Chapter 18

The crowd fell into a tense silence, the echo of the gunshot still ringing in their ears. The sight of the gun in Amaya's hand sent a ripple of fear through everyone present. Lucas and Kenji stared at her in shock, their minds struggling to process the fact that she had just fired a gun in the middle of a fight.

The crowd descended into chaos, passive observers scattered, leaving only those who were associated with the four strongest gangs.

"Let go," Amaya commanded coldly, and Kenji, after a moment's hesitation, complied.

Number 20 clutched his arm where the bullet had grazed him, the pain contorting his face as he held back a scream. Blood trickled down his arm. "Who the fuck shot me?" he roared, his voice trembling with fury. He couldn't move his arm; if she shot a nerve, he would never be able to use his right arm again.

Amaya's dark eyes met his, unflinching. "I shot you. So what?"

The audacity of her declaration sent a wave of murmurs through the gangs. Was she insane? Identifying herself so openly was akin to painting a target on her back.

"Are you fucking mad!? Who brings a gun to a fistfight!" Number 20 screamed, his bravado faltering under the weight of his fear. Guns were a rare and dangerous commodity, even among the toughest gangs. The fact that Amaya, a high school girl, had one was almost incomprehensible.

Amaya raised the gun again, aiming it directly at Number 20's head. The threat in her eyes was unmistakable. "You brought a knife to a fistfight, and I can't bring a gun?" Her tone was mocking, daring him to challenge her.

Scarface did not expect this development. The little girl who joined their meeting was this fierce? Was he missing something? Hiroshi's lips twitched; he found this whole situation amusing. Was she really going to declare war on Mamuchi? Number 20 was only 20th; the higher you got, the stronger and more influential they were. She did not have the skill or manpower, so what was she planning to do?

Number 20's rage momentarily overcame his fear. "This isn't over, bitch. You think a gun scares me?"

Amaya's grip on the gun tightened, her finger hovering over the trigger as she pressed the nozzle to his forehead. "Try me. I'll end you right here and now."

Lucas finally found his voice, stepping forward cautiously. "Amaya, put the gun down. This isn't the way." He was scared shitless about this situation. So far, he had seen Amaya as a quite innocent girl who needed his protection. Her image in his head shattered immediately, and he had to reassess the situation.

Amaya glanced at him, radiating bloodlust, but she didn't lower the weapon. "He brought a knife to a fistfight, and now he's crying about a gun. If he can't beat a little girl like me, he should just say that." She said coldly.

Number 20 felt a chill down his spine. What the hell was with this chick?

The tension in the air was palpable.

"Amaya, please," Lucas urged, his voice steady but imploring. "This isn't the solution. We need to get Jean to a hospital."

Her eyes flicked back to Number 20, who was still holding his wounded arm. She wanted to kill him. She sighed, calming her heart. The police would be on their way here since the gunshot, so it was better to leave now. After a moment, she slowly lowered the gun, but her grip remained firm. "If you ever touch my people again, I won't miss next time."

Number 20 swallowed hard, the threat hanging heavily in the air. Amaya turned her back on him, signaling to Riku and Kenji to help Jean. The crowd parted silently, the aura of violence lingering as they made their way through.

Kenji moved quickly, supporting Jean as they rushed out of there. "Let's get out of here before someone else decides to bring out a chainsaw." He said sarcastically.

Riku looked at him like he had a death sentence. The boss was walking around with a gun, and he was making such crude jokes. What if she decided to shoot him next? She already didn't like him. "Dude, you need to learn to shut up." He said bewildered.

Kenji was shocked at Riku's comment, but Riku paid him no mind and helped Jean out of there.

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The streetlights cast eerie shadows as Amaya flagged down a taxi. The driver, a middle-aged man with a nervous twitch, hesitated for a moment before pulling over. As they piled into the car, the driver couldn't help but notice the blood on Jean, he then looked at the three men who were with the blonde girl and decided to mind his business, they looked like bad news.

"Hospital, quickly," the girl commanded, her voice leaving no room for argument.

The driver nodded vigorously, pulling away from the curb with a little too much haste. The tension in the cab was thick as the driver's eyes kept darting to the rearview mirror, catching glimpses of the teens in the backseat.

"Shit, we are so screwed, where did you get a fucking gun!?" Lucas finally let out his shock.

The scary dark haired boy with the mullet and piercings spoke up. "We need to figure out our next move. This is going to start a gang war."

Riku nodded, his face pale. "The four strongest might need to team up."

The girl looked at the blonde boy, her expression hard. "What do you think? Will they agree to work together?"

He sighed, leaning back in his seat, what's done is done, he could kiss graduation goodbye if the police got wind of this, he might as well just suck it up and help. "If they have the right incentive, they might. Scarface will definitely help; he's blood crazy. But Hiroshi... he won't join unless there's something in it for him."

The taxi driver's hands gripped the wheel tightly, his knuckles white. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. A high school gang war? Guns? This was way beyond his pay grade. But he kept driving, too scared to say anything.

The boy with the mullet, holding the red-haired boy steady, looked at the girl. "Whatever we do, we need to do it fast. Number 20 won't take this lying down."

As they neared the hospital, Amaya glanced out the window, the city lights reflecting in her eyes. "This is war," she whispered to herself, steeling her resolve. "And I will win."

If she could stand in a war with actual soldiers, a bunch of high school and college kids could not unnerve her without her permission. 

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Arthur stared at his monitor, the bags under his eyes a testament to his sleepless nights. But he was finally done. He glanced at the system notification again.

"So, you're alive?" Amaya's voice came through from the other end of the call, seething with anger. Arthur snapped back to reality. How many calls had he missed?

...holy shit, 20!?

He jumped out of his seat. "Ah- Amaya! I'm so sorry!" he began apologizing quickly. His room was a mess; he hadn't gone outside in a week. He had hyper-focused on his project and only now realized how screwed he was.

"You better have been sick or dying," she said coldly.

"I have a good reason! I just lost track of time!" He quickly explained, nervously rushing to switch on the lights in his room, wincing at the brightness.

"Well, I hope whatever you were doing is useful. We're going to war with Mamuchi."

"What the hell? What did I miss?" Arthur asked, confused. On her end, Amaya rolled her eyes. At least he was fine; she had worried he was dead in a ditch somewhere.

"Whatever, I'll get back to you in a sec," she said before hanging up through the system. She stood in front of Jean's hospital room, a few people looked at her talking to herself and assumed she was using earpods.

'Did you manage to scan the fight?'

[Yes, the training ground is ready.]

'Can I take Arthur?'

[You can assign him missions on your behalf as a Shadow Knight, so go ahead.]

She wasn't worried about the thugs she hung out with; she was worried about the black-haired nerd who she dragged around. He would get hurt if this war started; he definitely did not know how to fight.

'He should just take another week off from school,' she said I her mind to herself before assigning a task to Arthur. She preferred if he spent the week in virtual training. Time passes differently there, and at least he should be able to protect himself when he was out.

[Do you want to rent an instructor?]

'What's that?' Amaya asked.

[If you go to the shop there should be an option to rent an instructor.]

Amaya nodded and looked through the shop, she truly hadn't even thought about it, her mission objective has been simple enough so she had no real need to check the system shop. With so many words and descriptions, she felt like her head was spinning but she finally found it.

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Heaven's Fist Combat Instructor: 20,000

Peerless Sword Art Instructor: 20,000

Blazing Spear Mastery Instructor: 18,000

Silent Shadow Assassination Instructor: 22,000

Iron Fortress Defensive Instructor: 19,000

Storm Fury Elemental Combat Instructor: 21,000

Whispering Wind Agility Instructor: 17,500

Celestial Archery Instructor: 18,500

Divine Healing Combat Instructor: 20,500

Mystic Chain Weapon Instructor: 23,000

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Amaya hissed at the prices, why were they all so expensive? What the hell?

[Well, you are still a newbie so it is bound to be expensive]

She wanted to cry, she closed her eyes and bought one.

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Peerless Sword Art instructor: 20, 000

1 week

Purchased!

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Coins: 5,000

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Raising a shadow knight was too expensive. Her heart bled; he'd better come out as a sword god or she would riot. 

Arthur, who was busy trying to gather himself, received a system notification.

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Shadow Knight System

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Mission Assigned

Virtual Combat Training Objective: Spend one week in virtual training ground to learn basic combat skills.

Reward: Increased combat proficiency.

Penalty for Failure: Decreased survival probability, the princess's punishment

Accept: Yes / No

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Arthur blinked at the screen. Combat training? He hesitated for a moment before clicking "Yes."

Instantly, his surroundings blurred and shifted. He found himself in a large, open field with various combat dummies and training equipment.

'So, this is the virtual training ground,' he thought, taking in his new surroundings. He had no idea how to fight, but if Amaya thought this was necessary, he'd trust her judgement.

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Welcome to the Shadow Knight Training Ground. Your first task is basic conditioning.

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Arthur sighed, rolling his shoulders. He might as well get started.