Ryo leaned back in his chair, his left sleeve pinned and empty, his eyes shadowed with exhaustion but still sharp.
Infront of him stood Yusei in his relaxed posture, one hand in his pocket, with the other hand casually gesturing to the group that had just arrived.
Four unfamiliar faces stepped into the light.
"That's what my superiors came up with," Yusei said in a casual but respectful tone.
These are four of our best hunters."
The first was a small girl with black hair that faded into turquoise and was tied in a tight bun.
She bowed politely. "Alice. I specialize in emergency care."
Her gaze was calm, but the slight trembling of her hand showed nervousness.
Yusei added, "She can heal people as long as—"
"Wait, don't reveal her powers, someone might listen," Ryo interrupted quickly.
"You're right," Yusei admitted. "Do you play video games, Ryo?"
"Used to, when I had the time," he replied.
"Sounds good enough, then Alice is our support unit."
Next came another woman with narrow features, glasses sliding down her nose, and brown hair tied back in a ponytail.
Her gaze flickered to Ryo.
"This is Tohru, she's our scout."
The third one, a boy with light brown hair and tanned skin, seemingly the youngest of the group, stepped forward.
"Haruki. He's our prodigy, an all-rounder, something of a sub-DPS."
He grinned slightly, but his grin didn't reach his eyes.
Finally, the calmest of them, a tall figure with black messy wolf cut hair and a defined body, raised his chin only slightly.
"This is Kyouma. He's a tactician, but he's primarily the DPS."
"This one is the strongest, I can feel it," Ryo thought.
Ryo studied them one by one and then turned his gaze back to Yusei.
"Thank you all for assisting."
"And I'm a DPS too." Yusei's half-smile didn't disappear.
Ryo tapped his fingers once again on the wooden desk.
"Fine," he said finally. "I'll tell you the details about Shinji now."
As Ryo started to explain everything in detail, his gaze wandered to the window, where twilight cast a faint gold over the skyline.
Once finished, they went to their rooms.
After that Yusei and Ryo walked through the corridors of the facility and discussed the current situation.
"So this Shinji can steal abilities?" Yusei asked.
Ryo quickly replied: "Yes, we don't know his limits yet, there must be a limitation."
"And he can change freely?"
"Seems so…"
"But I think he has to touch you to steal it."
"Anyways, I want to see what they can do, so let's make a spar fight," Ryo added.
"That's a good idea, I'll tell them," Yusei replied enthusiastically.
Ryo's lips curled into a slight smirk. "Perfect."
It was only hours before sunset, as they gathered at the training ground.
"Shinji is a strong opponent. I've seen him defeat an elite fighter in seconds, and he could even hold his own against two strong people at once," he said loudly so everyone could hear.
"Don't have to tell them it was me tho," he added to himself.
"So this is where the Crimson Hunter trained?" Kyouma said quietly to himself.
"The girl who walked past us in the hallway was super cute," Tohru thought.
"First of all, Alice, Tohru, are you skilled at fighting?"
"A bit," Alice replied.
"Nope, nothing," Tohru replied shortly after.
"Good, then I want you to spectate them, you won't be participating in the fights."
"Nice," Tohru replied.
"Got it," Alice said with a slightly sad expression.
Ryo's eyes shift from her to the others.
"So it's Haruki against Kyouma."
They make themselves ready and go into position.
"Then start," Ryo said.
Haruki jumped right at Kyouma, who dodged the first punches of Haruki with ease.
Kyouma turned his head to the side, looking at Ryo.
"I usually fight with a sword, do I also get one for spars," he asked Ryo while dodging Haruki's punches.
"Sure why not."
"Don't get too cocky again," Haruki muttered while he prepared for a powerful blow.
Kyouma's attention shifted to Ryo for a second, as he threw a wooden sword at him, when pieces of stone formed on Haruki's fists, swinging for a strong punch.
Kyouma's eyes widened, but he managed to dodge just in time and catch the sword.
"Hey this one's new, since when can you control earth too?"
"I recently learned it," Haruki answered, as he threw new punches at Kyouma.
"Interesting," Kyouma added and positioned into a stance.
It wasn't even a blink, when Haruki suddenly dropped to the floor and Kyouma was standing behind him.
Silence for a few seconds.
Yusei only exhaled a short laugh, "The outcome never changes huh?"
Ryo for a second flicked his eyes to Alice, but looked away almost instantly, when she looked back at him.
She said there, with a sorrowful expression.
"Alright, I've changed my mind," Ryo suddenly shouted.
"Alice, you go against Tohru."
Alice' eyes sparkled, "Yes."
"What?" Tohru asked, surprised.
"You both lack fighting experience, this should be okay, isn't it."
"I guess so," as Tohru sighed.
Their battle went quite quickly, Tohru won.
Alice could hold her own against her but Tohru won because of her bodily advantage.
"Alright, that's it for now," Ryo said to them.
"What about you?" Haruki asked.
"Me?"
"Arent you gonna show us a good swordfight too?"
Ryo grinned, "Haha, if you want to see it, I guess there's no way around it."
"Yusei, you are my partner then."
"Yes!"
Ryo went to his office to take his Katana.
"How did he know I fight with a sword," Ryo asked himself.
"Man, do I look that weak with Hand to Hand?"
As the sunset went down behind the two of them, Yusei and Ryo went into position.
Yusei with his Katana above his shoulder and Ryo with his in front of him.
Far off in a different country, two people talked in a pub.
"Have you heard about this new tournament for hunters?"
"The colosseum one?"
"Yes exactly. Are you going?"
"I don't know, it seems too professional for me, I'm not that strong."
And the sunset was still going.