“It’s not that big a deal,” Raine pulled a hand out of his pocket to wave off Celeste’s concern. Stepping to the side, he waited for Bron to enter and lead the way.

  The older man flagged down an employee in a simplistic uniform, “Escort the mayor and champion to the testing facilities.” Turning back to Raine, he paused, “Call coming in. If you'll excuse me.”

  Raine held in a sigh, seeing right through Bron's game. His hands were back in his pockets as he tailed the nervous employee.

  My bloodlust control is progressing better than expected. The mayor nearly shit himself at half power, and one-tenth is enough to intimidate this kid who's already a class two disciple.

  The mayor scuttled behind Raine, wringing his hands. The mayor knew exactly what a mental ability in one so young meant for the future of Carter City. It took him a moment to recover from the shock. “C-congratulations on your genesis, Expert KongRu. Your master must be beyond proud. I would dare say your bright future is already secured.” His subservient tone became thicker with each word, “Exp-ahem-Champion KongRu, perhaps you are unaware of the legal ramifications of challenging a martial without a license...”

  “I’m perfectly aware. It seems you’re under a few misconceptions. First, I didn't challenge Dimitrey, and I didn’t set the bet; he did both on his own. I was under no legal obligation to refuse his offers. Not that it matters because you’re going to adjust the dates on the testing equipment to show I used them before our scuffle,” Raine’s commanding tone was iron. It was accompanied by another flexing of bloodlust, causing the employee and mayor to shudder visibly.

  Even without the threat reminding them to keep his matters private, neither would have reported him. There wouldn’t have been a point. Corruption in The United Territories of Amanath was much the same as every other part of the world: purposefully rampant.

  After the final victory against the AI, wars were abolished. All national disputes were forevermore resolved through official one-on-one duels. The acquisition of natural resources, land, people, and supplies was all decided by the fists of a nation's strongest warriors. The need for powerful individuals gave rise to the martial system, and it was quickly discovered that a certain level of corruption only furthered the growth of martials.

  Those oppressed would always embrace power to cast off their shackles. It was a tale as old as humanity, and the countries that refused to accept that simple truth faded into the annals of history. That wasn’t to say there were no regulations avoiding corruption. Any officials who unfairly attempted to stifle the rise of upcoming martials were executed without exception.

  There were two golden rules simple enough that even children could grasp them: Maiming or killing those beneath your class was forbidden, and if you didn't like the way something was done, become strong and change it through the power of your fists.

  Bron caught up to them, not missing the essential bits of the conversation, “I’ve misjudged you, Champion KongRu. If the truth came to light, Dimitrey would be executed for challenging you. Our ex-champion fought bravely in many duels to keep Carter City thriving. It would be a shame to see his end come from such a blunder.”

  I’ll accept your misunderstanding, old man. I killed too many people last night. No way the grandmaster coming to investigate will let me go without any abuse if they find out I was unlicensed at the time.

  Celeste’s eyes widened fractionally, excitement prickling the hair on her arms. [That’s right! This is the perfect ammunition. To think Uncle finally did something useful. Now that I’ve got something so valuable on you, you won’t dare keep calling me stupid little girl. Soon, it'll be you on your knees, eating from the palm of my hand!]

  The mayor produced a handkerchief from his breast pocket, dabbing the sweat from his face, “C-champion KongRu. While I understand your and the ex-champion's positions, what you’re asking of us is a little…”

  Raine snorted, “Instead of beating a dead horse, just tell me what you want. Make that a habit in the future as well. My time is too precious to waste on word games.”

  Sighing after his bravery paid off, the mayor gratefully explained, “Yes, of course. My sincerest apologies. A new corporation has been making waves while preparing to move into the city. With the ex-champion's aid, they avoided several fees and preemptive taxes. Our budget is already strain—”

  “No problem. Arrange for the payments. If they cause a fuss, arrange a match with their representative.”

  CronGate. What a delightful surprise. They're already reeling from the blow I dealt them in ZL. The sooner I stress their finances, the sooner I’ll be able to safely develop my guild in and out of ZL. Hmm, messing with their bottom line, though... I'm not strong enough to face Torune head-on yet. CronGate is only the tip of the iceberg. Others will come, and they won't stop coming after what's mine until I'm powerful enough that it's no longer worth the risk.

  I need to get stronger, quickly. I still have half the ReGen left. Can't take it until my cells stabilize. Need higher-quality nutrients to speed up the process. Also need to make sure that wasn’t the only supply. Better head to Soulgen after this.

  The mayor stopped to bow, “Thank you, champion. You won’t regret this. I’ll ensure you receive the full five percent for your contributions.”

  Raine nodded, stepping into the elevator that rapidly took them to the fifth floor. As the employee led them, Bron eyed Celeste, his tone turning thoughtful, “Miss. Luu Rahn, I hardly recognized you. How is your father?”

  “He still hasn’t forgiven you,” she brushed him off with a puff of air from her nostrils, her tone making it clear the conversation was over.

  Bron released a held breath through his nostrils, “Such is the pity. It’s nice to see you in fine company, for whatever it’s worth.”

  “It’s worth very little, Mr. Sockton. We’re here for business; let’s keep it that way.”

  Changing his tactic, Bron looked back to Raine, “I’d kill to know what your plans are for the future, Champion KongRu.”

  “I’ll be renovating the businesses I earned from Dimitrey, as well as opening several new ones. I believe our little city is about to get a bit more lively. I plan to take advantage of that. If there are any commercial properties for sale that you could recommend, I would consider it a favor owed.”

  Bron only hesitated for a second before responding, “Commercial properties? Constructed or developmental? Budget?”

  If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

  Raine didn’t want the man to think his business would infringe on Galant’s Gym, so he let slip a hint of his plans, “Either. Cost is less important than proximity to the city’s hypernet nodes.”

  The old man lifted the bridge of his glasses with a finger, “Interesting. I guarantee most of those properties aren’t for outright sale. If you contact the owners directly, anything is possible. I’ll have my secretary send you a list of potential sellers.”

  “Thanks. That’ll save Celeste a lot of time,” when Raine called her out, Celeste's lips loosened into a deep frown.

  The employee led them down a reflective hallway with multiple doors. The entire way, Celeste tried to punch a hole in the back of Raine’s head with her gaze. [On. Your. Knees!]

  Sensing the hostility, Raine looked back to find her rubbing at her neck with an awkward expression. He quirked an eyebrow, tone humorous, “Nice to see your temperament improving. Unless it was something I said put you in such a good mood?”

  Celeste didn't back down from his taunt, flipping her hair before the hand fell to her hip, “Hard to say. Perhaps I’m enjoying being relied on so thoroughly.”

  The employee stopped in the center of the hallway and tapped the wall with a finger. A seamless door hissed as it slid open, revealing a large, cube-shaped room. Inside was the gym’s martial testing equipment, along with a small group lined up to watch a strapping man around Raine’s age. He was walking away from a force distributor with a wide grin, sweat sliding down his bare torso. Raine ignored the people, checking the make and model of the machinery.

  State of the art, huh? Guess my perspective is a bit skewed.

  Upon seeing them, the bare-chested man clapped his meaty hands, his voice too loud for the space, “Mr. Sockton! What a surprise! I just set a PR.” He proclaimed loudly, hooking a thumb over his shoulder at a flashing screen displaying an impressive two thousand two hundred newtons.

  Wanted to teach the upstart new champ a lesson? Classic. Should have hit him with bloodlust, too.

  Bron glanced at Raine with a serious poker face, hiding his guilt well, “That’s great news, Donnie. Once your speed and flexibility improve, you’ll be our first home-grown class four. Keep up the excellent training. Now, I must apologize for interrupting; we require the testing equipment for a short bit.”

  Donnie tried to pull his eyes away from Celeste to gauge Raine, but they inevitably slid back to her against his will. He failed to take Bron’s hint, puffing his chest, “That’s right. One thing at a time. As it is, my punching force already exceeds the class four standard. In three-no, two months, I’ll lay the other tests out flat!”

  Raine held in a sigh. Having seen enough young bucks blustering for three lifetimes, he moved into the room. He walked directly toward the force distributor, “Mr. Mayor if you would.”

  So many people talked at once that it was impossible to understand them all. Bron tried again to hint for Donnie and his crew to get lost. The mayor agreed to Raine’s demand and scrambled to reset the machine and adjust its date. Meanwhile, Donnie ignored Bron in favor of a pitiful attempt to sweet-talk Celeste. The three other people in the room snickered, their heads together as they watched Raine cross the room.

  After the burst of excitement, Donnie’s voice once more dominated the room, “You don’t remember? We took two classes together. I was a bit underweight then, but look at me now!” Raine didn’t see it, but he could easily imagine Donnie's confident grin while trying to impress Celeste with his bulging muscles.

  Tuning out the noise, Raine closed his eyes and measured his breathing, focusing on warming up his internal force by rapid-twitching specific muscles and relaxing others, then swapping them out at lightning speed. The maximum newtons a human could usually pack into a punch measured below a thousand. To exceed one thousand five hundred—the benchmark for a class three martial—internal force had to be applied.

  First, Raine needed to disable the brain’s natural limiters that inhibited self-harm. By doing so, genuinely astonishing feats of strength could be displayed. It was a well-documented fact that a relatively small and weak woman could lift a car off her dying child if she disregarded the damage it would cause her.

  Another step was required to reach the tier four standard of two thousand newtons. Raine placed his fist against the padded target in the center of the wall-sized device. He loosened his muscles, withdrawing his hand and repeating the motion a few more times. When he was ready, he looked over his shoulder at the mayor, who gave him a thumbs up.

  Raine ignored the cocky grins, blocking out the snickers as he gently tapped the target. A four hundred appeared, flashing on the distributor’s screen. Nodding, he hit it harder. Twelve hundred appeared on the screen. To exceed human limits further, Raine relaxed the muscles in his arm, shoulder, and torso that would act as a counter-force to his punch.

  “Is this some kind of jo—”

  Quick as lightning, Raine took a half step forward and twisted. His arm vanished, fist appearing on the target. The impact's force displaced the air with a whoosh. A flashing two thousand nine hundred and ninety-eight appeared on the screen. A little buzzer sounded, announcing the city’s highest score had been broken.

  Oops. One off.

  Every jaw hit the floor, though Celeste alone understood the truth. [Only a fool shows their full power before it's necessary. To think he held back to hit the exact number of the class five threshold and only missed by one… Just how strong is he?]

  Bron’s eyes shone like a kid on Christmas, “Cham-no, Expert KongRu! Your punching force is truly superb! Only a little more, and you’d qualify as a bona fide master!” Raine’s only response was a click of his tongue as he moved toward the next machine.

  What nonsense. Class five in the past required seven consecutive hits in under two seconds, all at three thousand five hundred newtons. The only way to even make this fun is testing my control.

  Celeste’s eyes darted to each new person in the room. She sighed, not seeing anyone react to his thoughts. [I’m the only girl in here. Does it really work the way Mel thought?]

  The congratulations came like a storm, and it wasn’t until Raine cleared his throat that the mayor realized he planned to take the second test on the same day; it was typically done over three. Not daring to question him, the mayor hustled to the next device. Donnie was no longer eye-groping Celeste. His vision was sealed to Raine’s back as his new boycrush stepped onto a hexagonal, multidirectional treadmill. It was three meters in diameter, taking up an entire corner of the room.

  While the mayor restarted it to adjust the date, Raine did a few squats and rolled his ankles, pleased with the condition of his body. The extra strong dose of ReGen had significantly improved the elasticity and durability of his muscle fibers and tendons. He was only a little sore after the punch, but it was the good kind of sore that let him know he was alive and strong. The last thing he wanted to do was take a break. He wanted to go all out and discover his new limits, but that would be incredibly idiotic with witnesses around.

  With a nod to the mayor that he was ready, the class four speed test began. The walls lit up, becoming full-sized screens displaying a path through the woods. The treads went from zero to eighty KPH (fifty miles per hour) in the blink of an eye. Normally, it would be impossible to run that fast due to air pressure, but that wasn't an issue on a treadmill.

  Raine leaned forward, his legs blurring as he easily kept pace with the machine. The path veered sharply to the right. Raine tilted so hard to the side he had to gently smack the shifting treads with his fingers to maintain balance. Several seconds later, they changed again. This time, he was forced to lift both feet and spin one hundred and eighty degrees. He was already in full sprint again when he landed. The view on the walls zipped by as he flew down the ‘trail.’ A minute passed, then two, signaling he had cleared the class four standard.

  In the third minute, the alterations in direction came once every other second. Without breaking a sweat, Raine flawlessly traversed each twist, turn, and loop thrown at him. For those watching, his whole body was a blur, like some vampire straight out of a myth. At precisely two minutes and fifty-nine seconds, he kicked down, throwing himself into the air so expertly that he appeared to glide to the edge of the treadmill. He landed softly, breathing lightly. Again, a flashing score was accompanied by a soft alarm.

  This time, the only other sound in the room came from Celeste’s defeated sigh. [How can a human-No. He's a Monster. I… might need a little more insurance before I make a move against him.]