The Mysterious Man called Hanz

Shu woke up to find himself in a dark cave. It wasn’t particularly deep, as the entrance could be seen clearly from where he lay.

“Where am I?” Shu said, puzzled as he sat up and began scanning his surroundings. “I don’t know how I got here, but I have to head back to fight the Ox King and get the materials for the others.” He started making his way toward the exit.

Just as he was about to leave the cave, a deep masculine voice echoed behind him.

“Where do you think you’re going? You have no hope of beating the Ox King in your current state. Going back now would just lead to your death.”

Shu turned quickly toward the source of the voice. Upon seeing the speaker, he said, “I recognize you. You were the one who showed up when the Ox King almost killed me. Were you the one who brought me here?”

The man smirked. “I am. And with your current level of Kantar mastery, there’s no way you can kill the Ox King. The best you could even hope for is matching his base form.”

Shu’s expression turned serious. “I know that. But I don’t have any other choice, do I?”

The man shrugged. “You have two choices. One, you go back, fight the Ox King again, and when he transforms and kicks your ass, I come in to save you—again. You heal up, go back in, and repeat the cycle until maybe, just maybe, you win. Or…”

He leaned in slightly. “I could teach you how to properly use your Kantar. Then you’ll have a real chance.”

Shu raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘properly’? I was already taught by Lumina.”

“That spirit only gave you the basics—how to control your energy, scale it up or down, reinforce your attacks. What I’m talking about is more advanced. How to use your Kantar to form constructs. How to evolve your attacks beyond just enhanced punches and kicks. True Kantar techniques. It would usually take months, but I know a place where we can compress the training. One day in there will be enough.”

Shu’s face lit up with a grin. “I can wait for that. But first, who are you?”

“The name’s Hanz,” he replied. “Anything else you need to know… will be revealed in due time.”

He then raised his hand, forming a glowing object with his Kantar. It rapidly expanded until it enveloped the entire cave.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Shu asked.

Hanz responded, “My Kantar has the property of time manipulation. I can slow down time as much as I want. It’s an advanced technique that anyone with strong enough Kantar control can learn. This space is where your training will take place. But I need to warn you—this method is dangerous.”

He continued, “Because time is moving millions of times faster here, everything inside this field is packed with kinetic energy. If you fall, your body will react as though you fell from a cliff. A direct hit from a high-level attack could kill you.”

Shu looked slightly nervous—but his grin returned. “That sounds very dangerous... but I’m in.”

And so, his training began.