Chapter 38: First Exploration of Murderous Intent

Chapter 39: A First Look at the Killing Aura

"How do you feel, Mary?" I asked Mary. After all, the words just now were indeed a bit harsh.

"Yeah. It's okay now. Brother Bing." At this time, the shyness in Mary's eyes was gone, replaced by a firm look.

"Haha. That's good. At the same time, I apologize for what I said just now." I smiled at Mary.

"That's not the case, Brother Bing. It's my fault. I also know that Brother Bing did it for my own good." Mary's cheeks turned red again.

"Haha. Okay. Come on over here." I said, taking a fighting stance.

"Yes." As soon as she finished speaking, Mary jumped high and, like Ling, kicked down fiercely. But this time I didn't lose my focus. Instead, I blocked her attack with both hands.

"Tsk. That pervert got his way again." Ling muttered quietly while sitting on the side. But I was so focused that I didn't hear her words.

As if she had learned from the experience I had taught Taiyi, Mary saw that I had blocked the attack. She stepped on my arm with her other foot and pressed down hard. I couldn't relax at this time, or Mary would step on my head hard. After receiving my push, Mary did a backflip and landed on the open space not far from me.

"Hey? Not bad. It's white, a pure color." I smiled at Mary playfully. But Mary's cheeks just blushed slightly, and the look in her eyes remained unchanged. It seemed that she had overcome the psychological barrier just now.

"Haha. Nice look, keep going." I put away my playful smile and said to Mary.

Without saying anything, Mary continued to attack. She rushed forward. She retreated. She moved left and right. She punched. She kicked. She used combos. Mary's fighting skills surprised me. I didn't expect that these two years of fighting lessons would allow this seemingly weak girl to make such progress.

About three minutes later, Mary knelt on the ground, gasping for breath. The intensity of the attack for three minutes was too much for her to bear.

"Haha. Let's stop here, Mary." I smiled at her. "My comment to you is that your fighting skills are already up to par. Your shortcomings are endurance and practical experience. You have done well in other areas. In terms of strength, you are slightly lower than Taichi, but you can make use of the application of changes. In terms of speed, you are a little slower than Ling, but you can make your movements very stable. So you just need time. I believe you will achieve great success in fighting."

"Yes. Thank you, Brother Bing, for your guidance." Mary bowed deeply to me.

"Well. But Mary. There's one thing I don't understand. Judging from the way you attacked just now, you don't seem like the kind of person who likes to attack me with a kick like Ling." I scratched my head in confusion.

"That's because..." Mary's cheeks turned red when I asked her, "Because, Brother Bing, you're going to see it anyway. So I thought if I was seen from the beginning, I wouldn't feel so much pressure later."

"Um... this... is that so." Mary's words instantly made me look like a dotted-eye. Not only me, but Ling and Taichi also looked like a dotted-eye. Who would have thought that this shy girl would have such a bold idea?

I sighed helplessly. I turned to Ling and said, "Ling, it's your turn again. This time, use your scythe to attack me."

"Oh. But. Aren't you afraid that I will kill you?" Ling said to me with a smirk on her face.

"Haha. If you can kill me, would I let you attack me?" I said with a faint smile. "Don't worry. You win if you can make me bleed."

"Hmph. Then you better be careful." Ling attacked me with her huge sickle. She slashed me in the waist, and the sickle came towards me with a whistling airflow. I jumped back instinctively. The sickle flew past my waist. Then Ling used the power of the sickle to turn around with her feet as the axis. The huge sickle attacked me at a faster speed. I jumped back again. After the sickle passed my waist, I rushed forward with all my strength. At this moment, Ling had difficulty controlling her body because of the rotational force of the sickle. I seized the opportunity. With a sweeping kick, Ling fell directly to the ground. And the sickle was thrown out because Ling lost her balance. It was nailed to the open space in the distance.

I smiled and reached out to pull Ling up. "Continue?"

"Hmph." From her state, she didn't want to fight with me anymore. Looking at Ling's angry face, I really felt funny. This girl is so cute when she is angry.

"Haha. Let's talk about your shortcomings." I smiled calmly. "Although I have never used the war sickle, the key points of using a two-handed weapon that I have summarized are just six words: steady, accurate, ruthless, fast, agile, and clever. But Ling, do you think you have achieved these six words just now?"

"Fast is definitely one of them. Accurate and ruthless should also be considered. As for the rest..." Ling turned her head to the side embarrassedly.

"Haha. Indeed. You are really good at being fast. Because you always like to make fast attacks. But at the same time, you also lose your agility and cleverness." I picked up the huge scythe and said to her.

"And your scythe is too heavy for you now." I weighed the scythe and said. "This thing. It must be at least 15 kilograms. Can you handle it?" I held the scythe with both hands and began to swing it. The scythe began to spin with the sound of the wind. Slashing horizontally. Chopping vertically. Lifting upwards, spinning around. The scythe in my hand seemed to have life and danced freely. Then I jumped down and chopped it, and the giant scythe was fiercely nailed into the open space of the fighting field. It set off a strong wind.

"Bing... haven't you ever practiced using a weapon of your choice?" Ling looked at me in disbelief.

"Um... this kind of thing... I only know the tricks of two-handed weapons. So I think the scythe should be of similar nature." I scratched my head awkwardly and smiled.

"In short, you have to remember the trick of those six words. After strengthening the stability of your lower body, you can master stability and accuracy. And I suggest you change to a lighter sickle. Otherwise, you will be at a disadvantage in terms of agility and dexterity. Of course, you can also improve your strength. You have already done it. The last one. Fierce. Do you think your attack is fierce enough?" I returned the sickle to Ling and asked lightly.

"Oh? Isn't that cruel enough? I think the force just now is enough to kill you." Ling asked curiously.

"Haha. It seems you misunderstood what I meant. When I say ruthless, I don't mean strength. I mean murderous intent. Including Taichi and Mari. There wasn't even a trace of murderous intent in the attacks of the three of you just now."

————The scent of orchids, the scent of lavender, the scent of home & the wings of angels, the wings of devils, the wings of guardians————"Murderous aura? What is that?" Taiyi frowned.

"Taiyi. Do you remember the first time we met?"

"Ah. That. I remember." Taiyi lowered his head and said nothing. He still remembered the rude words he said to me at that time.

"Haha. I don't mean to blame you. Do you remember what I said after you spoke to me?"

"I remember. At that time, Brother Bing just said 'get out'." Taiyi looked at me timidly.

"Yes. What was your state after that? And what was Mary's state?"

"I remember. I was so scared by Brother Bing's words that I couldn't move, and Mary cried even harder on the bed." Taiyi recalled. Mary nodded in agreement. "Yes, I remember Brother Bing said that one word. It made me feel like I was about to be killed during the test."

"That's right. That's because I released the so-called murderous aura at that time." I said slowly. "Murderous aura is a kind of momentum accumulated after continuous killing. The more people you kill, the greater this momentum will be. The purpose of the organization testing you at that time was to let you have a preliminary understanding of murderous aura. Then it will continue to accumulate in the tasks after training."

"But, Bing, you haven't killed anyone before, right? Why do you know all this?" Ling asked the point again.

"Haha. Have you forgotten that I have started to go on missions with Vermouth?" Fortunately, Sister Bei has taken me on missions before. Otherwise, I really don't know how to explain it. "Wandering on the line between life and death is the best way to increase murderous aura. Of course, in addition to murderous aura, there is also a kind of momentum that belongs exclusively to fighters." I spoke again. "That kind of momentum is similar to murderous aura. However, momentum is used to suppress the enemy and make the opponent feel depressed. Murderous aura is used to directly break the enemy's will and make the opponent feel the horror of death."

"Bing. Do you possess both of these things you mentioned? But apart from the fact that your eyes are very bright, I don't feel any oppressive atmosphere or the terror of death." Ling looked at me like a curious baby.

"Haha. Do you remember the time you said you felt my aura change? It was that time. I was able to completely restrain my aura. Otherwise, the momentum and murderous intent accumulated over the past two years would have suffocated you. This is probably what it means to return to basics."

"Tsk. Bing. You're pretending to be so great again." Ling squinted at me.

"Well, do you want to try it?" I said with a wicked smile.

"Hmph. Just give it a try. I don't believe your so-called murderous aura is that strong." Ling looked unconvinced.

Huh... I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. When I opened them again, they instantly revealed a cold black light, and a burst of cold air erupted. The black windbreaker fluttered without wind, and the entire training ground was shrouded in my murderous aura. The three people who met my eyes seemed to have fallen into an ice cellar. Ling knelt on the ground in pain. Taiyi was so scared that he sat on the ground and stared at me blankly. Mary hugged her shoulders and trembled. Tears dripped down.

Seeing their expressions, I immediately retracted my own aura. I returned to my boy-next-door attitude and asked, "Hehe. How do you feel?"

"Hu...Hu...Hu..." Ling was still panting. Taiyi sat there stupidly. He didn't respond to my words at all. Mary was in the same situation. Although her eyes had slowly regained focus, her body was still shaking.

About 5 minutes later, Ling regained her breath and looked at me with fear. "Bing... is that your strength?"

"Strength? Do you mean the degree of murderous aura? I just released about one-fifth of it. If I had released more, Mary and Taichi would have been suffocated to death by my murderous aura."

"It's so cold..." Mary hugged her shoulders and said. Although she recovered a little, such a shock was indeed not something they could bear. I took off my coat and wrapped it around Mary. I hugged her gently. I released a faint aura to protect her, just like protecting Shiho. Gradually, Mary relaxed. But the trembling had just ended. Her body also softened. She didn't even have the strength to stand up. I quickly hugged Mary and let her recover as soon as possible.

More than ten minutes later, Mary recovered. "Brother Bing, I'm fine." Mary said to me with a blushing face.

"Yeah. I'm glad you're okay." I smiled. I left Mary and stood up, but my clothes were still on Mary.

"Taiyi, how do you feel?" I turned around and looked at Taiyi who had almost recovered, then put my hand on his shoulder.

"Well... it's okay now, but the moment I was hit by Brother Bing's murderous aura, I really thought I was going to die." Taiyi, who had recovered a little, said this while wiping the sweat from his head.

"Haha. I'm glad you're okay. You just felt it, that's the so-called murderous aura. You're not fighters, but killers. So you must learn how to use the murderous aura. Taiyi, Mary. You two are peripheral members, so I don't require you to have murderous aura, but I will teach you how to resist it. As for Ling, you can do the same training as Taiyi and the others for the time being. As for you wanting to have murderous aura. After you get the code name, I will apply to Sister Bei to transfer you to be my subordinate. Then I will take you on more missions.

"But..." Ling hesitated.

"how?"

"But... I said I wanted to challenge you." Ling looked at me embarrassedly.

"Hey? After what happened this time, are you going to challenge me again?" I looked at her with a playful look. "You are still too young, little girl." I reached out and rubbed her purple bangs with a smile.

"Hmph. No matter what, I must challenge you. There are still more than two months left. You should be ready!" Ling looked at me angrily. This made me laugh again.

(End of this chapter)