It's Grinding Time (1)

The two men glared at each other. Their aura briefly clashed. 

"Do you want to die that badly?" 

"I am merely following the rules, Mr. James." 

Elvin's aura intensified. The atmosphere became gloomy and heavy as if a storm was passing by. The bodyguards stood on the side with their hands ready to pull their weapons. 

Despite the increasing pressure, Lieutenant Martin stood calmly. 

"I see, following the rules huh?…" 

Swish—

Elvin clenched his fist and aimed it towards Lieutenant Martin's face. Martin countered with a blow of his own. 

At that moment an unexpected thing happened. 

Baam—

"Aiyo, respect the deceased, kind sirs."

Their attack which should have broken the bones of each other was blocked and firmly gripped by the man's arms. 

The man wore a black suit, partnered with a long brown overcoat. The monopoly hat on his head further added charm to his style. 

The man raised his head and spoke. 

"We shouldn't be fighting. Aiming for world peace is the king's way."

"Who are you?"

Due to his hat obscuring half of his features, the two couldn't recognize him. Elvin narrowed his eyes, his heart palpitating at the fact that he couldn't pull his hand out. 

'This guy!!' 

The same thing can be said to Lieutenant Martin. 

"Please calm yourselves before I release your hands."

The two clashing men let go of their short grudge first and stopped their rioting mana. Shortly afterwards, the man loosened his hand.

Based on the strength of his grip, this man is a dangerous individual. 

Elvin clenched his fists and tried to scold his bodyguards for not informing him. But when he turned around, all of his guards were down unconscious. 

'W-what happened?' 

Had he gone so weak that he couldn't even notice the slight movements behind him? 

That's absurd! 

Elvin stared at the man cautiously. 

..... 

Lieutenant Martin held his aching hand and observed the newly arrived man. He blocked their attacks without even sustaining any damage. Aside from S-class Awakened and above, no one could block that strike. 

"Who are you?" 

The man raised his hat with his finger, exposing his gorgeous features. Lieutenant Martin's eyes bug out after seeing who he was. 

"F-Felix, S-Sir Felix!! It's you!!!" 

The man was Felix Adam's all along. Martin placed his hand on his chest and sighed in relief. To be honest, he's been anxious after his officer told him that Elvin was at the scene. Thus, he called the Chief for backup. 

He didn't expect they'd mobilized Felix Adams himself! The blade on his neck seemingly vanished after seeing Felix's assuring smile. 

"You worked hard, Lieutenant."

"Eh, t-thank you, sir!" 

Martin straightened his back and displayed a salute. Even though their class was only 1 class apart, the difference in strength and position cannot be measured. 

Thus, Felix is still his superior. 

"No worries!" 

Felix thumbs up and smiled before shifting his attention to Elvin. The fact that this guy attacked a Lieutenant showed that he had no respect for the country's heroes. 

Felix despised that. Others might cower when they saw Elvin, even the President of the USA was afraid to file charges against him. But he's different. 

Even if someone is an S-class, as long as he broke the rules, he must be punished according to the law. 

"Mr. James, I have a lot of respect for you." Felix awakened his mana and continued, "But attacking law enforcers is a crime." 

"So what?" Elvin answered with a mocking grin, "What can you do to me?" 

Now that he knew who the man was, Elvin was no longer afraid. Felix is just an S-class. They are both at the same rank. Although Felix blocked their attack effortlessly, Elvin wasn't really impressed. 

Of course, he could block it. After all, he didn't fully use all of his strength in that attack. 

Elvin trudged towards Felix and looked at him eye to eye, trying to show dominance but Felix didn't budge.

"Are you aware of your crime sir?" 

"Crime!?" Elvin pulled Felix's collars up. His eyes slightly reddened, "I'm here to see my son!!! And your fucking enforcer there blocked my way!!" 

"I see." Felix turned towards Martin and signaled him to make way. Now that he knows the cause, Felix felt guilty pressing charges any further. 

"Then, you're free to check on your son." Felix's eyes turned towards the guards, "But they are not allowed."

Elvin waved his hand indicating 'It's fine' before trudging towards the covered corpse with his son's name tag on it. 

However, he did not open it. His eyes formed crystal tears and slowly fell to his cheeks. The handkerchief in his pocket felt useless as he wiped his tears off with the back of his hand. 

"Who killed him?" Elvin grimly asked.

Felix lowered his head and waved his hand off. A pile of pictures began to appear from out of nowhere. 

"This was the only clue we got as of now. There's no clear distinction of the suspect but uhm, based on the CCTV, it was a guy with blond hair. Maybe, he's tall too, probably 6 foot 2."

Elvin stayed silent listening to the information. As expected, the association is truly useless. He took a deep groan and went back to the car. 

Felix and Lieutenant Martin watched his back as he left. The reporters were dumbfounded too. They didn't expect that the deceased was his son. Fortunately, they came here, or else they might have missed this large scoop. 

"S-sir Felix, do you have time for an interview?!" 

"Wait, where did he go?" 

"He's here earlier!" 

Felix already left. Lieutenant Martin remained in his position before deciding to leave as well. At least for now, the disaster was safely prevented. 

...…. 

The next day. 

Hans woke up cheerfully. Having a great rest truly helps him recover. 

While he was cooking his breakfast, he turned his watch on. It was filled with notifications. 

"Who is this?" 

Among the missed calls and messages, a number stood out of the rest as it kept repeating. However, Hans didn't know who the sender was as the number was unfamiliar to him. 

'Who would contact me this much?' 

Hans held his chin constantly pondering before he began to check the messages. 

[Hello Hans!! Are you free by any chance?] 

[I'm on my way to the house, wanna grab some coffee?] 

[Oh right, it's me Gab if ever you're confused.]

[How's your day?] 

'Gab?' 

Hans nodded in realization. From what he researched Gab's grandfather was a politician so their wealth status should be upper class. Perhaps this was the reason why his clothes seemed like a luxury.

There were other messages too but Hans did not bother to check any further. Deciding to respond to his messages, Hans called the number. 

—"Hello?" 

The voice was familiar. 

"It's me. I just checked your messages so the call was late."

—"Oh Hans! No, no no, it's alright. You must have been busy raiding dungeons huh?" 

Gab asked with an excited voice. 

"Yes, just busy."

—"Oh right anyways, aren't you a D-Class now? Do you want to raid a dungeon with us?" 

Having his interest piqued, Hans immediately asked. 

"Where?" 

—"The newly spawned dungeon at Hammingdal Museum! We got a reservation for one raid!" 

Even just hearing his voice, Hans could vividly imagine Gab's smiling face. Hans agreed. 

"Alright, just wait for me there."

The breakfast smelled burnt. Hans massaged his temples before cooking another once again. 

His heart beat in anticipation. 

After the raid with Gab, he would still have a lot of time to raid dungeons. For sure, he would have tons of level-ups. 

The two days allotted by Freya were enough to make a difference. The day of gathering was nearing. Once he's there, it's given that he would meet people sitting on the top of the world. 

S-class would be everywhere, and for sure, there would be SS-Class too. Hans didn't want to go there without the power to protect himself. 

That is why, in these 2 days, he would aim for Level 50, no, even further than that if possible.

......…

The sun rises. 

Elvin James loosened his tie and his eyes narrowed sharply. His only child died, due to some random dude. 3 of the 5 bodyguards died as well while the other 2 were missing. However, Elvin already considered them dead. 

"Blond hair and 6 foot 2? Are they making fun of me?" 

The information was trash. What was he supposed to do with those? 

What if the culprit dyed his hair? 

Although Elvin retained his peak power, he's already getting old, way past his prime. He would need a successor he could trust. Jason was the perfect candidate and as time went by, he grew fond of his son as well. 

To think he would die before he could. The child didn't even get to marry, have a wife and children. 

"Aman, do you still have his number?" 

Aman is the James family driver. 

"Whose number sir?" 

"Leonel."

Aman slowed down and picked his watch with his other hand. It took him a moment to respond. 

"I still have his number sir."

"Good, call him. With his help, I could easily find the bastard who killed Jason. Clear my schedule and tell him we'll meet at the airport." 

"Uhm, sir, who will be in charge of the meetings? Our stockholders would be mad."

"Fuck them off, tell those people I'm mourning my son."

"Y-yes, sir."

Elvin groaned and stared out of the window. His wife hadn't received the news yet. Because he's always busy, his wife would always be alone in the house. Sometimes Jason would visit and stay but now, he's not here anymore. 

Elvin closed his eyes with determination. 

Only with Leonel's help could he identify that bastard. 

And once his face was shown to him… 

"You'll regret being born to this world."

Elvin's eyes seethed in rage and agony. 

.... 

Hans arrived at the association store via motorcycle ride. It was fast and quick, unlike taxis. The highway was packed with heavy traffic and it was always like this in the morning. 

Hans went inside the store carrying the cleaned items he got from the dungeon. It was the one dropped by the dungeon boss. The item was useless to him and the mana crystal would also fetch a high price. 

Shortly afterwards, Hans got out of the building wearing a cheerful smile on his face. 

He got 20 Million USD, but due to the Tax Law, his earnings got cut off into 10 Million. 

The tax law states that an Awakened earning 10 Million would need to pay a tax of 50%. Of course, it was an outrageous amount but after many failed petitions, people had no option but to comply.

Hans got on the motorcycle and they drove into the museum. After some time they arrived in a vacant lot, though just a distance away, the place was packed with people. Based on their attire, they were Awakeners. 

"Sir, it's morning for God's sake. I don't have any change for this."

"Just keep the change."

The rider went silent.

"R-really?" The rider bowed and spoke, "Thank you."

"No worries."

After paying the rider, Hans strode towards Gab who was talking to 6 other people. But before he could approach, a hand suddenly grabbed his shoulder.