"No, it's impossible!" Pixis, struck and lying on the ground, pondered in confusion.
"Is this all the famed leader of the Shattered Bones Arena is capable of?" Jin stood before Pixis, his head lowered in a mocking gaze at the bewildered man.
"Damn it," Pixis glared at Jin, his teeth clenched in frustration.
"Enough. I have no time to entertain you. It's time to get down to business," Jin said, his hand slipping into his pocket. He then produced a small, circular object.
"What... what is this?" Pixis, weak and puzzled, asked.
"A smoke bomb," Jin replied, igniting it. Instantly, a thick, crimson cloud billowed from the device, rapidly rising into the sky.
"That should be enough. The guards will be here soon to take you away," Jin tossed the used smoke bomb aside.
"What?" Pixis' eyes widened in fury.
"Who exactly are you?" Pixis snarled, his voice dripping with rage.
"I'm just a hunter," Jin sneered.
"Dammit!" Pixis roared in anger, his humiliation turning to fury. Seizing the moment Jin relaxed, Pixis aimed his hand at the unconscious Will in the distance, unleashing a purple shockwave that sped toward him.
Jin reacted instantly, moving faster than the shockwave itself, and reached Will just in time to sweep him off the ground and away to safety.
However, as Jin moved to save Will, Pixis, in turn, had reached the unconscious Lissa. Grabbing her red hair with his left hand, he choked her neck with his right.
"Hahahaha, no matter how fast you are, what's the point? Can you multiply yourself?" Pixis laughed manically as he tightened his grip around Lissa's throat.
"Dammit!" Jin slowly set Will down, his voice full of frustration.
"Make a move and I'll snap her neck. Let's see who's faster," Pixis sneered.
Jin's eyes fixed on Pixis' right hand. For a fleeting moment, he wished he could use magic, to freeze Pixis in place, even if just for a second.
"Did I imagine that?" Jin thought to himself. Just then, he could have sworn he saw Lissa's eyelid twitch. It was barely noticeable.
"Could it be that Lissa is waking up?" Jin thought, his doubt lingering.
"I could spare your lives, but only if you become my slaves and fight for me," Pixis shouted.
"Your proposal disgusts me," Lissa suddenly whispered, her voice a chilling venom.
"What?!" Pixis gasped in disbelief, his confidence shattered.
Before he could react, Lissa seized his right wrist with her left hand.
"Ah!" Pixis cried out in pain as Lissa's grip tightened.
"I'll make you regret this tenfold!" Lissa glared at him, her eyes burning with fury. Suddenly, the hand she gripped began to freeze rapidly.
"Ahhh!" Pixis screamed as his hand began to freeze. Lissa, with a sudden, powerful motion, crushed his entire right wrist.
"Ah! My hand! My hand!" Pixis howled, his cries of pain ringing out as he collapsed to the ground.
"My God, when a woman gets angry, it's terrifying," Jin muttered, staring in stunned amazement.
Suddenly, a deafening explosion rang out from outside the arena, and the large doors were blown open. A group of heavily armored figures in black leather armor and white cloaks charged into the arena.
"Ah, the Cleaners only ever show up after the problem is solved," Jin said wryly as he observed the approaching guards.
"Jin, is that Pixis?" One of the burly, bearded guards approached Jin, pointing at the fallen Pixis.
This guard's attire was slightly different from the others; in addition to his black armor and white cloak, he wore a golden medal on his chest, marking him as the leader of the group.
"Yes, Captain Murphy," Jin replied with a smile.
"Are you sure? He doesn't look like the leader of this place in such a pitiful state," Captain Murphy observed, eyeing Pixis as he slowly approached him.
"Yeah, I thought it was strange too. He's more of a coward than anything—how did he become the leader here?" Jin said, following Captain Murphy.
"What happened to his hand?" Captain Murphy asked, standing next to Pixis and eyeing his frozen wrist.
"Ah, one of my friends... got a bit carried away and broke his hand," Jin said, pointing to Lissa, who was just rising to her feet.
"Bring him in. Pixis is to be taken into custody," Captain Murphy ordered his men.
"By the way, Captain Murphy, where's my bounty?" Jin suddenly asked with a hint of insincerity.
"Oh, right. I almost forgot," Captain Murphy said, glancing at Jin. He fumbled through his attire and pulled out a small sack.
"Here's your bounty," Captain Murphy tossed the sack to Jin.
"Ah, thank you, Captain Murphy," Jin said, opening the sack to reveal a handful of coins. He smiled as he looked up at the captain.
"Alright, now we'll take it from here," Captain Murphy said, preparing to leave the arena.
"By the way, what do you plan to do with Pixis? The three great empires seem to have no way of dealing with him," Jin asked, curiosity in his voice.
"Ah, that's because they didn't want to send troops themselves, so they left it to us—bounty hunters," Captain Murphy explained.
"Why the disguise?" Captain Murphy gave Jin a look of disdain.
"Huh? Oh, nothing," Jin said, chuckling awkwardly. He then tore off the fake mustache from his face and rubbed his cheeks. His appearance quickly shifted from that of a middle-aged man to a young man.
"We should get going. We need to take him to Arus Empire as soon as possible. He escaped from there," Captain Murphy said, leading the way out of the arena.
"You're all so naive. My master will come to rescue me. If you know what's good for you, you'll release me now!" Pixis shouted, his voice full of defiance.
"Yeah, yeah. We'll talk when your master shows up," Captain Murphy said dismissively, shoving Pixis forward as they made their way out.
"Damn it, Will is still under the hypnosis!" Lissa suddenly cried out.
Without hesitation, Lissa and Jin rushed to Will's side. He lay on the ground, the traces of giant's blood on his face slowly fading. He appeared physically unchanged.
"Snap!" Lissa placed her hand near Will's ear and snapped her fingers. Will immediately opened his eyes.
"Thank God! You're awake!" Jin exclaimed in relief.
"Who... who are you?" Will asked, staring at Jin in confusion, unable to recognize him.
"Huh? I'm Jin," Jin smiled, replying.
"What?! You look younger!" Will shouted in surprise.
"It's just a disguise. I'm about your age," Jin explained.
At that moment, Lissa seemed to notice something. She crouched down and picked something up from the ground.
"Lissa, what's that?" Will asked.
"This is Pixis' ring," Lissa replied.
"Do you like it?" Jin asked.
"No. What interests me is the stone on it," Lissa said, pointing to the purple gem shard embedded in the ring.
"Isn't this just a purple gem?" Jin asked.
"This isn't just any gem. Remember how you said Pixis didn't seem strong enough to be the leader here?" Lissa asked, her eyes narrowing.
Jin thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I did say that."
"This is the key. This is a shard of a Magic Addiction Stone. It allows someone who cannot use magic to perform high-damage magic," Lissa explained, prying the shard from the ring and placing it in her pouch.
"Ah, that explains why Pixis could use such powerful magic despite his lack of skill," Jin said, finally understanding.
"But there's a huge downside. Using this stone gradually induces a dependency on magic—Magic Addiction Syndrome," Lissa said, eyeing the shard in her hand with grave concern.
...
Later that evening, at the crossroads outside the arena.
"It's getting late. I need to continue my search for new bounties," Jin said as he waved goodbye to Will and Lissa.
"I think it's time for me to continue my adventures as well," Will smiled.
"I'm off to find more Magic Addiction Stones. If they're not destroyed, they'll cause chaos in this world," Lissa said with determination.
"Oh, by the way, Will, here's some advice: don't reveal your giant's strength too easily. Otherwise, you'll become a target in no time," Jin warned, pointing at Will.
"Mm, but... do you really think I've gained the power of a giant?" Will asked, still unsure.
"Well, it's just a rumor, but you could try it out later," Jin replied.
"Mm," Will nodded eagerly.
"Goodbye," the three of them said in unison, then parted ways, each heading in a different direction.