In reality, I wasn’t in a blind rage. I was calculating.

'The black flags on the two pirates’ bodies emit a light black glow before falling dim.' I sneered, looking like I discovered something as I loosened my grip. The flags these goons wore were able to absorb damage up to a certain threshold. This seemed to be an application of ancient crystal technology, but I wasn't completely sure which formations were being used and how. As soon as the black light surrounding the flags dimmed completely, I snatched them both. As for the helpless and horrified goons, I slammed their heads together and tossed their bodies away casually. The visual impact of a barely five-foot-tall boy throwing two tall young adults like rag dolls wasn’t insignificant. What I didn't know was that taking a gangster's flag was a serious offense, even worse than beating them silly.

Although this exchange took a bit less than a minute, that was enough time for the remaining pirate to retreat several meters. I snatched the wailing squad leader’s weapon out of his hand. I noticed the firing chamber still steamed. Many of the main components had obviously melted after the guns fired. Luckily, I didn’t need to fire it again. However, I suddenly realized I hadn’t even needed to attack these snipers if they could no longer snipe. This mistake made me even angrier.

I took a big step forward and launched the broken weapon at the fleeing pirate’s flank. A sharp shish sound hissed through the air as the gun flew. The strange and dense metals that comprised the weapon felt like a boulder crashing into the pirate’s side. He released a pained yelp and collapsed while holding his cracked and crumbling ribcage. I swiftly arrived at his front and furiously threw my fist into the man’s jaw. I wailed on the man for a time in a rage, fist after fist colliding with his softening flesh. After venting my anger, I stood up straight a took a long breath. I realized this pirate's face had already been disfigured and felt I had gotten carried away.

Anyway, it truly felt good to move my body for once!

It had been too long since I exerted my muscles. Even though I was only around ten years old, my body had always been markedly more muscular than my peers. There was no hope of me finding a decent opponent if we were the same age.

(Even Axel falls a bit short after chasing my back since preschool, haha.)

Even in the sports club as the star athlete, I never really put forth a lot of effort. Years of manual labor punishments inflicted by my step-father, along with my practice of ancient crystals, had only made my body more formidable and resilient. Continually training with my battle-crazed sister made me a skilled fighter.

(Unfortunately, it also made the younger me slightly petty and aggressive when angered. Considering the circumstances, maybe not just the younger me.)

Seeing the tragic scene in front of me was a painful experience. My priority became revenge. All those shooters were previously standing there complacently, and they hadn’t even loaded their weapons again. In my opinion, Micayle’s situation was already something I couldn’t change. What I could definitely change was the satisfied smirks on the faces of those bastards.

Avenge!

That was my best friend, and she might have even perished by the time I look back! I could only avenge her with all my power. I didn’t know that it was highly unusual for a child to have such a fast-moving and logical thought process. I only knew that I had to strike for the best results while the moment was most ripe! For this reason, I didn’t let that moment slip by me. Because of that decision, I was already standing nearly 30 meters away from my classmates when I saw Luciano move. I grimaced and started rushing over with all my strength.

-------

All of these events happened within little more than a minute.

In fact, right before the mana guns fired, Haan was still reeling after Ryatt called out frantically after Mikah. She had never seen Ryatt react so emotionally, and she had a terrible feeling when she saw it for the first time. Why would such a stable young fellow suddenly become so panicked?

'Could this be more than just a case of bullying? Could it be that my cover has been blown already?' This thought terrified the young girl. 'Impossible. Even I myself only realized who I was recently. The seal master placed on my soul was perfect. Besides, these fellows are far too weak to be targeting me.'

"Mikey, no! Don’t move, go back!"

"Lucky…" Haan’s thoughts were interrupted when she saw Ryatt’s fear-filled face.

Why was he so afraid?

Hearing Ryatt’s shout, Micayle was looking at her friend and thinking about running or not running. She decided not to run in the end. Haan seemed to be hiding many secrets, but they were still true blue friends. Suddenly, a blinding light drowned out every youth's sense of sight.

Only Haan seemed unaffected by the brightness.

She could see the beams of pink light piercing through the air, aimed right at herself. She was just about to grab Micayle and retreat when she saw the latter’s face appear directly in front of her own, tears falling uncontrollably. Haan was stunned, but Micayle suddenly embraced Haan protectively. Two fist-sized beams of light blasted into Micayle’s back, followed by two rock-sized beams. The impact of the collision sent Haan flying four meters away. However, Micayle kept floating lightly in the air, a transparent pink light slowly fading into her body as she fell to the ground.

A pale pink tattoo of a spiked dog collar appeared around her neck. The look in her eyes wasn’t pained or desolate. Instead, it looked rather giddy and vacant.

Seeing this, the now tumbling Haan’s countenance turned ghastly pale.

‘Temporary Puppy Seal?’

"That’s a charm curse used by the pharaoh slavers! How could that appear here in this designated humble civilization? What kind of cursed weapons are those things? I don’t seem to remember seeing those in the hell plane…could it be exclusive to the mortal plane?" Haan cursed viciously in her heart.

Even though Haan was currently rolling uncontrollably, she surprisingly possessed a clear mind. Like the young Ryatt Drakel, it appeared Haan wasn’t an average child.

Still, she couldn’t help but panic internally, "What kind of vile creation could allow humble civilians to curse people with voodoo power? Voodoo refining is supposed to be an ability exclusive to profounders who practice evil arts! Without reaching the Profound State, it should be impossible to use power like this. Has science already advanced to such a stage in the world of Supreme Plato? What is going on in that Wonder Corporation? Frick, frick, frick! If my cover is blown, I won’t be able to find out anything. But if I don’t make a move, won’t we die? Even if I make a move, how could I save Micayle without a power base? Fuck! We're too young and weak! Why is this happening in Acadia?"

Despite her many secrets, Haan didn’t know what to do in this situation.

-------

The fight already had grown more than chaotic. Most of the pirates had been injured, with only two still standing. One of which was the most powerful of the bunch, the young villain Luciano. One could only describe his mood as terrible.

"Crap! No way, argh! Are you serious? We almost had her, dang it! That Haan has no family connections in New Origin City, and she lives alone with an old beggar lady that she has to nurse. Yet, she’s so dazzling and pretty even at such a young age. If that old beggar were left alone for a few days, she might die on her own. I don't know why my mother forbids me from making a move on Haan on my own, but it shouldn't have been like this! Haan is the perfect slave. I must have her! It should have been so simple. Alas," Luciano was completely furious, but he swiftly got himself together. He hurriedly dashed over to the blast site. "Fine, I can’t take back cannon fire. So be it. Hmph, Micayle, a low-ranking member from the Giovonci Merchant Group. A mere slave to be purchased as compensation. No one will miss her, either. That is, other than the worm in front of me. Yes, I should squish it."

"Haan!"

"No!!! Micayle, don’t!"

Luciano heard Ryatt's desperate screams, and a sick expression of joy appeared on his youthful face, rendering it a terrifying look.

Right as the light of the blast faded, Axel was attacked by his opponents before he could turn to observe the situation. Knowing something bad had happened by the sound of Ryatt’s voice, he stopped holding back his strength.

"Sting of winter, hah!" Axel stabbed out with his only martial skill and crushed his opponent’s abdomen.

Axel mused that he had not been using a wooden katana, then the blade would have quickly impaled this man, ending his life. As his opponent crunched over in utter agony, Axel finally had a moment to turn and see the cause of that bright light and explosive noise. The first thing Axel saw was Micayle being hammered by four beams of pink light while Haan tumbled uncontrollably backward.

He immediately rushed past his remaining dazed opponent to catch her while shouting, "Haan!"

The lone pirate quickly retreated, preparing to vanish in a nearby alleyway at the first notice.

After all, only his young master and himself were still able to fight. The brat with the katana was annoying enough, but he wasn’t a threat at first. Only after the short one’s interference did the katana brat become more of a problem. Unfortunately, the lone pirate realized that they had underestimated that wild brat with the dreads. Ryatt Drakel’s punches were like hammer blows, and his kicks were like the vicious tail of a serpent. The pirates couldn’t stop that brat at all. No one could do a thing to him.

"MICAYLE!" Mikah let out a pained shout when he saw his sister sacrifice herself by blocking those beams of light for Haan. His eyes turned bloodshot, but before he could fall to rage, he noticed his sister hadn’t died or exploded as he expected. Instead, she was floating. "What…what’s going on? What’s that collar? LUCCI!! What have you done with my sister?!"

Mikah immediately ran toward his sister with all his might as he saw Luciano creeping closer to her like a viper about to strike.

Luciano arrived at the space between Haan, Axel, Mikah, and Micayle faster than any of them could react. All four of them felt their hearts tighten, as one could currently describe Luciano as their worse nightmare. His speed was something that even adult martial masters couldn't compare to. Micayle was behind him, and Mikah was now barreling toward him at full speed. Luciano was in the position to hurt two of their friends without major effort.

Axel and Haan were both stunned momentarily, not knowing what to do. Axel snapped out of it first and stood protectively in front of Haan, preventing her from desperately running toward Micayle.

"Axel, what are you doing?!" Haan yelled in frustration as she collided once more with Axel’s back.

In her heart, she felt shocked. 'Why is this humble boy so sturdy, anyway? Is his heart awakening already?' She thought anxiously. These friends of Micayle were all so abnormal. “Sit tight. We have to observe and wait…” Axel refused to budge.

Going to help Micayle?

Such an action was suicidal right now because Axel was certain those weapons had been aiming at Haan initially. This was based on Lucky’s words and Mikey’s reaction. Axel definitely couldn’t let Haan go near Luciano, as he had identified Haan as the objective of Luciano's attack today.

"Suppress," Luciano plainly said as he raised a hand, pressing it down in Mikah's general direction.

A pressure descended on Mikah’s shoulders. To Mikah, it felt like 300 pounds of weight directly slammed into his back, slowing his steps to a crawl.

"Let…let me go…you…you bastard. You bastard, LET ME GO!" Mikah screamed and struggled with all his strength, but he was still slowly brought to his knees by the terrifying pressure. That was because this time, Luciano focused the pressure of his power base on Mikah, suppressing the youth exclusively.