Warren met up at the agreed time with Ford. He was waiting for him, and although Warren took his sweet time, Ford was glad to see that he honored his promise.
"Are you ready to get stronger?" James Ford asked. Warren had a resolute expression on his face. There was no way he could pull out of it now. He had to grow stronger to confront the Parkers. Then there was also the added threat of the Fire Fangs. Ford made it sound as if they might also know something about the circumstances of Warren's mother's death. He couldn't let anything go without knowing if there might be any weight to Ford's words.
"Have you decided where we're going? I suppose this terrain isn't suitable for my training, right?" Warren asked Ford.
The elderly men, nodded and then he told Warren to get ready. After that, he sprinted ahead. Warren used all his energy to keep up, but he couldn't catch up. Luckily for him, Ford wasn't using all his speed, otherwise he would have surely left Warren in the dust.
After a day's journey without any rest, they finally came to a stop. The surrounding area was covered in thick layers of snow. If it wasn't for the fact that Warren could use some traces of Reiteki to spread through his being, he would've surely frozen to death. In front of them was a mountain that was covered in the white snow. Ford then went forward and found a secret entrance. He then winked Warren to follow him.
Warren's resolution was solid. There was no way he would back out of it now. He had to get stronger. He was just slightly stronger than Elaine at that point, which meant that if he were to come up against Joshua and Julian Parker, he would suffer a devastating defeat. That wasn't considering the fact that Jonathan Parker might be mountains above him.
"Before we enter, I want you to get rid of any doubt and lingering feelings that might still tie you. Because once you enter, there is no return."
Warren responded that he was ready and followed James Ford into the dark cave. Once they were inside, Ford used a Reiteki technique that allowed him to seal the cave behind him.
***
Fast forward, a year later, two men exited the cave that was located in the snowy mountains near Sutherland. The location was hundreds of kilometers away from Wellington. At first glance, it was difficult to recognize the youth, since his face was covered in beard. His body structure, although still the same, was ripped and sturdy. The young man was covered in scars and bruises. What happened in the cave meant that he must have really suffered. Next to him was an older man. He looked far better than when he first entered the cave. He exuded certain confidence which was partially influenced by his protégé's rapid growth in strength. The elderly man felt that the year was fruitful and that he didn't have to worry about anything anymore.
"Are you ready to head back?" the elderly man asked the youth.
"As ready as I will ever be!" he responded nonchalantly.
The two men infused Reiteki to their feet and then sprinted full speed towards Wellington. This time the youth was matching the elderly man stride for stride. In almost half a day, the two men arrived at Wellington.
"This is where we part for now. Keep up your training and cultivation. If you want to stand a chance to defeat the Fire Fangs, then you're not allowed to be complacent now," the elderly man warned the youth.
"Don't worry Sensei, I promise not to let you down," the youth responded. He then bowed before the elderly man. After saying their goodbyes, the two men parted ways.
When he was finally alone, the youth then strolled through the streets of Wellington on his own. It had been a long time since he saw the familiar surroundings. A year was like an eternity.
He enjoyed the picturesque scenery as he walked to the outskirts of Wellington where his house was located. When he finally arrived there, he saw that the house was just as clean as the day he left. To his surprise, the front door was wide open and it looked like someone was home. Not wanting to draw any attention to him at first, given his appearance, the youth then snuck to the back and then silently jumped through the open window on the first floor. The house was only two storeys high. Since his room was on the second floor, he used a little Reiteki to give him the extra boost to reach it.
Once inside the room, he then locked himself in. It was even difficult for the youth to recognize himself when he looked in the mirror. The man in his reflection looked more like a Neanderthal than him. He then silently walked to the bedroom next door and locked the door behind him. First he took a shower to clean himself up. Then shaved off the beard that grew as a result of him being cut off from the world for a whole year. When he was finally done, he started to look a lot more like he used to look previously.
When he arrived in his room again, he put on some of his older clothes and then decided to go downstairs. He still didn't know who was in the house, but he had a good idea of their identity.
As he entered the living room, he saw that it was cleaned neatly. Although the television was on, no one was there. He heard a rustle in the kitchen and headed there.
There was a beautiful lady busy watering the single plant that he still had in the house. When he left, the plant was still small, but it has grown beautifully in the past 12 months. She wasn't who he expected to see there at all.
"Fancy seeing you again," the youth said. The lady almost jumped out of her skin when she heard the voice behind her. When she turned around, she was greeted by a familiar face. The face of a man she longed to see for what felt like an eternity.
She turned to him and embraced him. This even caught the youth by surprise. This was the first time that there was any physical contact between him and the lady.
"Where have you been all this time? Do you know how much I missed you?" she asked.
"I never pictured you to be so soft mushy. What happened during my absence?" the youth asked again.
Seeing that the embrace might be a little inappropriate, the lady then withdrew herself. She apologized for her rash behavior and the youth brushed it off as nothing.
"May I ask what you're doing here?"
"Since you have been gone for so long, I thought I could come down here and meet you. I know you said you would go away for a year, but I thought you would pop in after some time. I wanted to be here when you did it." It seemed like the lady cared a lot about the young man.
"I appreciate your concern. I am back now. And I am going to get behind the truth of what happened 18 years ago," the man said.
"Is there anything you need me to do, Young Master?" the lady asked.
"Thank you for popping in, Allison. But I will take care of things. You can go back to Flemond now. I will join you later!"
As he said that, Warren Cole had a fire burning within him. He was ready to unleash it.
Although he asked Allison to return to Flemond, she still chose to stay for 2 extra days. She hadn't seen Warren in such a long time, so why would she leave him so abruptly. Allison also explained that during his absence, his businesses flourished nicely. The profit he made during his 12 month absence, exceeded 1 billion dollars. It came as a surprise that the Flemond Apothecary made almost 100 million dollars profit. As expected, the two companies which brought the most in was the Galaxy Tech Lane and the Heavenly Sky Diner. His hotel, the Stargaze Hotel, also didn't do too bad. Since he was away, Allison paid all the profits into Warren's personal account. With the interest it accumulated over that time period, Warren almost had 2 million dollars in his bank account. This amount included the 500 million dollars he received from Johnathan Parker and the 40 million dollars he stole from Christopher Chamberlain. After 48 hours, Warren kept on insis
Warren was feeling smug as he drove back home. He wanted to beat Gary Robertson up since forever, and he finally did it. He even went as far as to beat his teeth out.'Let's see how he will kiss Cassidy now,' Warren thought to himself. When he arrived at home, he parked his Audi S6 in the garage and then let the Toyota park outside, since it was a single garage. He had a long journey ahead of him the following day, that's why he spent the rest of his afternoon cultivating in his room. His Reiteki mastery reached a whole new level, so Warren thought consistent cultivation would help him improve even more.That night he went to bed early. He woke up with the chickens the following morning and cleaned himself up. After a quick breakfast, which consisted of a yogurt and an apple, he hit the road.The journey to the Karoo wasn't too taxing on him. Normally people would feel drained after such a long journey, but because of his mastery of Qi, Warren didn't
As he was still relishing in his new prey, the man deactivated his power and the fire ball in his hand disappeared. He thought he would first make Warren despair about his bad luck for running into him. Killing him would be too easy. He already killed someone that night, so he first wanted to make Warren suffer."The man you saw burning there was someone who stepped on my shoe earlier today. I'm usually a chilled-out man, but I couldn't forgive such behaviour. So I followed him to his apartment. Luckily he stays in the vicinity. So I brought him here and enlightened him about his transgressions," the man explained.Warren was relieved that he was so talkative. That meant that there was a chance for Warren to counterattack."What did the other three men do to you last night, then? What did I do if you want to destroy me too?" Warren asked. He was stalling for time. He wanted the man to let down his guard so he could strike."Oh you
Olivia was more relieved than angry when she saw Warren's face again. She gladly allowed him to help her up."I'm so sorry that I ran into you again. This bad habit of ours should really stop," Warren said embarrassedly as he scratched his head.Olivia laughed. She then asked to be excused so that she could get a change of uniform. Warren went back to his seat and was just in time for his food to arrive. He gladly indulged himself in it.Since Olivia was still on duty and the table that Warren was eating at wasn't hers, she didn't come over. However, she did occasionally gave him a smile when she looked over to his side. When she passed Warren's table, she dropped a piece of paper on the floor as innocently as she could. Warren picked it up and on it was written her name with her cellphone number.After he finished his meal, Warren went out to look for a hotel room. He thought that the Fire Fangs could wait for now. He arrived at a place
"Is everything okay?" Warren asked concerned. Olivia wanted to remain strong, but she couldn't hide her suffering any longer. She wanted to stay strong, but there is only that much that one can handle.She burst into tears. Warren embraced her as he tried to console the distressed girl. He then brought Olivia back to the Pavillion Park since it was close to the Protea Motel where Warren was staying. His car was still parked there. They went to sit in the car before Olivia finally calmed down."You must think I'm silly, right?" she sobbed embarrassedly.Warren smiled and shook his head."Is it alright if I ask about what happened back there?" Warren probed. He didn't want to be too nosy in fear of chasing off Olivia. He really enjoyed her company."That was the hospital. That was the place where my mother died earlier this year. Or rather the place where I killed her," Olivia explained.Warren found her choice of w
Warren left immediately for Uniondale. That night he did his reconnaissance from bar to bar to listen if he could find any word about the Fire Fangs.Since he killed the Fervor Franklin, he had to be cautious. He didn't know who might be able to track him because of his Reiteki. That why Warren sealed his Reiteki so that he may appear as a normal person.Previously it was easy to mask his Reiteki traces, but ever since he made a breakthrough, he found it rather tough because of his high power level.That night Warren also walked through the deserted streets, looking for any clues, but his efforts proved to be fruitless. His last stop for the night was an abandoned house located on the outskirts of the town. Even there he didn't find any luck. Disappointed he walked back to his car. But as he was leaving, he felt a cold shiver run down his spine. He felt as if he was being stalked. Warren could tell that the person who was watching him wasn't an
The adrenaline Warren felt at that moment was exhilarating. He knew that he had to take the fight a lot more serious. Warren then used a stance that his sensei thought him. He abandoned all defense and solely focused his attention on his attack. Jasper could feel the change in attitude of Warren. Somehow he was getting also excited. He felt that Warren would give him a good fight. In a flash, Jasper attacked again. He aimed straight for Warren's head. The blade was millimeter from Warren's neck before Warren dodged it. This sudden increase in speed stunned Jasper. Although it wasn't his fastest strike, he didn't expect Warren to dodge that attack so easily. While he was stunned by Warren's quickness, he felt a blow to his stomach. This drew a little blood from his mouth. Jasper realized he let his guard down and Warren took advantage of that fact. But he was surprised that Warren could pack such a punch. The two men backe
Master Kalama took out a knife. When Warren saw that, he almost peed himself. The suffocating aura Master Kalama had earlier, returned."I know you have your reasons for searching me out. And because I had a part in what happened so long ago, I will not kill you. However, there has to be repercussions. After all, you killed my subordinate too!"Warren knew the weight of those words. If you take a life, then you have to prepare to face the consequences. The exact same thing happened with Charles. Knowing that, it still didn't make it any better."I will punish you not only for starting a fight with us, but also for actively trying to eradicate us. This too shall be a learning curve for you!"Then Master Kalama took the knife and stabbed it straight through Warren's left leg. The pain was so severe, that Warren screamed out loud."Don't worry, I missed all your vital points. I am not going to take away your ability to walk, but I want you