Chapter 28: Mike’s Sacrifice

Next Day;

By the time Levi finished his breakfast, Mike and Sonya had already arrived at his doorstep.

"Welcome! Have you had breakfast?"

"Yeah! I ate a lot."

Mike said while touching his fat belly. Sonya rolled her eyes and said.

"We can start training."

Levi clicked his tongue as he invited them inside.

"Oh, dear! Mike, it’s been quite a long time since you came here."

As soon as they entered, Sera immediately greeted them with a big smile on her face.

Although she was talking to Mike, her eyes fixated on Sonya. She was trying to see if this girl was her potential daughter-in-law.

"Auntie, I’ve been busy."

Mike replied with an awkward smile.

"You’ve been a good brother, Mike. Don’t hesitate to ask us for help! You are Levi’s best friend."

Sera ruffled his hair before turning towards Sonya.

"Hello, there! You must be Sonya."

"Hello, Miss Sera!"

Maybe it was because they weren’t friends before; Sonya felt incredibly shy in front of her.

She even kept her head low while talking.

"Just call me Auntie like Mike! I’ve already talked to your parents about your situation. They’ve given permission to stay here till Monday."

"Huh? We’re gonna stay here?"

Mike looked stunned.

Sera chuckled.

"Although our family hadn’t entered your parents’ social circle, Levi has achieved something incredible."

"This morning, both of your parents called me and asked me to let you stay here. This will be much better for your training."

Hearing that, Sonya’s eyes widened.

"But I haven’t brought extra clothes."

"Don’t worry about those things! We are Martial Artists. Your parents can easily drop by any moment."

Sera waved her hand.

"Now, you three can go to the training room and start your training."

Levi nodded and took them upstairs.

Mirai was sitting on the couch, pouting. She also wanted to join, but Sera forbade her from entering the training room for two days.

She was afraid that Mirai’s presence would be a distraction to the group.

"Honey, did you give my bank account to someone? I suddenly received ten thousand dollars."

Morgan walked out of the room.

Sera pulled him to the kitchen and whispered.

"It’s from Mike’s second mother. Her name is Alisa."

"Really?"

Morgan looked quite surprised.

Sera sat down and sighed with distress.

"That’s the problem with a family of three daughters and a sensible son. You know the rules, right?"

"Unless the other person is willing to marry you, a Martial Master can only (forcefully) marry a Martial Artist."

"Because Mike and his sister Mary were young, Mr. Harvey wanted to marry someone to take care of them."

"But he was also afraid that if he married a Martial Master, his children might get bullied by his future wife."

"So instead of going on dates and falling in love with another Martial Master, he found a Martial Artist and married her."

"She was only at the peak of a Martial Artist at that time, and she didn’t like the idea of marrying Harvey."

"But she was afraid of Harvey, so she took care of the kids while having two baby girls. She didn’t like Mike very much, especially with his lazy attitude."

Hearing that, Morgan showed no emotion. It wasn’t because he was incapable of emotions, but simply because he had heard too much.

He had seen too many tragedies, and now, he was just numb.

Sera continued.

"It was only last year that she learned the truth. It turned out brother and sister had a big fight, believing that it was better to fight while no one was at home."

"Unfortunately or fortunately for Alisa, she had forgotten her purse at home. So, she had returned early, just when their fight started."

"She was quite surprised because Mike was the one who started the fight."

"That kid?"

Morgan looked shocked as he whispered.

Sera nodded, and an empathetic look appeared on her face.

"He was angry because he believed Mary was being too selfish, hoarding all the resources for herself."

"Mary retaliated, saying it was only because Mike was a useless guy who didn’t even train, so of course, she would use all the money in the house."

——————————

"What’s the matter with you? Why are you so angry now? If you had trained harder, do you think father wouldn’t have given you the resources?"

Mary roared.

Mike grabbed his sister by the collar and shouted.

"Isn’t it because of you? Isn’t it because you wanted to be free? I am your brother. If I don’t help you, who will?"

His words stunned Mary and Alisa, who were listening from outside.

At this moment, Mike’s face was filled with tears as he shook her.

"Wake up, Mary! You are not my only sister."

Those words stung Alisa.

"You are amazing, Mary. You can train like no one, and you have a great talent. But isn’t that the reason why you should leave more resources for your sister?"

"Julia and Felicia don’t have your talent. They might not even work as hard as you. As the older sister, isn’t it your responsibility to help them?"

"Do you think Father’s money is endless? Have you ever thought how many times our father is going to risk his life in the Dimensional War for them?"

"Do you think he will be partial to them? He is my father. He won’t abandon his daughters just because of their talent."

Mike slowly dropped his hands and wiped away his tears.

"I am the man. I can certainly get by being lazy, but three of you can’t. You must learn to help each other, Mary."

"For me, no one is more important than my sisters."

At that moment, Mary suddenly grabbed her brother, and tears streamed down her cheeks.

For the first time, her hard exterior, her emotionless attitude, all of it was breached because of her brother’s love.

"Brother!"

She wailed.

But she wasn’t the only one who was crying.

Outside the room, Alisa had also broken into tears. She wrapped her arms around her legs as she silently broke down.

She realized the one who sacrificed the most in this family was her son.

Because he understood where his father’s money was coming from, he was afraid of spending it all.

So, he silently withdrew from becoming a powerful Martial Artist, just to give those resources to his sisters.

But he wasn’t just sacrificing himself for his sisters. Despite his age, he realized what his father could do for his family.

Dimensional War!

It was a dead battlefield for Martial Masters. Those who could survive could be considered lucky.

That’s why, except for those with talent, no one wants to return to that place.

———————————

"That kid!"

Morgan’s eyes turned red.

He never thought the kid who used to follow Levi like a little follower in middle school would be such a great brother.

Sera wiped away her tears.

"Alisa broke down while explaining. I always thought Mike was a good child, but never have I expected him to be so kind."

In this cruel world, family was very precious, but it was also the hardest to keep pure.

She always wanted to make her child a good person because she believed the only ones who would never betray them would be their family.

"After she learned about that, she had been working multiple jobs to save money for Mike."

"She knew Levi wouldn’t ask for anything for his help, but she still wanted to show her appreciation."

She punched Morgan in the shoulder and said.

"Go to the supermarket and bring M-3 Meat."

Morgan nodded. He understood why Alisa sent that money.

Normally, they would buy M-4 Meat once a month. It cost ten thousand dollars for five kilograms of meat.

M-3 Meat cost five thousand dollars per KG.

That’s because M-3 was the meat that belonged to Beast Adult. Their meat contained a lot of nutrients, beneficial for the Martial Artists.

Sera tried to convince Alisa that it wasn’t necessary to send money since they could also buy it themselves.

But Alisa simply said they had never bought M-3 meat in their house, and she wanted her son to taste it.

Money was a big problem in every house.

For a middle-class family like them, unless their family members returned from the Dimensional War, money was something they would try to save.

For Alisa, it was even more important to save money since she had to save for her daughters.

But after hearing Mike’s conversation, she realized she was being too selfish.

It’s just that there was one time when she bought a D-Grade Blood Energy Pill for Mike, but he gave it to Mary.

Not because it wasn’t useful for him, but simply because he wanted Mary to use it.

When Alisa asked him why he did that, Mike’s reply was simple but also heartbreaking.

"She is too focused on herself, too focused on her training. I am afraid my sister will one day close her heart and forget others."

"I want her to understand just how much our mothers have sacrificed for us. I want her to remember that she still has two sisters she needs to protect."