"cough"
"I finally managed to lose them."
It was Jake, and he had been running away from the lackeys of the noble faction.
They almost caught up to him multiple times, but he managed to escape by a hair's breadth.
In particular, the young master, Yun, was an absolute monster. Although he was arrogant and very annoying, he had the strength to back it up.
He was the reason they had almost caught him on several occasions.
"Time to head back," he said.
At this point, he was already physically strong enough. He just knew it. He had been going around with that boulder for a few days now and it had become very light.
He felt confident now.
....
"phewww"
"This is so exhausting."
Frank had been trying to get to the third level of raging fists: 3rd rapid .
One of the pre-requisite was the ability to break stones with his fists. He had managed to merge his strength and speed, but the amount he could release at the moment couldn't destroy a stone.
His fists were bruised all over again.
But this time, the pain wasn't that extreme.
"It has been a few days now. I think I should go back to the battle stage to find Wang Ben."
Frank got up and bowed toward the mountain.
He knew the old man could probably see him, but since the old man didn't send someone to get him
He assumed that he was busy
He turned around and left via the opening.
...
Battle stage
Frank's figure soon arrived on the outskirts of the battle stage.
Whenever he sees the characters on top of the battle stage, his blood boils. He was one who yearned to be strong, and only through battle would strength ever be truly attained.
The Black River City boys were always in the battle stage. Although it was a public place where cadets gathered, the place had become the black river city boys' hangout spot and base.
Some of them even converted their personal training rooms to living spaces.
"Move out of the way!!!!" echoed a voice.
A bunch of candidates were currently jogging into the base in a uniformed manner, but they were surprisingly being led by a cadet holding a flag that read
"scouts".
Frank had to step aside if he didn't want to be trampled.
"Halt!" the cadet in front screamed.
A giant-like man stood up and started walking towards the soldier in front of him.
It was Marcus, and he had a frown on his face.
"What do you want?" Marcus clearly knew the guy.
"Ha-ha, Marcus, is that how you greet a fellow cadet?" With a laugh, the cadet said.
Marcus just stared at him with cold eyes.
"This guy just wants to cause trouble," he thought.
"The scouts and the infantry units are on the same ranking, brother Marcus. Don't you think it would be nice if we held a little mini competition?" He finally let his intentions known.
There was a bit of a rivalry between the scouts and the infantry unit.
At least that's what they thought. The truth was that the scouts were weak as compared to the infantry units.
But the scout unit had a backer in this base.
"The Knight Unit"
The Knight unit cadet leader had some kind of relationship with the Scout unit cadet leader. Some said they were brother and sister.
But no one knows for sure because they have never talked about it.
"Come, let us fight for the glory of the base," the cadet said to Marcus.
Marcus despised the scouts, but he was wary of them also, not because of their strength.
But because of the sheer amount of shamelessness they would display if they lost a battle.
"You must be joking, Ian, we don't want the trouble of the knights unit," a voice from behind Marcus said.
Knuckles got involved.
This irritated Ian because everyone knew how much the scouts relied on the knights.
But it really pissed him off whenever people said it out loud. Although Knuckles didn't say it directly, everyone understood what he meant
"That's not funny knuckles," Ian said.
"Of course it is, it's very funny," Knuckles said while laughing hysterically.
"What happens when we beat you to a pulp? Are you not going to tell the knight's unit to avenge you?"
"We do not need the knight unit to fight our battles," the cadet was fuming.
Knuckles was determined to annoy cadet Ian.
"Enough, we don't have the time to play with you," Marcus said.
"Oh, Marcus, when did you become such a coward? The infantry unit has made you like this? " Ian said mockingly
These words made the whole room tense up.
Marcus clenched his fists, but soon let go.
"Since you want a battle, let's have a battle."
"June, bring out a random candidate from the infantry unit. I'm sure the scout will lose to any random person from the infantry unit," Marcus said with a smile.
"Yes sir."
The cadet Marcus called on saluted and sped off.
Till this moment, no one had noticed Frank standing beside the doorway into the battle stage.
"You step out and win glory for the scout unit," said Ian.
He also chose a candidate to fight.
The young man from the scouts' unit stepped out onto a platform awaiting his opponent.
Marcus sneered. This cadet looked strong. He was probably the strongest in the scout's whole team, but Ian brought him out as if he was a nobody.
And soon,
June came back with a candidate in tow.
The candidate was wearing some wolf fur on his uniform. He looked calm and he was quite tall.
"Who are you training with?" Marcus asked the candidate that had just arrived with narrowed eyes he wasn't familiar with this guy.
"Kuma," though his reply was a bit rude as he didn't accord the senior with the appropriate title.
Marcus had a look of realization in his eyes.
June had brought someone strong.
Kuma was strong and he was almost no longer a cadet, so he didn't need to train anyone. The fact that he took this guy must mean the guy had a lot of potential.
"Good, what do I call you?" Marcus asked.
"Gertrud"
"Good, you must have been told the situation right?" Marcus said
"Yes," Gertrud said.
"Good, don't lose face," Marcus smiled.
He was sure that Gertrud would win just from his aura.
"Okay, go up."
Gertrud nodded and started walking towards the platform.
....
"fight"
The boy from the scouts dashed towards Gertrud.
"boom"
Gertrud used his arm to block the incoming kick; he only moved back a bit.
A surprised look appeared on the face of the scout representative.
"damn"
He jumped back.
But before he could hit the ground, Gertrud had already arrived before him and swung at him with his fist.
But his fist met thin air.
The scout had evaded capture in the middle of the air.
That was a special skill from the scout team called
"wind step"
Gertrud wasn't startled at all, though he was prepared and responded immediately.
With a quick maneuver, he kicked him to the floor.
"boom"
Once he hit the floor, he swiftly turned over.
Gertrud was on him once again.
The battle was hot; they were battle-oriented.
So they definitely had good training. One doesn't acquire such skills overnight.
When Frank saw his, he understood what Wang Ben met. They were definitely crouching tigers in this place.
They fought for a while, but finally Gertrud won by a landslide.
The candidate from the scout unit was always at a constant disadvantage
"You lose," Marcus said, with a mocking tone in his voice.
Ian was fuming once again.
This battle looked like a lion chasing his prey.
It was embarrassing
"Don't you dare mock me "This wasn't a fair battle. He is definitely much more experienced than most candidates," Ian said.
He paused for a second and continued.
"Let me pick someone else."
"Shameless" knuckles spouted angrily.
The battle was fair, but the scouts were looking for excuses.
Honestly, Knuckles knew this was going to happen, but he just kept quiet.
suddenly
"What do you propose?" a voice echoed.
It was Cadet Wang Ben.
He had someone beside him.
"Another battle," Ian said.
He was actually surprised to see Wang Ben. He was sort of a celebrity on the base.
"I agree, but I have two conditions," Wang Ben said.
Ian was a bit wary of Wang Ben because he knew Wang Ben was intelligent and conning.
"I will also pick someone else," Wang Ben said.
Ian looked nonchalant. He had a lot of trust in the person that would fight next.
"And we have to stake something nice."
Ian's face changed all of a sudden.
"Why was Wang Ben so confident to the point of placing a bet?" Ian thought.
But he had no choice He didn't want to lose face by giving up and admitting defeat. He wouldn't be able to face the scout unit leader if he lost.
"What do we stake?" Ian asked.
"swift"
ians' eyes widened.
"I don't have the authority," Ian said.
"Then let me talk to someone who does," Wang Ben said.
"I can"