The scariest part about him was the fact he hadn't used any of his affinities. He just overpowered me through the precision of each of his movements.
'How is he able to exert so much power through his eyes?'
I frowned.
I had never seen anything like this before. My body was on the verge of giving up. I could already feel my legs giving up and there was "attack" to say. He was simply staring at me like a hunter staring down at his prey.
"What do you think is happening here?"
He wasn't trying to attack me, he was still siting before me, truly interested in my response.
"Your affinity is related to gravity, right?"
He grinned. "You figured it out that fast? Most people don't even realize it until I reveal it to them."
'He has Space Affinity too...'
With a glance at him, I could tell that he had a lot of experience with using Space Affinity. It wasn't common to come across an expert like him. I needed to make use of this, if there was a chance that I could learn from him...
'Should I try using that?'
I closed my eyes as the pressure on top of my body continued to increase. The gravity kept getting heavier as the seconds passed so much so that even the veteran was shocked by the fact that I was still awake.
"What are you going to do now?" He shook his head, thinking that he had already won. "You can't move and if this continues any longer, you'll pass out."
I could tell by the sound of his voice that he thought I was being foolish or reckless.
However, I wasn't.
If I managed to pull off that, then I might just win right there. That's just how powerful that skill was. But, there was only one problem, the last time I had tried using it, I had practically lost my own arm in the process.
I knew that I needed to impress him to receive help with my Space Affinity, so I decided it was worth it to go all out.
[Spatial Sever]
For a brief moment, everything became eerily quiet, not because sound had disappeared, but because even the overwhelming pressure weighing down on my body seemed to hesitate for a fraction of a second.
I did not move, nor could I even if I wanted to, as my legs were already on the verge of collapsing under the immense gravity pressing down on me, and every muscle in my body was straining just to keep me upright.
However, I did not need to move.
Instead, I focused entirely on him, not on his physical body, but on the space surrounding him, forcing myself to ignore the pain coursing through my limbs as I narrowed my vision to a single point.
As I concentrated, the world around me gradually faded, and the crushing force, the trembling in my arms, and even my labored breathing became distant sensations, as if they no longer belonged to me.
Then, I felt it.
There was a subtle irregularity in the space around him, something unnatural that could not be perceived through normal means, a faint distortion that seemed to exist beyond the physical world.
I reached for it with my mind.
And then, I pulled.
A thin, invisible line formed in the space between us, so faint that it could not be seen with the naked eye, yet its presence distorted reality itself as if something had forcefully torn through it.
The space in front of him twisted unnaturally for a split second before snapping back into place.
Immediately after, a deep and clean line appeared across his torso, as if reality itself had been cut apart, and a moment later, blood followed.
For the first time since the beginning of the fight, the veteran's composure broke.
His eyes widened slightly as he instantly shifted backward, and at the same time, the overwhelming pressure surrounding me disappeared entirely, causing my body to nearly collapse from the sudden release.
I barely managed to stay on my feet.
At that moment, I realized something important.
He was standing.
"…What did you just do?" he asked, his voice no longer carrying the same casual tone as before.
My arm trembled violently as a sharp and tearing pain spread through it, as if the very space I had cut had retaliated against me, and I could feel my strength rapidly leaving my body.
I clenched my jaw and forced myself to remain upright, even as blood slowly dripped from my fingertips.
"That…" I exhaled slowly, struggling to maintain my composure. "…was enough, right?"
He did not answer immediately, as his gaze remained locked onto me, no longer filled with amusement, but instead with a level of focus and seriousness that had not been present before.
After a few seconds, he took a step forward, his eyes briefly scanning my injured arm before returning to mine.
A small laugh escaped his lips. "Are you insane?"
I remained silent, knowing that there was no point in denying it.
A slow grin formed on his face, but unlike before, it was no longer playful, and instead carried a sharpness that made it clear he had recognized something significant.
"Using Space Affinity like this..." he continued, glancing at the cut across his torso before looking back at me. "You cut space itself."
The room fell into silence once more.
Then, he suddenly laughed, the sound deep and genuine, as if he had just discovered something he had been searching for.
"I was wondering when I would finally find someone interesting again," he said as he straightened his posture, no longer treating this as a simple evaluation.
He rolled his shoulder slightly, as if testing the extent of the injury, before focusing on me again.
"I'll give you the highest Mercenary Rank I can." he stated as he threw a small medal with the letter B on it. "If you want to reach the higher ranks, you'll have to prove yourself by completing all kinds of requests."
He glanced at my body and as his grin only grew.
"However, while I can't make you A-Rank or even S-Rank, I've decided to teach you."
'Teach me?!' My eyes widened on their own. 'Is he going to teach me Space Affinity?'
"You're going to teach me Space Affinity?"
"Yes... what you just showed me is special enough and," he said, his gaze sharpening as it shifted briefly toward my trembling arm, "if you continue using that ability the way you just did, you will cripple yourself long before you ever reach your full potential."
He paused for a brief moment before adding, "That would be a waste."
A short silence followed his words.
"So, are you interested?"