The Anti-Hero
Chapter 21: Apprenticeship II

On the outskirts of town

The van was walking on the outskirts of town leisurely

Despite just walking normally, Van can smell a wide variety of pungent smells

Bloodstains

Smell of dirt

Smell money

And other smells that rarely appear in the city in stinging conditions

As Van is walking, Van is suddenly intercepted by a group of thugs

"Heh academy student? What's he doing here?"

"That's it, but who cares. They're sold expensively on the black market"

As they were discussing, Van appeared in front of them

Before they reacted, Van had already touched their bodies and activated [Decay]

In an instant, the bodies of the thugs instantly shattered into dust

Van then continued on his way, as if all he had done was kill a mosquito

After walking for half an hour, Van arrived at a large, old warehouse

Van took out the map that was inside the previous letter and matched its position "It seems to be correct"

Van then knocked on the door of the warehouse which was 10x the size of him

The door was opened by several people dressed as thugs

In those people, Van could smell the gunpowder and stinging blood

"Not [Shinigami]" muttered Van

"Huh kids?"

"Son, why are you straying?"

"Is this the place of the hero [Shinigami]?" ask Van

Hearing the word [Shinigami] made their eyes stiffen

They quickly grabbed the gun in his pocket and pointed it at Van's head

As they were about to pull the trigger, a silhouette appeared in front of Van and the villains

Even Van was very surprised by its appearance due to its extremely fast speed

'His physical fitness has surpassed that of a human' Van thought.

The figure of a black silhouette that was moving very quickly could finally be seen

A figure with a black robe that covered his entire body to the color of his skin is unknown, and a mask of a Shinigami god from Japanese mythology covered his face

Van who saw it at first glance knew that the figure in front of him was the hero #2 [Shinigami], a skillless hero with frightening physical fitness

"First lesson, always be alert" said [Shinigami]

[Shinigami] clenched his fists and punched the air

But behind that simple fist, there was an extremely terrifying power

The air like being hit by a light earthquake and a terrible wind gust directly hit the old warehouse

As a result, the warehouse made of iron instantly shattered and flew into the sky

[Shinigami] cleaned the dust on his clothes and turned around

He was stunned for a moment when he saw Van who was injured with a lot of bullet holes in his body

The bullet wound on Van's body looks very severe, suddenly regenerates and Van looks like he has not been hit by any attack

Van could not see the expression [Shinigami] was behind the mask

However, [Shinigami's] voice rang out from behind the mask "It looks like you are not an ordinary student of the academy. Come with me"

[Shinigami] walked in a direction and Van followed him in silence

After a few minutes of travel, they arrived at a simple bar

While opening the hut, Van sees a bartender and some people enjoying a beer

[Shinigami] and Van walked up to the bartender then [Shinigami] gave $100 to the bartender

"What a hero" said [Shinigami]

The bartender who heard the message [Shinigami] instantly took $100 and nodded

The bartender walked up to the wine rack and raised a bottle of wine

The wine rack slowly sank into the ground, and behind the wine rack was a staircase leading to the underground

[Shinigami] and Van stared at each other for a moment and walked down the stairs

They both walked down the stairs in the middle of the dark tunnel

After a few minutes of tracing the stairs in the dark tunnel, they saw a slight ray of light

As they went deeper, they heard the sound of commotion and saw a very crowded market

"Welcome to the black market" said [Shinigami]

"Get into enemy cages like this. Aren't you afraid of being discovered? Again forgetting your hero costume looks very striking" Van asked casually even though he had activated [Decay] and was ready to turn this place into dust in case something went wrong

"Not to worry, many people hide their identity on the black market by wearing masks. A mask like mine is a mask commonly used on the black market" [Shinigami] said

[Shinigami] and Van went deeper into the black market

During the trip, Van saw things that were difficult to find in the public market but were products that were easily found on the black market

Upon arriving at the deepest part of the black market, Van sees some things that are even slightly impossible to find in the outside world

Like dragon fangs

Vampire blood

Even the [Hero Fruit] He craved existed even though it was a little expensive

[Hero Fruit]: The fruit that is said to be said to be the fruit planted by heroes of ancient times. The living thing that eats it must have the soul of the hero in order to get its effect. The effect of [Hero Fruit] was to increase physical and mental strength by hundreds of folds

Without a doubt, Van contacted his subordinates to buy as many [Hero Fruit] as possible

If necessary, just make a mess and steal [Hero Fruit] as much as possible

[Shinigami] then stopped and gestured to Van then turned left

The van that saw the signal immediately understood and turned to the right

Van then approached one of the traders and asked "Sir, how much is this fruit worth?"

"Only $100,000 only" said the merchant sir when he saw the fruit appointed by Van

"Hmm why cheap? I guess that this [Hero Fruit] is a rare fruit" Van said

"Although it is rare and very strong, but this fruit requires very strict conditions to obtain its results

One needs to have a pure soul and a heart full of heroism. Of course the buyers on the black market will not have a heroic soul so this fruit does not sell"

"so.. Give me one" said Van, throwing a gold coin

Van then took one [Hero Fruit] and the merchant took the gold coin thrown by Van

"Look, you're alive!" said the merchant

Van turned around and saw some thugs in robes of white tiger skin