Chapter 246 ( Lanza )

"What happened, Ren?" - Meru asked in surprise as she saw her silver-haired friend's annoyed expression.

"No... it's nothing" - replied Ren with a frown.

"Did you have trouble with Rino, by any chance?" - Ren asked as she looked at her friend.

". . ." - Ren was silent when she heard the question, but her silence was proof enough for Meru to understand the situation - "Ok, I admit it, things didn't end well when I went to see Rino."

"As I expected" - Meru muttered with a serious expression present on her face.

"You expected that to happen - why?" - Ren asked with surprise when she heard her friend.

"Let's see... you weren't the most affectionate sister, Ren" - replied Meru as she rolled her eyes at her - "In fact, as long as I've known you, you never went to talk to your younger sister to the point that I thought there were serious problems between you two."

". . ." - Ren tried to say something, but fell silent when she heard this because in truth she hadn't gone to talk to her younger sister.

"Honestly speaking, if it wasn't for you explaining some things to me, I would think that you don't care about her" - Meru continued - "And I guess that's the same thing that Rino thinks."

"I did it for her sake... so she wouldn't end up like me" - answered Ren while sighing regretfully - "Meru.... you know very well how lonely it is to be at the top alone..."

"I know... that's why we created the [Hagen Covenant]" - Meru said calmly - "But at the same time you created a barrier between you and Rino..."

". . ." - Ren fell silent again as she sighed.

"Sighing won't solve anything, friend" - Meru said seriously - "If you really want to do something, then you're going to have to fight her in the [Dragons Rioting] so you can communicate all your intentions to her, after all, there's no better form of communication for two Martial Artists than fighting."

"True..." - Ren answered seriously - "I guess I'm going to have to do it... for Rino-chan..."

"Well, I think it's time we change the subject" - said Meru as Ren nodded - "After talking to Erin, I found out some things that are a bit worrisome."

"Talk" - replied Ren.

"I'm on it, you don't have to rush me" - Meru snorted with annoyance - "Anyway, what I found out is that first, Erin joined Cloud's group, which makes that we don't have a strong ally..."

"Then why did she give you that information?" - Ren asked with a frown.

"According to her because it's not important" - replied Meru while shrugging - "But back to the topic, Erin joined Cloud along with 3 new girls, Ema Brooks, the US martial arts champion, and two unknown girls, Isami and Rena."

". . ." - Ren was silent for a few seconds as she remembered how Cloud had told her that Nangokuren had three transfer students.

"Ema is a Judo specialist, Rena is a hammer fighting specialist, in fact, she has one that's practically 4 times heavier than her, and finally Isami..." - Meru said seriously - "She to put it in a nutshell is an Assassin."

". . ." - Ren frowned even more when she heard her friend - "What level are they?"

"That's the funny part... their level is practically that of a Dragon" - Meru replied with a cold expression on her face - "You could say that if it wasn't for the way they fight, they would be considered a Dragon."

"Ok, I admit it... this is problematic" - Ren said seriously as she felt how things were getting enormously complicated.

"Erin also told me something that might help us a bit" - Meru said with a frown - "Although I honestly don't like it..."

"What?" - Ren asked curiously.

"That there is someone who wishes to join us" - replied Meru with irritation - "The two twins who were under Asuna's command and Keiko who was one of Ayane's guards."

"Oh... I finally understand why you didn't like the idea, after all, they are your love rivals" - replied Ren with a small smile on her face.

"Yeah... laugh all you want" - Meru snorted with a frown - "At least I'm honest with how I feel and I have the chance to be by his side... but look at you, you don't even want to admit that you like him."

". . ." - Ren was silent again as she frowned because she was frustrated.

"Anyway, let's better change the subject" - Meru said while shaking her head - "His presence increases our overall power as much as I don't like the idea and since we are the weaker force, we better accept all the help we can get..."

"What do you have planned?" - Ren asked seriously as she looked at her light blue-haired friend.

"Marokichi" - Meru answered with a smile - "Erin told me that the boy can now control his body after arduous training... that makes his presence in our forces much greater."

"Strange... with his level of power he expected someone to recruit him" - replied Ren with surprise.

"It's not that strange if you think about it" replied Meru while shrugging his shoulders - "Ayane doesn't want to get in the way even though it's not the boy's fault, after all, it wouldn't look good if she tries to help him. Rino just wants to destroy the boy, but she decided to step back after reaching a consensus with the other dragons... her forces also don't want to see the boy for obvious reasons. Kyōka is disinterested so she's someone neutral in the situation, while Cloud decided he wouldn't get in the middle either."

"Is the boy being isolated, by any chance?" - Ren asked with a frown.

"Not in the least" - Meru replied while shrugging - "The guys are still talking to him and the girls in his class don't seem to be afraid of him after Ayane and Cloud made the situation clear with all the details."

"I see..." - Ren nodded as she looked at her friend - "Although now I'm curious as to why you want him to join us."

"First, because he's Rin-chan's friend" - Meru replied with a smile - "So I'm sure he'll want to help him" - "Second, because we need brute strength if we want to fight the other dragons on equal terms, especially against the forces Cloud gathered"

"Makes sense" - muttered Ren as she nodded - "Anything else I need to know?"

"No... just that Cloud has been off the radar for a long time" - Meru replied with a frown - "From what I heard, he asked to give all the tests at once so he could use the rest of the year on personal matters"

"From what I managed to hear when I went to Rino-chan's, he's been practicing the spear" - Ren answered seriously.

"Spear?" - Meru asked in surprise as she frowned. There was no reason for the blond to use spear when he had a monstrous physical level and his mastery with the sword was as deep as the darkest abyss.

"I guess we'll have to do some research... but honestly s a waste of time so I guess we'll have to go straight to him to get answers" - Meru said seriously.

"I don't think he'll talk..." - Ren replied as he shook his head.

* * * * *

"Why am I practicing with the spear?" - Cloud asked while sweat was running down his bare torso - "Let's just say that in order to continue my training in my family's art, I have to master the weapons Lance and Naginata... although it's a surprise that you came to see me so soon... I mean, you only disappeared for an hour and a half..."

The blond was wearing only white pants that didn't obstruct his movements and he had a strange long silver spear. The strange thing about this weapon was the tip, the center seemed to have a blood red gem, similar to the color of the sharp edge.

"It's because with Meru we had a very long conversation" - Ren answered while trying to ignore the blond's appearance.

"I see..." - Cloud nodded calmly as he continued to thrust with his spear.

"It doesn't seem surprising that we came to ask you about why you're practicing" - said Meru neutrally.

"I knew you'd find out the 'secret', though honestly it's not like I'm trying to hide it" - Cloud replied calmly as he frowned as he felt his hands shaking - "That blue-haired girl with the glasses who's under Rino's command, she's been following me as a Stalker for quite a while now."

One of the bushes in the area shook a little though the three adults decided to ignore it.

"Ugh..." - Cloud could only groan as he watched his hands bleed a bit before the wound closed.

"How long have you been training for your hands to be in such a bad state!" - Meru exclaimed in surprise.

"A little over half an hour" - Cloud replied as he frowned.

"Half an hour?!" - Meru and Ren exclaimed in surprise as they looked at the blond and then at the spear.

"Although it may not look like it, this... spear... is a lot heavier than you think" - Cloud said seriously as he stuck the spear into the ground and looked at his hands, only to notice how [Incursio] seemed to have consumed some of his blood - ". . ."

"It can't be that heavy..." - Meru said calmly as she tried to grab the blond's spear, only to feel a firm grip stopping her - "Ack!Don't grab me so hard!"

--

Read 15 chapters ahead of Marvel X DC and each chapter is more than 3k words so maybe a total of 47k + words ahead...

and for source read 22 Chapters ahead

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