In the tower room.
"Hayate-sama, there was a big brawl happened in the mine!" Entering the room, Isamu urgently reported with a hint of annoyance on his face.
Although he has a little bit of authority in these areas, the scale of the fight was massive due to the two parties barring each other's fangs.
"Who are the perpetrators? Punish them if necessary!" Hayate directly ordered.
"That's why I am troubled with, Hayate-sama. It's Masaru and Genji fighting each other! Then, the situation escalated to the point of no return." Isamu easily summarized the problem without any issues.
"Harassment... Fought back..." Hayate cupped his chin, "If I remembered, Masaru had a lot of his lackeys around him, right? So how did Genji retaliate with only two people?"
"Sir, they know how to refine Chakra on their own! It's very rudimentary yet they knocked some kids unconscious in such a brief burst of Chakra!" Isamu was also stupefied and felt like cursing out loud yet this crisis happened in his patrol term, seeing the unexpected scene in real time.
"Refining Chakra..." Hayate frowned upon hearing Isamu's statement, "Perhaps it's him who taught Genji, Hikari, and Sabito."
"What? It's Yoichi?! How's that even possible sir?!" Isamu was shocked.
"I don't know. However, don't judge a genius from the perspective of an average shinobi. They can do whatever complex thing that people don't understand."
Hayate knew the kid had potential and a secret Yoichi wouldn't reveal in front of them. It was understandable from Hayate's viewpoint since living here in the mines made the children far too vulnerable and required them to adapt to a harsh change.
Such logical thinking as having a trump card or being low-key was certainly a good trait.
'These kids must be recruited for the Infiltration Squad! I need to do it, even if I offended those irritating nobles spouting nonsense.'
"Don't punish them," Hayate ordered, "In honesty, let Masaru suffer a little bit. If he reported back to Kouji, I can easily handle their complaints."
"... I understand." Isamu understood quickly. Looks like his superior finally made his move, protecting these youngsters.
"Oh right, what happened to Yoichi?" Hayate asked.
"Nothing bad happened yet, Hayate-sama." Isamu felt a tinge of envy in his mind. He was Hayate's right-hand man yet the caring attitude of his leader for a kid was truly surprising.
"... Forget it, you may now do your duties." Hayate understood Isamu's dilemma. His Chūnin assistant wanted to let the kid suffer a bit, then so be it.
...
「Heavenly Demon Posture EXP +1」
「Heavenly Demon Posture EXP +1」
「Heavenly Demon Posture EXP +1」
"Hoooh... Finally halfway done! I need to restore my stamina first before grinding once again..."
After taking the deceased's clothes, Yoichi slept soundly in the night and woke up immediately with his supplies ready for the morning. Then, he practiced until his body was exhausted but his eyes were glinting with joy and relief.
[Heavenly Demon Posture: (Entry) 56/100]
With a staggering improvement in proficiency, Yoichi felt his body begin changing in a huge qualitative leap as his endurance and strength increased, compared to a 5-year-old child.
As for the Goredrinker, after blindly spotting the 4 puddles of blood near him, they were gobbled up and nourished his body to a massive degree.
[Goredrinker: 30/100]
Yoichi thought it was the quality and vitality of the blood that made each puddle of blood different based on the amount of harvest he obtained.
Afterwards, Yoichi read some of the notes in his free time, looking for the answers about the usage of Goredrinker and a variety of benefits.
[How can the blood be absorbed through the Goredrinker helpful for breaking through to another realm? Simple. The blood you stole must be ignited deep within your body through the use of Qi-Blood.]
[For example, upgrading to the Skin Refining required refining your Qi-Blood into your skin which is basic and average for a Martial Artist. However, with Goredrinker, the ignited blood must go into your skin which means soul-tearing suffering!]
[That's why cultivating this technique needed a terrifying mental fortitude.]
'Destruction breeds Rebirth or Extinction... 'Perhaps this is why other people in Martial Ancestor's era wanted to cultivate Chakra rather than Martial Arts, the pain and long-term cultivation weren't easy. Compared to the magical Chakra techniques, who the hell wants to be tortured without any significant results being seen?'
Moreover, the consumption of resources and the dangerous aspects when failing to break through were noteworthy. As the Wuxia people said, "Literary pursuit is for the poor while Martial Arts are for the rich."
"Thank god I have the system. Otherwise, I will be in absolute despair without it."
After being grateful, Yoichi continued in his pursuit of Martial Arts and practiced once more.
...
In the cafeteria, lunch time.
'Why? Why do I feel so weak compared to them?!'
After the brawl, Sabito felt he was so fragile and talentless, disheartened by the fact that he was beaten black and blue while Genji and Hikari were slightly injured in contrast to him.
"Am I really incompetent? No, I refined slightly later than Genji and Hikari. But what's truly wrong about me?" Sabito muttered.
"Are you alright?" On the side, Hikari noticed Sabito's blank face and grew worried.
"Do not lose hope, Sabito. It was only the beginning! They have fewer children now and some of them were scared of fighting us!"
The words of Genji felt like a radiant light to Sabito, who simply nodded.
'That's right, it must be that!'
On the other hand, Masaru's face darkened as he looked at his group with contempt.
"I'm sorry, Masaru-sama. We failed to meet your expectations." Tadao apologized.
"What a useless bunch! Even I was pulled and embarrassed by your huge mistakes!" Unable to suppress his anger, Masaru lashed out at his subordinates.
'I need to contact Kouji-sama and the Himejima Clan... We must have refining methods and tips on Chakra! If they want war, I will give it to them!'
Masaru's eyes went treacherous, filled with malice. After sending a message through an allied shinobi, he departed.
Although Hayate has a legitimate authority within the mines, Masaru still has powerful connections and resources as if a rich second-gen kid.
Therefore, the fuse has been sparked.
However, the patience of the two parties was like an untouched wick in the starting fuse, whoever loses self-restraint would take the brunt of the dynamite.
____________
(Current Progress)
[Heavenly Demon Posture: (Entry) 56/100]
[Goredrinker: 30/100]
___________
Sorry for having no suspense in each sentence. I'm still adapting to the words and how they will be stitched out like sewing them meticulously.
Thanks for reading the chapter and bookmarking the novel. See ya! XDD!