Bring it!" I spoke with determination in my voice. My stance, low to the ground as I took an iaijutsu stance. 

"That's some fine mana control if I do say so myself." August said as he smiled at me. "If I have to take a guess I'll say that inside that area is your kill zone. And if I steep inside it I'll be within your striking range." he took a step forward stopping short outside my range. "A perfect technique on a one on one duel."

I stayed silent as I prepared to strike, filling mana into my katana I aim to finish this in one shot as I've been taught by my master. 

He gave me a smirk and took the step inside. The moment his toe entered my zone my body moved instantaneously. 'Iaijutsu: Soyokaze!'

My katana moved straight at him, slicing the wind on its path, it headed straight towards his neck.

"Fast... But not fast enough." I heard August speak right before my sword even touched him. And then.

*Clang* 

His spear blocked the path of my blade before even reaching its target. The sound of metal hitting metal vibrated in my ear as my hand trembled from the force of the collision.

And then I saw his face, a smug smile plastered in it, his eyes looking directly at mine. "Shit!" I cursed as I felt the hair on my neck stood up and before I knew it I was on the ground.

"Argh!!!" I didn't even see the hit coming, what did he hit me with? His spear? His fist? Did he kick me perhaps? I could only groan as I slowly willed myself to stand back up. 

"Hmmm... Impressive. You didn't let go of your weapon even after taking a shot from your blind side." August spoke, my eyes followed his voice and I saw him just standing there with the same nonchalant poise he has. 

"Uhgg... What the hell did you hit me with?" I asked, my voice raising an octave as frustration started to fill my head.

He smiled. "Take a guess." he said. 

I took a moment to think about what happened, I was hit at the back of the head, and judging by the way he blocked my attack I could only come up with one conclusion. "Well your left hand is holding your spear as you blocked my sword, with your position the chances of you kicking me is slim to none. With that being said the most possible outcome I can come up with is your right hand, you either punched me or elbowed me with it." I answered him.

"Good instincts. Well shall we continue?" 

Now that I received a hit from him my body seemed to have gotten loose, I didn't realize that I was so tense back there. That hit was a wake up call. Of course he is stronger than me, that much is a fact, I tried to finish the fight in one strike, how stupid was that. This is an opportunity, a spar, this is not a real fight. That blow made me realize it. If he wanted I'd be dead already. 

I took a couple of deep breaths and gave myself a slap to hype myself up. He is stronger than me and this is just a spar. It means that I can let loose and experiment. It's not everyday that I can fight someone as strongly as him. I have to give it my all.

"Yes please!" I answered him, my voice filled with enthusiasm, I held my katana with two hands and took a stance. I let my mana run wild inside my body as a smile crept up in my face. 

"Now come at me with everything that you got!" he said as he twirled his spear. 

And with that I dashed at him with the goal to learn and to grow strong as much as I can.

But a question was running in my mind as I face this man.

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*Narration*

-10 minutes later

Denki was lying at the ground, he is breathing heavily as his body was filled with bruises and dirt. He can't recall how many times he had tasted the ground.

But he was happy nonetheless, he had learned so many new things because of this experience, and August was giving him something new to learn, giving him guidance as the spar went on. Telling him his flaws, his blindspots, how he can move better. He was so happy that he was smiling from ear to ear even when he was lying on the verge of unconsciousness on the ground.

August was impressed, Denki was even better than he thought. He had attacked August with everything he had and it showed that he was a skilled swordsman. 

Denki was learning something new at every exchange he has with August, but at the same time August had picked up a thing or two in their spar. And August much like Denki can't wait to try out what he learned.

"Hey Denki, how long are you planning on lying there? Get up already." August was badgering Denki nonstop.

"Can't you fucking wait? I'm tired as fuck here, fuck I need a rest or something!" he said pissed. Denki is the type of person who gets pissed when he's tired.

"Well you can rest when we're done. I just want to try something and I think you'll find benefits in watching this so get up already."

Denki sat up faster than he intended to do so which made him dizzy. He was excited by the fact that August wanted to show him something that may help him grow stronger. "Uhgg..." he groans but the next moment he was enthusiastically speaking. "I'm all ears, what do you need? Can I help? Is it a new move?" he wiped some dirt off him as he stood up.

"Okay..." August finds his behavior odd but ignores it. He just accepted the fact that Denki was a martial arts idiot. "Anyway it looks like you're up now. I want you to watch this carefully." He walked in the middle of the open space and took a basic spear stance. "Your first attack earlier was impressive but can be improved" 

Denki listened to every word August is saying. All of a sudden every hair in his body stood up, alarm bells started ringing in his ears as cold sweat poured out of him.

"Far eastern martial arts is usually decided by the first move, it follows the philosophy of one strike one kill." August spoke as he slowly removed the limit he placed on his body, he was holding back on his spar with Denki, adjusting his strength to match his. But now he is unleashing the full mana capacity of a level 5. 

Denki was in awe, he knew that August was holding back but he didn't know that it was by this much. There's a reason why there's a huge gap between a second class adventurer and a first class adventurer. And right now Denki is feeling that gap and he was dumbstruck by it.

"Do you know what it lacked?" August asked Denki, but he was unable to answer. He was tongue tied by what he is feeling right now. "It lacks intent." 

As soon as August uttered those words a huge amount of bloodlust and killing intent assaulted Denki making him fall on his knees. He had the urge to vomit as he felt a lump in his throat. His instincts are telling him to run but his body won't follow his orders. He wants to scream but he can't speak, he can't even breathe. He felt like his heart was being grasped by August and that he would die at that very moment.

He was not facing August at that moment, he realized that right now he was facing the Gáe Bulg, the spear of mortal death.

In an instant a sphere of mana formed around August, it was the very same technique Denki showed earlier in their fight.

The sphere stopped inches away from Denki. He felt shocked, his technique that he spent countless hours, days, months, and years to master was being used instantaneously by August. He felt like laughing and crying at the same time, he felt like a joke in front of this monster. 

Yes that was the only conclusion he had right now, August is a monster in human skin.

"This is intent. In our spar earlier you have been attacking me just for the sake of attacking me. There is no intent behind your strike which makes it weak." August spoke, his voice calm and collected but for Denki it felt sinister. "I'm going to kill you now." as August said those words the sphere extends and reached Denki.

He closed his eyes as visions of him getting decapitated appeared in his mind, felt his neck getting sliced as his head flew in the air, blood gushing everywhere. He was dead. Or so he thought. Slowly the feeling of dread dissipated and vanished completely. He slowly opened his eyes only to see the spear inches away from him. 

His eyes watered as he felt relief that he was alive, he followed the spear and found August smiling at him at the end of it. Gone was the sinister aura, gone was the oppressive feeling he felt earlier. 

"That is how you use intent to enhance your attack." August spoke snapping Denki out of his thoughts. "Your attack should have the intention to cut, to harm, to kill. If you attack for the sake of attacking, your blade would just be empty." he straightened himself up as he twirled his spear. He looked at Denki with a smile on his face. "Sorry about that, it's just that you're the first member of this familia besides me, I can feel that you have potential, I guess I just want you to get stronger as fast as possible so that we can dive deeper in the dungeon as soon as possible." 

He offered his hand to Denki helping him stand up, he then patted him in the shoulder and spoke. "And now, this may be late but allow me to officially welcome you to Heracles Familia."

Denki was taken aback, moments earlier he felt like he was about to die, now he is being welcomed by August Kaiser. He couldn't help but smile at the events that happened today. He learned so much because of this spar and he was grateful for it. He was also happy that such a strong adventurer accepted him as a part of his famillia. So with that, he gave his most sincere smile and said. "Thank you!" as he bowed over and over.

"Now clean this mess up, I have something to do." He smiled and made his way inside the house. He still has to talk to his god about being late. He dreaded the fact that he has to explain why he was stuck inside the dungeon for three days straight. "Hopefully the Old man would take it easy on me. I'm quite tired already."

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Heracles was having a meal and drinking the ale that August brought him, he was satisfied by his child, if he had gotten home empty handed he would have buried his head deep in the ground.

Still he was quite worried about August, he is a caring god after all. So he was looking forward to the talk they would have right now. 

Suddenly the door slams open as August barges inside Heracles office. With that Heracles made a mental note to discipline August a bit more since he seems to have very little respect for him.

"Old man, you said earlier you wanted to talk." August said nonchalantly, his tone made Heracles even madder as a vein pop on his head.

Suddenly August felt a cold chill, his shoulders dropped when he saw his god's face. He knew at that moment that he was fucked.

"It seems like you really need a lesson in manners Boy." Heracles spoke as he let his godly aura out shaking the the whole house with its force. 'It is the god's job to discipline their child and since I am a responsible god I'll discipline this boy so hard that he won't forget about his manners anymore.' he thought to himself as he looked at August with a sinister smile on his face.

"Fuck!"

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***

Chapter 33 is out, how do you guys like the story so far? 

Please leave a comment, a review and feedback so I can improve on writing this fanfic. every little thing helps as it allows me to see your preference on things and would help me write a better fanfic for you all to enjoy.

thanks for picking up this fanfic. hope you guys like it.

good day, love y'all.