Chapter 30: Love

After Levi entered the training room, he saw Sonya on the floor with her arms wrapped around her legs.

When she heard his footsteps, she asked.

"Levi, do you think I am just useless?"

Levi opened his mouth.

"No, you are currently the third most talented person in our class unless there is someone with hidden talent."

Hearing his words, Sonya smiled bitterly and said.

"But I can’t even manage to get that utilization straight. I have been practicing Five Beasts Form day and night, every single day."

"But today, I saw a guy who didn’t even work hard surpass me like it was nothing. So, I am just wondering."

"If I am really that useless, what’s the point of my training?"

Levi understood her confusion. Compared to her, he didn’t have one problem. He didn’t see an actual comparison.

Although his blood energy level wasn’t increasing, his comprehension of technique and martial arts was.

That was enough to give him an understanding of where he belonged.

He sat next to her and asked.

"Sonya, do you think you love Martial Arts?"

Sonya, startled by his sudden arrival, wiped away some of her tears and said.

"Of course, I do."

"I also think you love Martial Arts. Have you ever owed someone anything?"

Levi asked.

Sonya paused and said.

"Before you, no!"

"But you owe me now."

"Yeah! You helped me understand the error of my training. You agreed to teach me; of course I would owe you."

"Then, do you think that if our city is attacked by a horde of monsters and you have no choice but to run away?"

"But when you are running away, you saw that my parents were injured fighting those monsters, but you also know they are stronger than you."

"So, what will you do? Will you just run away? Or will you stay behind, hoping that my parents can finish that beast so even if they are injured, you can take them away?"

His question stumped her.

She didn’t want to lie, but she also knew that under normal circumstances, she would’ve run away.

But it was obvious in this situation that she wouldn’t be able to run away. The guilt would consume her heart.

So, she would definitely do exactly what he said. Hide until the danger was clear.

"I will stay behind."

Sonya replied.

Levi chuckled.

"See? That’s what happens when you owe someone something. People would rather owe their own parents than anyone else."

"That’s why when everyone found out about my perfection, nobody came forward to ask me for help."

"Even the one who got indirect help from me paid through a battle where he could watch me improve and help me with the best of their abilities."

"This is the effect of guilt. You understand it. We all understand this, but we subconsciously try not to think about it."

"Because nobody wants to live in guilt."

Sonya grumbled.

"So, why do you think I love Martial Arts?"

"Because you didn’t hesitate to ask me for help. As I said, you understand that if you ask for help, you have to repay me someday."

"Unless you are a shameless kind of person, you can’t run away from this burden, but you took that burden despite knowing it could crush you one day."

"And that is why you love Martial Arts. You are willing to hold any burden for your martial arts journey."

So, don’t give up now! If you give up today, you will not see the results tomorrow."

Levi encouraged her before standing up.

"You know you talk like an adult instead of a teenager."

Sonya pouted as she got up.

"I don’t know."

Levi shook his head. He knew he wasn’t mature enough, but somehow, he did think like an adult.

If he weren’t, he would’ve given up within a month or two.

"By the way, if you want to practice faster, you can try meditation."

"Huh? Meditation can help?"

Sonya looked stunned.

Levi shook his head.

"It clears your mind."

"Alright!"

Sonya nodded, and they left the training room.

They could continue their training, but they also knew it would be better to just wake up tomorrow and train.

"Sonya, you can sleep here. Your father brought this bag earlier."

Sera took her to the guest room and said.

They had two empty rooms, so both Sonya and Mike could sleep in different rooms.

Levi returned to his room, where he continued practicing the Roaring Tiger Strengthening Technique.

After three hours of practice, he took a bath and went to sleep.

Time passed as Levi spent most of his time training. While training, he was also guiding Sonya and Mike.

In the blink of an eye, a month passed.

’System, show me the status panel!’

[Host: Levi Quincy

Age: 16

Realm: Martial Apprentice Rank

Tempered Bones: None

Blood Energy: 8.0

Spiritual Energy: 6.0

Technique: Roaring Tiger Strengthening Technique (Perfection)

Martial Arts: Five Beasts Form (Perfection), Star Crushing Spear Art (Entry), Willow Steps (Beginner)

Martial Technique: Spear Technique (Minor Mastery)

EP: 12

Inventory: Star Crystals*2, D-Grade Blood Energy Pill*3, Red Sun Refinement Technique, Golden Bone Forging Technique]

This was his current status. He had managed to raise his blood energy level by two in one month.

This was a huge achievement but also not surprising considering he used two pills to achieve this.

But his best achievement would be reaching Perfection with the Roaring Tiger Strengthening Technique.

After reaching perfection, he wanted to get his hands on a Third Grade Technique, but it wouldn’t be easy.

At least, a Third Grade Technique would cost anywhere between 1 million and 1.5 million.

But he did have a huge gain this month. The Minister of Education in his city brought him a Second Grade Martial Art.

This martial art was so amazing that he couldn’t stop practicing it and managed to reach the Beginner Realm with one enlightenment.

He also used three enlightenments in total.

Although he wouldn’t earn a lot of EP, he did earn a few points whenever someone harbored resentment and hatred towards him.

Of course, it wasn’t easy for him.

Bragging about the Minister of Education giving him the Martial Art or his reaching Minor Mastery in just a month were all shameful events for him.

But they did help him earn EP, so he couldn’t complain.

During this time, Sonya and Mike also made huge progress.

Both managed to reach Major Mastery of Five Beasts Form, which was quite astonishing considering it had only been a month.

Mike was understandable with his talent, but Sonya achieving this was solely through her hard work and his teaching.

This quickly reached the ears of their families, and Levi was just invited for a meal at Mike’s house.

Sonya’s family didn’t invite him; rather, he had already gone there when he went to watch a movie with Sonya.

He hadn’t visited Mike’s family before despite their friendship.

Mainly because Mike thought Alisa was too difficult to deal with before.

Alisa changed when she heard Mike’s conversation with his sister. Before that, she didn’t like Mike, especially with his lazy attitude.

But considering her husband and Mary didn’t say anything, she wouldn’t even try to scold him.

That changed last year. Mike realized that her attitude had changed too much, and after a little investigation, he found that she had heard everything.

At that moment, Mike also had a realization.

Sometimes the strain in the family relationship was not due to conflict but simply due to a lack of communication.

That’s also why Mike’s belly had grown significantly compared to their middle school.

After the classes ended, Levi and Mike took the same bus.

This was also the first time Levi had taken a bus in a month.

"My Blood Energy Level has increased to 6.5. If I train a bit harder, I feel like I will catch up with your speed in the next month."

Mike couldn’t help but get excited when mentioning his blood energy level.

Levi rolled his eyes. He understood the feeling that Sonya got because he had been using the blood energy pill to increase his blood energy level.

On the other hand, Mike was solely doing it through normal training.

This made him realize why his sister was able to not only reach a 9.9 blood energy level but also the Silver Bones within just a year.

These two had too much potential.

No wonder his father would hide Mary’s talent. Unless their mother planned to betray humanity, she had no choice but to marry another man.

The problem wasn’t this.

It was normal for a woman to get a divorce and marry someone else. The problem was the mindset of the Martial Artist.

According to Mike, there was not a single picture of his mother in the house or anywhere else.

They only remembered her from their memories.

This was to prevent anyone from finding his father.

After all, the only reason why Harvey could be with a woman stronger than him was through love.

Love was one thing that could overcome differences in strength and status.