Dante, who was initially intending to go after Michael suddenly stopped. He was slightly surprised that there was someone here who knew his cousin.
"Hahaha! There is nothing to worry about Mark. My little cousin here invited me out for a meal, which is why I am here. It was a little abrupt, so I was not able to inform you in advance." The thin man, who was referred to as Daniel, responded with a boisterous laugh.
"Oh, so that is the case? Anyway, if you need anything, you know, you can ask me." Mark responded, as he shook hands with Daniel.
Mark was a man in his late 40s with black hair that had some slight gray within. His gray eyes indicated that he was a calculating type, definitely someone who liked to scheme.
He was actually working in this hotel, as the lobby manager. He was quite familiar with Daniel, which was why he had approached as soon as he got the information that Daniel had arrived.
Michael did not bother with this, as he exited the hotel. He was heading towards the road, to get another taxi to take him to another hotel.
It was just that, as soon as he left the hotel, Dante suddenly came rushing towards him.
Dante extended his arm, intending to grab Michael's shoulder. But, Michael reacted quite quickly, moving his body to the side, dodging.
Dante, having missed, stumbled slightly. Then, he looked at Michael, with a slightly puzzled expression on his face.
He thought to himself, was this a fluke or was it true that Michael had the ability of dodging his attacks?
Dante was one who liked to verify something on the spot. So, without hesitation, he once again approached Michael, trying to grab his collar.
Michael had a frown on his face as he noticed that Dante was still persisting.
In actual sense, he had already anticipated that something like this would happen when he encountered Dante.
It was just that, he had not expected that Dante would blatantly try attacking him like this. He thought, maybe one of his minions would strike at him.
Regardless, at this point, Michael finally began understanding just how overpowered the system was.
In his entire life, apart from the brawls that he had engaged in while being a small kid during the time that his parents were alive, he had never really fought again.
But now, when Dante attacked him, Michael was able to dodge, easily anticipating his movements.
Additionally, due to the enhancement that he had received when the unarmed combat skill was advanced to the intermediate level, his reflexes were way better than before.
So, when Dante tried grabbing his collar, Michael once again twisted his body to the side, dodging.
But, as soon as Dante's hand went past him in front of his chest, it suddenly turned to the side, trying to grab his right shoulder.
But, Michael was still able to react. This time, instead of dodging, he stretched his hand, before grabbing Dante's wrist.
Dante was initially surprised when Michael was yet again able to dodge his hand. But then, he thought, this other maneuver would be out of expectation for Michael.
Unexpectedly, Michael grabbed his wrist, and the moment that he did, Dante immediately felt tremendous pressure being applied on his hand.
At that moment, he felt that Michael's grip on his wrist was growing stronger.
This made him frown slightly. Exerting his strength, he tried retracting his hand, but then, he realized that he could not.
Not willing to embarrass himself, he exerted even most strength, almost going all out. But even then, Michael simply maintained holding his wrist, without letting go.
And, judging by the expression on his face, it did not look as though he was straining to hold him at all.
By now, veins had already popped out on Dante's face and neck, indicating that he was straining to retract his arm.
Michael on the other hand gazed at Dante with a cold expression on his face. He really wanted to beat up this guy, but did not want to cause a scene here.
First of all, he did not have as many connections as Dante did. This implied, if he was arrested by the police due to fighting in a public place, he might actually end up being charged of an offense of disrupting public peace and taken to court.
On the other hand, he thought, he was not ready enough. So, there was no need to escalate the conflict between himself and Dante.
But at the same time, he thought, he had to show Dante that he was not easy to bully. He had to make sure that this guy would not believe that he had everything under control.
Otherwise, the guy would keep on trying to control him, as though Michael was his servant.
With his current strength, brought about by the enhancement of the intermediate level combat skill, Michael did indeed find it a little straining to hold Dante in place.
But, he had to make sure that he showed no weakness in front of Dante and the others. Otherwise, who could tell if this guy might try attacking him again if he let go?
"You!" Dante's eyes turned bloodshot as he stared at Michael, with intense murderous intent in his eyes.
He just could not believe it. Looking at Michael, he was wondering, was this the same person that had been working for him?
Looking at Michael's frame, he could tell that Michael had changed somehow. Now, it looked as though he had been having quite a good life, which improved his health.
But apart from that, it did not seem like anything else about him had changed. Additionally, why, all this while, he had never noticed that Michael was this strong?
And from his ability to react from his two previous attempts of grabbing him, and grabbing his hand so tightly on the third attempt, it seemed that he had the ability to fight. So, why was it that he had never heard about it?
The information on Michael was something that he already possessed. He understood Michael's origin, having already done a background check before having him work as an accountant over 2 years ago.
"I don't want a conflict with you. Do your own thing, and let me do my own. I'm not going to allow you to continue controlling me like you did before." Michael stated in a cold tone.
After he said those words, he released his grip over Dante's wrist.
Dante could not help but rub his right wrist, which had already turned red from the pressure that was exerted by Michael during the time that he was grabbing it.
At this point, Dante was gritting his teeth while glaring at Michael. It was just that, he just could not understand Michael at all.
Trying to link the Michael standing in front of him and the one from before, he just could not. It felt as though he was facing two different people.
While Dante was still glaring at Michael, Daniel and the others had already approached.
The commotion here had already attracted the attention of several people around, who looked over with curiosity.
"Kid, you are quite interesting." Daniel, who had just been observing everything while approaching, could not help but comment while observing Michael.
Michael did not say anything in return, as he turned around, intending to leave. He really did not have any intention of interacting with these guys again.
But, as he was leaving, suddenly, several security guards blocked his path. They had all rushed over under the order of the lobby manager, Mark.
Michael could not help but frown as he looked at the people that were blocking his way.
"I'm leaving, get out of my way." Michael stated in a cold voice that sent shivers down the three security guards that were blocking him from the front.
Despite Michael's words, the security guards did not respond. Instead, holding the batons in their hands, they cautiously observed Michael, but did not take any action.
"Kid, you caused trouble at our hotel, and you are thinking of leaving? It is not going to be that simple." Mark suddenly spoke, making Michael understand the reason why he was being blocked from leaving.
It seems, this manager, wanting to please Daniel, had the intention of using the hotel's security guards to make things hard for him.
Michael did not try explaining, as he understood, since Mark was already supporting Daniel, he would definitely not listen to logic.
"Hey kid, I'm quite interested in you. I see that you have quite some potential in you. What about this, you come and join our gang under me. I will make sure that you receive the best training possible, to increase your fighting capabilities.
Apart from that, I will be the only one capable of commanding you. And more than that, you will receive resources, not to mention money, you will also receive a house of your own." Daniel suddenly offered.