Heero paced up and down the hall of his martial arts school. His face was flushed with anger, but no angry words came out of his mouth.
Kang Seo-Yeon, Bai Xin Yue, Musashi Hirata, Sun Zhou Yi, and Butcher Wang stood in a line behind Heero.
Meanwhile, Kang Dong-Woo and Xu Lingxun stood with their heads bowed.
Kang Dong-Woo had half of his head covered with white gauze and a crutch in his left hand. Xu Lingxun's condition was no better. His face was black and blue, and his left hand was wrapped in white gauze.
Both had just returned from hospital after the Junior Event final. Yes, the injuries they sustained were from the final. Thanks to these two boys, the Junior Event ended on a high note.
The match lasted almost an hour. Thanks to them, the stage on which they fought was also destroyed. Still, there was one person who was angry about the final fight, and that person was Heero.
The audience or even the whole city might have praised their performance. But Heero was not at all happy about the performance of his two disciples.
It was because the two boys were serious in the final fight. They went all out, almost killing each other.
Yes, they fought as if their lives were at stake. That was what made Heero angry. He did not even use his potion to heal the boys.
"Do you know why I called you both here?" Heero's cold voice rang in the empty hall.
Kang Dong-Woo and Xu Lingxun did not answer. They just looked down, not daring to meet Heero's eyes.
They had never seen Heero get angry before. What they knew of their master was kind, caring, and gentle.
But they remembered how frightening their Master was when he got angry. Yesterday, Master had visited them in the hospital, but had left as soon as he had arrived, having said to them, "Meet me in the Martial Hall tomorrow morning!"
Both still remembered how frightening Heero's expression had been.
"Kang Dong-Woo!" Heero called out his student's full name, which was rare, "When you came to me and asked me to be your master, what did you say to me back then?"
Still with his head bowed, the past scene flashed through his mind.
"I said that I wanted to be a hero who surpassed my grandfather and protected my sister..." Kang Dong-Woo replied in a low voice.
Kang Seo-Yeon heard her brother's words clearly and gasped in surprise. She was touched by her brother's goal. However, she did not interfere because she also felt that her brother went too far in yesterday's fight.
"Then what happened yesterday? First, you almost killed Wu Weimin! Then, in the final match, you tried to kill Xu Lingxun as well! Have you forgotten your goal? Or has your goal changed now?" Hero asked Kang Dong-Woo in a harsh tone.
"No! My goal is still the same. I want to surpass my grandfather and protect my sister! But..." Kang Dong-Woo's words trailed off.
"But what?"
"I-I had no intention of killing Lingxun, I went all the way out of respect for him..." With the same small voice, Kang Dong-Woo continued.
"I see... I see..." Heero's voice was still cold, which made Dong-Woo shrink back.
"So, in the end, you forgot what I said before the competition... So, you used everything I taught you to show respect to your fellow student by almost killing him? Hmm... What a unique way to show respect..." Heero's words were full of sarcasm and the boy knew it.
"And what about you, Lingxun? Have you also forgotten my words?"
Xu Lingxun did not dare to answer, only shaking his head furiously.
"What about your goal? Have you forgotten your goal as well?"
Xu Lingxun shook his head again. There was no way he would forget his main goal.
"Then do you know what you did yesterday was extremely stupid? What if they recognize you?"
Xu Lingxun was stunned and his eyes widened. Yes, he managed to evade the enemy's pursuit of his family and survived for five years in the outer region.
Yesterday was a big event and many people watched it, whether from the arena or the live broadcast. There was a chance he might be recognized.
No one in the room except Musashi Hirata understood what Heero and Xu Lingxun were talking about.
Heero rubbed his forehead and continued, "This will be the last time, understood? I can give you power, but I can also take it away from you! As for the punishment, read this a hundred... No, a thousand times! Repeat these words a thousand times!"
He pointed to the board he had placed on the wall, "Our way; not to change the world, but to not let the world change us!"
"After you repeat these a thousand times, you can go back to rest!" With that, Heero started to turn back, but Sun Zhou Yi called out.
"Master! What about us? Should we also use our power in moderation during the Fighter Anteriority?"
Heero stopped his steps and turned to the three adults, rolling his eyes, "You are an adult, you can do whatever you want!"
After that, he left the hall.
"He's pretty tough!" Kang Seo-Yeon voiced her thoughts as Heero's figure disappeared. She immediately approached her frightened brother to check on his condition.
The injury her brother had suffered was not light at all. She was a little worried.
"I'm fine! Master is not wrong, it was us who did not listen to him and he was right. My power should be used to fight the monsters out there and protect my two sisters from my stupid father!" Kang Dong-Woo shook his head and walked closer to the tablet.
Actually, the punishment could not be called a punishment. It was just repeating the same sentence a thousand times. Heero did not hit her either.
Xu Lingxun followed and the two boys began their punishment. The others left the hall, none of them watching the two boys, believing that they would not dare to cheat for their punishment.
"Hah... Fortunately, Master does not say anything about us! If he tells us to fight in moderation, I won't be able to cut off that big guy's hand later!" Musashi Hirata muttered in a low voice as he came out of the hall.
Even though he said it in a low voice, the other four could hear it. Bai Xin Yue and Kang Seo-Yeon had no idea who this "big guy", he was talking about. But Sun Zhou Yi and Butcher Wang knew who the big guy was.
He was the one who despised their master, Cale, a week ago.
"You can't cut off his hand. He is quite famous in Sun City, it will worsen the relationship between Star City and Sun City if you cut his hand! How about breaking a few of his ribs and his hand, that will do!" Sun Zhou Yi replied with some concern.
"You guys are pretty scary, do you really have to go that far?" Butcher Wang shook his head as he tried to get some distance between them.
The two girls had no idea what the three were talking about.
Musashi Hirata ignored Butcher Wang's comment and said, "Today, you will fight in Fighter Anteriority! Don't hold back and show'em what you can do! You must promote our academy!"
"I know! I know!" Butcher Wang waved his hand. Even Hirata did not remind him, he wanted to show his skills to the masses. He wanted to show his daughter that not only Heero could fight, but he too.
*** ***
Just like that, the Fighter Anteriority continued.
Free Fighter was an event where the participants were not heroes or even ranked. Most of the participants were members of the Martial House or wild hunters with no affiliation.
The Free Fighter event lasted three days.
Butcher Wang, who participated in the Free Fighter event, triumphed in the finals, defeating all of his opponents.
Even in the final, he showed no mercy to his opponent. He also remembered to promote the Heero Academy.
Heero even brought his family to watch. His main purpose was still the same, to wait for the Shadow Fang to make their move.
However, he could find no sign of the Shadow Fang even after the Free Fighter event was over.
After the Free Fighter, the Fighter Anteriority continued with the Silver Class event. As the name suggests, the Silver Class Event was the highest level of competition for Silver Class Heroes and Silver Class Rankers.
This event lasted for a week, as it was the event with the most participants.
The Shadow Fang did not appear in this event either. And so the last event or the main event of the Fighter Anteriority began.
The main event or the most anticipated event. An event where the Emperor Class Hero and the Legendary Class Ranker would meet.