Chapter 1015: Chapter 102: Life Goes On, Foolishness Doesn’t Stop Chapter 1015: Chapter 102: Life Goes On, Foolishness Doesn’t Stop “Teacher, I watched your battle today, you were so cool! With just one slap, you knocked your opponent down.”

When Muria returned to his temporary residence and was preparing to wait for the next exam, his communicator suddenly rang. As soon as he answered, those students of his, who he had trained so rigorously they cried and wailed, now happily on vacation, appeared on the other end of the screen. One of the girls complimented him with a beaming smile.

“Hmm!” Muria responded with a placid face, utterly unfazed.

“Betty, how could you say such a thing? Doesn’t your conscience hurt?” The boy, Victor, looked at the girl in shock. Soon, a playful smile also spread across his face,

“How much did Jelos pay you? Tell me, if the price is right, I can also throw away my shame and join you. Money is better when earned together!”

“Cough, Jelos is watching you right now,” Betty coughed, reminding her companion.

“Ha ha, Jelos, I was just joking. You wouldn’t mind, would you?” Victor turned back to gauge Muria’s facial expression, thinking that although Muria was expressionless, his complexion seemed to be darkening. But upon closer inspection, it didn’t seem different from usual.

“Hmm!” Muria nodded. Of course, he wouldn’t get angry over such a trivial matter. His broad-mindedness was vast.

“By the way, Jelos, that move looked really impressive, why didn’t you use it when you trained with us?”

“What do you think?” Muria countered when he heard this question.

“Brother, your move may look grand, but the force is too dispersed, suitable for dealing with large creatures but not so much for a Star Armor Master.

Using this move in the competition was probably because it had a very strong visual impact, to intimidate your future opponents and win without fighting.”

Daisy pondered before answering, her expression brimming with confidence as she believed her analysis was spot-on.

“Not bad.” Seeing the confident girl, Muria didn’t discourage her. She had correctly pointed out his purpose for making such a showy display, but his main goal was to show off and create momentum for himself.

As he delved deeper into the structures of the Douglas family, he found the clan to be fascinating. Power within the Douglas family was primarily concentrated in the hands of the head of the family and the elders.

The clan head had the ultimate authority, but when the elders joined together, their power could outshine the clan head’s. It’s worth mentioning that neither the position of clan head nor elder was hereditary but rather elected.

Both the clan head and the elders were elected from among all official members of the Douglas family. The son of the clan head might not necessarily become the clan head, and the same went for the elders.

Any formal member of the Douglas family could potentially become the helmsman of this top-tier clan within the federation. In other words, Muria had a real chance to take control of the family.

However, to become the head of the Douglas family, he needed immense prestige within the entire clan. Without a doubt, this competition provided a perfect opportunity to leave a lasting impression within the Douglas family and across the entire federation.

The head of the Douglas family didn’t necessarily have to be the most talented Star Armor Master, but undoubtedly, the most talented were the ones most likely to become the head of the family, as no clan member would wish to have a weakling as their leader.

“Teacher, someone like you joining the preliminary rounds is simply bullying, don’t you think? The clan didn’t even try to secure a spot in the main competition for you.”

At that moment, one of the boys could not help but feel sorry for Muria’s opponents because he felt that those who encountered Muria were truly pitiful, standing no chance of victory whatsoever.

“The clan has its considerations.” Muria smiled. He knew the main purpose of the Zijing Federation’s Star Armor Masters Competition, held every three years, was to showcase the military strength of the government and the Four Great Families to the surrounding subordinate countries and the citizens.

As a martial artist genius emerging in an era when martial artists were on the decline, he, too, was allocated the role of showcasing that military power, aiming to impress the federal government and the other three great families.

…Time slipped by unnoticed as Muria chatted with this group of students, not much younger than himself, for quite some time. They joked around, shared family secrets, or gossiped about others.

“Oh, speaking of which, after such a long chat, have you all completed your training coursework for today?” Muria asked as if he had suddenly remembered something, slapping his forehead.

“Coursework??” The group of boys and girls, who thought they would have a few days off because Muria was competing, suddenly found themselves in a collective state of bewilderment.

“What coursework?” Betty tentatively asked.

“Oh, it seems I was in such a hurry to join the competition that I forgot to assign you homework. Well, I might as well give it to you now!”

After Muria finished speaking, he squinted his eyes at the still image opposite him and reassured, “Don’t worry, it’s not a big deal. The assignment is just to have you pair up for some practice battles.”

The moment he finished his sentence, the previously statue-like boys and girls sprang to life, expressions of relief spreading across their faces.

“Daisy and Betty as one team, Robert and Rashid as another…” Muria’s lips slightly curled up in an almost imperceptible smile, “Victor, it looks like you don’t have a partner to practice with. Let me think, I’ll arrange someone for you.”

“No, Jelos, I mean, for the practice battle, I can find my own opponent. You don’t have to arrange one for me.” By now, Victor finally realized Muria’s sudden task assignment was aimed at him. That guy was simply petty, still hung up on what he had said before.

But Muria, lost in thought, acted as if he heard nothing, as though Victor’s words hadn’t reached his ears. After only two or three minutes of contemplation, Muria seemed to come to a realization,

“Got it; my pets are still around. I’ll greet them in a moment, and you can go practice with them. I believe battling them will greatly enhance your skills.”

“No, man, my bad, don’t do this.”

Beep!

The light screen immediately went out, engulfing the space in darkness as Muria’s face disappeared from view, having turned off the communicator.

“Victor, it’s not that I’m targeting you on purpose; it just so happened that you were left without a partner. Letting a bunch of legendary shadow avatars fight you is not shortchanging you at all.”

After turning off the communicator, Muria murmured softly to himself. Soon, he dialed another number, and a moment later, the massive head of a dog covered in thick black fur and vaguely visible black scales appeared before him,

“Bark!” Seeing Muria’s face the big, black-scaled dog wagged its tail furiously, displaying an utmost sycophantic demeanor.

“Shifanlin, I have an assignment for you. Just pick a few more, then find Victor and give him a good practice session. As long as you don’t kill him, you can mess with him as much as you like. Of course, the more miserable, the better, to ensure the most effective training.”

“Bark!” Shifanlin, as an experienced sycophant, immediately understood Muria’s intention and head off to carry out the orders. It would fulfill its master’s command to give that always trouble-seeking boy a proper ‘welcome’.

…

The black screen reflected Victor’s pale face. It wasn’t long before the doomed young man noticed the gazes of his companions, feeling the need to not appear too cowardly and lose morale,

“You ugly, heh, think I’d be scared? Bring it on, it’s just another hospital stay, right? It’s not like I haven’t been admitted before. In the future, the hospital will be my home; I might as well eat and drink there.”

“Howl!” A loud and deep howl suddenly rang out, and upon hearing it, Victor involuntarily shuddered, a look of panic flashing across his eyes.

“Hey, Victor, didn’t you say you weren’t scared? Why’s your body shaking?” A girl nearby saw Victor’s body shaking like a leaf and couldn’t help but laugh teasingly.

“Of course, I’m not scared! It’s just that my body is, I can’t control it. It’s unavoidable,” Victor insisted, his body’s honest reaction betraying his emotional state despite his stubborn denial.

“Seriously, you knew well enough that messing with Jenos would end badly for you, yet you just had to be a martyr. Happy now? Feeling the ‘sweet pain’?”

A boy could hardly suppress a Schadenfreude grin as he watched Victor unable to stop shaking. Most joys are built upon the suffering of others.

“I knew he was narrow-minded, but I didn’t realize just how petty he could be.” Victor strained to listen to the surrounding noises; he had just heard the thuds of a large creature’s footsteps, but now, the sound had stopped.

At that moment, the recreation room fell into an eerie silence, and a feeling of unease began to spread. Everyone started to distance themselves from Victor,

“What’s the meaning of this?” Victor looked around to see himself isolated and his expression turned to one of anger. These guys were just too disloyal, not a single one of them seemed useful when it mattered.

“The problem you caused, you handle it. Don’t think about dragging us into it,” Daisy said coldly.

“But we’re clanmates!” Victor, whose instincts for danger had been steadily honed over a year of battle training, felt his back drenched in sweat.

“You won’t die. You said it yourself; the worst that could happen is spending more time in the hospital.”

Boom! The wall closest to Victor suddenly shattered, and a claw covered in black scales, swirling with visible Qi, reached out toward him…

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by Aunomay Read