In the town of Slough, despite numerous improvements, there were still places where one could hide from others. In the alleyway behind a few restaurants, standing at the back was a single dark-skinned boy. His arms were wrapped from his knuckles all the way to his elbow, while he wore the black and gold clothing of his gang. His eyes were closed as he stood alone in the alleyway.
He wasn't letting anything distract him, unlike the times before he had entered the alleyway. The echoes of noise from moving animals or the sound of passing vehicles, as well as the rancid smell from leftover food, used to fill his head every time he came here in the past. But now, he was only focusing on one thing.
There was plenty of rubbish and debris on the ground, including leaves that had flown in. They were light, and slowly they started to lift in the air as if being carried. Rather than swaying around, they were slowly levitating in place. The leaves that were moving were only around the boy while the rest just rustled slightly across the floor. The moment Innu opened his eyes, the leaves started to fall to the floor being carried by the air.
Reaching from his back, he grabbed the handle of the axe and hurled it in the air. It was a strong, powerful throw. The axe had lit up slightly as he had placed his energy inside. It was slicing through the air with ease and going at a fast speed.
In the alleyway, on the wall that was around twenty meters away, there were drawn targets, from red spray paint. Next to the markings, there were several chips in the brickwork. As the axe flew straight, it started to veer slightly to the right and landed right in the center of the target.
Clenching his fists, his whole body was shaking as he jumped up in the air. "I did it, I finally did it!" Innu cheered for himself.
The reason for his absence from home and from the Wolf's Pool Club was because of this. After his teacher had left, showing him his strange powers, Innu was relentless in his training.
His teacher had only shown him a few things and taught him a couple of things since he seemed to be low on time, but after that, he just left. But the image of what he could do with this power never left his mind.
Innu was focusing on two types of training. The first was the mysterious power of Qi that the teacher had talked about. This was a power that Innu had harnessed himself by accident before, the power that he felt through his body at times when fighting, and at one point had supplemented it into the weapon.
He had learned to control this energy and input a smaller amount into the axe, so it was still more powerful, while also not allowing it to completely drain him. But what he was more interested in was the mysterious telekinesis power he seemed to have. Light objects he was able to lift off the ground slightly like leaves, but that would be useless in a fight. The important thing was that it showed him that it was possible for him to learn this power.
It wasn't something out of a fantasy; the power was real. The next step was learning how to use the power while not in a state of complete focus. At first, he could only use it when closing his eyes, but he got better and better.
Even still, he wanted to practice using his power in a practical way, and one way would be when throwing his axes if he could influence the direction his axes went. This would trick the enemy and allow him to be more versatile in his attacks.
Several marks on the wall showed that he was able to influence the axe, but not exactly how he wanted. Now he could throw an axe and change its direction with good control to within reason.
"It's still not where I want it to be. The next step will be to curve the axe completely. If I can do that, maybe I can move it at the last second if someone tries to block it. Then there is the final step. If I can throw the axe and use its power for it to come back into my hand, that would be ideal."
Throwing the weapon wasn't always the best thing in the fight since he obtained power from the weapons themselves when holding them. The power would stay in his body a little while after it left, but if stuck in a wall or in the enemy, then that wasn't good either. Right now, the skill was meant to be a more sure kill tactic for him.
"I wonder if I will ever meet the teacher again. If I went to the Altered Hunter's Association or one of their meetings, surely I would see him around then. Unless he's on an important mission." Innu thought. "I bet he would be surprised at what I showed him, and maybe he can give me a few tips."
Innu was smiling to himself as he imagined the situation, and with great timing, he had received a text.
[This is Blake. It looks like there is a meeting, and they want you to come as well. This will be good to introduce you to us and also allow you to pick some equipment for yourself as well.]
[Warning, they might ask us to go somewhere. You are still an apprentice, but at times when they really need people, they ask the apprentices as well. So it's best if you make some excuse to the others that you might be away for a while.]
The text ended there, and it looked like Innu would be going to one of the Hunter's Association bases earlier than he thought.
"I guess it should be okay. Things have been quiet in Slough for a while, so it might be the perfect time. I just hope no Howler's stuff happens while I'm doing my Altered Hunter stuff. Living a double life is already tiring." Innu thought.
He took a deep breath and looked around the alleyway, taking in the familiar surroundings. He knew that this was only the beginning of his journey and that there was still so much more to learn. But for now, he had to focus on the task at hand and prepare for the upcoming meeting. With a determined expression on his face, Innu headed out of the alleyway, ready to face whatever challenges lay ahead.
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