Chapter 48 - Hardwork

The delinquent who had his hand grabbed was about to yell at the person who grabbed him but when he saw who it was he felt his knees weakening. The surrounding students that were watching were also surprised, but it was only for a moment since they remembered who that person was. This was the infamous young lion of the Mugami Clan. This person was someone who sought battle the most, so it wasn't too surprising to see him here when someone was about to start a fight.

"Why aren't you saying anything? If you really want to have a fun fight how about fighting someone like me."

When the two delinquents heard Shin's declaration they almost pissed their pants in fear. The seniors in their delinquent group had warned everyone if it was possible to never cross Shin. Even though their Asura group wasn't afraid of Shin, they didn't want to actively aggravate the person.

"We don't want to fight you. Please let us off." The one being held by Shin spoke out.

"Hmmm, let you off? Then let me ask you, did you ever let this little guy off?"

"Of course we did. This was just a little misunderstanding between us, the three of us are pals." The other delinquent who was at the side interjected.

"Oh, is that true?" Shin asked the weakling on the floor. Michael looked at the two delinquents and then at the towering Shin.

"No that isn't true. These two have always been harassing me."

"You hear that." Before the delinquent being held could respond, Shin had already lifted him up with one hand and then used his free hand to flick the delinquent's forehead. The delinquent's head shook violently and he then fainted.

Seeing the fate of his companion the other delinquent was about to run away, but how could a rank one martial artist flee from someone like Shin. Before the delinquent could even take one step Shin had already caught him.

'Is this what caused all this commotion?' Shin took the book the delinquent was holding.

'A book about advanced martial art techniques. So that's how it is. I guess these low-level fools would want something like this.' Shin sighed as he knocked out the other delinquent with the same move as before. When the students of Class C saw how easily Shin dealt with the two they gulped.

These two delinquents were rather decent fighters in their class, but in front of Shin, they were like little children. On the other hand, Michael stood in front of Shin and bowed his head.

"Thank you for your help." Shin looked at Michael for a second before he shook his head and responded.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding. I didn't come here to help you, like I said I came to join in the fun. You see I just wanted to get this book from the two."

When Michael heard Shin's response his whole body twitched and he looked at Shin who had this weird smile on his face.

"Please can you give that back to me? If you want anything else from me I shall gladly give it, but I can't give you that book, that's something important to me."

"Is that so, that just makes me want it even more now. If you want to take it back, then you should take it back from me using force." Michael clenched his fist and glared at Shin. How shameful of this guy, he was from a powerful clan and should have a copy of this book, so why did he need to do this?

'Is he also messing with me because I'm weak?' Michael once again gathered his resolve and responded with a clear voice which everyone was able to hear.

"Even though you helped me if you don't return that book I will retaliate."

"Then stop barking and do it! Don't worry I won't dodge nor strike back and if you're able to make me take a step back then I will gladly return this book to you."

"You better not go back on your word." Everyone was shocked to hear Michael's response. Did this kid suddenly become stupid? Challenging Shin when he couldn't even take on those two delinquents. The students present could not believe what they heard, on the other hand, Michael continued to glare at Shin and took a stance.

Unlike the other students, Michael was not able to increase his inner energy nor could he use it properly. So he worked harder than everyone else, he practiced each of the basic stances, basic strikes, and holds numerous times. His hands that had numerous cuts, his body that was full of bruises, wasn't all from being bullied. In fact most of it he got from training continuously without rest.

If it was a fight without inner energy, Michael was confident that he could hold his own. When Shin saw the stance Michael took, his eyes almost sparkled in excitement. Unlike the lousy stance and punch he did before, Michael had now taken a proper stance. His stance was a perfect form that could only be reproduced after hours of practicing.

'I see, so that's how it is. He might not have the talent to cultivate inner energy properly, but he is the hardworking type. The reason his stance was sloppy a while ago might be because he was overwhelmed with anger. Now that his calm his training is shining through.' The smile on Shin's face grew wider and wider as his excitement was reaching a new level.

"Hahaha, then come show me what you've got." Shin made a taunting gesture telling Michael to come at him. Seeing that gesture didn't enrage Michael instead it made him feel even calmer as he stabilized his breathing.

Michael then tried to circulate the tiny inner energy he had into his hands. He gritted his teeth as he felt that the inner energy wasn't flowing the way he wanted.

'Please just this one time, let me be able to do it!' Michael then charged at Shin and punched forward.

Shin who had received the punch from the front looked at Michael feeling a little disappointed. The stance, the strike, the timing, everything was near perfection, unfortunately, the way Michael's inner energy flowed was all over the place and the strike was made purely using his physical strength.

Even though this strike would have easily subdued a normal person, someone like Shin wasn't even fazed.

'I thought that maybe he could be a fun playmate.' As Shin sighed he suddenly felt something strange happening to Michael's strike. Shin actually felt some danger in the strike that had hit him and was forced to circulate his own inner energy, but it was already too late, Shin was actually able to push him one step backward.

As everyone looked at the scene with shocked faces, Michael suddenly collapsed.

...

Loki who was still reading in the library stopped for a second and looked around. 'What was that, was that a mana fluctuation? Is there actually someone else that could use mana in this school?'

Loki tried to sense it but he could no longer feel that mana fluctuation. It was a sudden burst but it disappeared quickly. 'Was that just my imagination?' After thinking about it for a while, Loki once again tried to sense if there was any other mana fluctuation but he still felt nothing, Loki sighed as he shook his head.

'I guess it really was my imagination.' Loki then went back to reading his book.