However, even after getting mauled numerous times by Kanari's female bodyguard, Fred never gave up. Braving through the broken bones and torn tendons, the devoted lovebird would rise from the ashes to try again. Yet, no matter how much he displayed his dedication, Kanari never gave him the time of day.

Over the past few months, Fred tried to approach Kanari over twenty times to no avail. He was so tenacious that even Kanari's butler felt terrible for breaking his body twenty times. Unfortunately, the girl remained adamant on her viewpoint. Kanari had rejected Fred for the final time, and she was exceptionally clear that she wouldn't consider him even if he were the last man on earth.

Nonetheless, Fred wasn't one to give up on the one girl he loved. Convinced that s.h.i.+n was the virus that had corrupted his pure-hearted Kanari, Fred decided to move to get rid of the cancer. In his mind, if s.h.i.+n were out of the equation, he would be given a second lease of life when it came to wooing the ice queen.

"I can't do that. Kanari is her own person, and she's hanging out with me on her own free will. I can't decide that for her."

"Just stay far away from her!!! Without your influence, Kanari's eyes would be opened!!!" Blinded in his own desires, Fred couldn't see his own faults and blamed everything that happened on s.h.i.+n. "If you didn't exist, Kanari would have definitely chosen me by now!!!"

"You're unredeemable..." Elrin scowled in disgust. When she heard the stories of how pa.s.sionate Fred was, she thought that it was cute for a boy to carry that much devotion for one girl. However, now that she was up close and personal with him, the white-haired girl felt utterly repulsed by Fred.

While Elrin had her mental image of Fred utterly shattered, s.h.i.+n was still writhing in anger over the incident in the colonel's office. Just like before, s.h.i.+n was unable to change the mind of the person in question, making him feel utterly p.i.s.sed at the whole situation. He had befriended Kanari, and they shared a mutual relations.h.i.+p of trust. Additionally, he had never seen the girl as a romantic partner before. Thus, when Kanari's brutal rejection of Fred had nothing to do with s.h.i.+n. Yet, here he was, facing the unreasonable fifth-year with floss in his brain.

His fists clenched, s.h.i.+n held back the urge to punch a hole through Fred's head. "I have never bothered you. In fact, I make strides in my schedule to avoid you. But time and time again, you come with these ridiculous accusations. If you want to fight, fine! I'll beat some sense into your tiny little brain."

s.h.i.+n bent his waist and a.s.sumed his standard combat position. Instantly casting his spiritual body enhancement, the youth became covered in scales as his spiritual energy spiked through the roof. Usually, s.h.i.+n would never enter a fight in which he knew nothing about the enemy. However, s.h.i.+n's mind wasn't functioning as per usual. After allowing Junius to escape before his eyes and facing the injustice in the colonel's tent, the youth's rationality was clouded with the primal desire to break something. In this case, the target of his wrath was Fred's face.

"Since you won't agree to my terms, I'll beat you until you accept!!!" Finally getting what he came for, Fred too summoned out his Spirit.

His fleshy body glowed in an argent hue while the phantom of an Iron t.i.tan appeared behind his back. Spreading his arms out wide like an eagle, Fred allowed himself to get enveloped by the power of the Iron t.i.tan as his skin turned metallic. His muscles swelled up increasing his overall body shape by fifty percent.

"Is this okay?" As she saw how menacing the fifth-year senior looked, Elrin pulled the sleeves of Isadore with worry. "Fred is already at Rank 29 and is on the precipice of advancing into the Spirit Adept realm. s.h.i.+n might be talented but can he really bridge the five rank gap?"

"Not sure." Truth to be told, Isadore was also uneasy that s.h.i.+n so readily accepted Fred's challenge. No matter how rotten he was, Fred was the fifth-year valedictorian, as well as a rising star in the Himmel Empire. Before the golden generation, his name was the one that resonated the most in Imperius Academy. Facing him wouldn't be a walk in the park. "Go get Madam Warulee, just in case… I'll stay here and a.s.sist s.h.i.+n if he gets into trouble."

"Got it."

Elrin hurriedly ran away from the training site to seek out the head of the auxiliary department. As much as she believed in s.h.i.+n's strength, Fred was no mere pauper from the street. He was the fifth-years' current valedictorian for two years running, and his martial skills were among the top in the academy. Not to mention, he was Rank 29 while s.h.i.+n was only Rank 24.

"I have waited for this day for a long time! Once I beat you down, Kanari will undoubtedly see who is better suited for her!"

"How absurd..." s.h.i.+n scoffed.

When he fought in the year-end tournaments, s.h.i.+n almost always had a plan tailored for each one of his opponents. For the toughest ones, he had even investigated numerous facts about their fighting styles, preferred movements and basically anything under the sun that could a.s.sist him in formulating a plan. However, now that he was corrupted with anger, s.h.i.+n could care less about having an elaborate plan. The only thing he wanted to do was beat the s.h.i.+t out of the senior that stood before him.

"HARGH!!!"

s.h.i.+n executed the Lightning Swallow Steps and closed in the distance in the blink of an eye. Pivoting his ankle, the black-haired youth sent a scorpion tail kick straight to the abdomen of the fortified Fred. His feet clad with incredible amounts of mana, s.h.i.+n hoped to at least shake his opponent's balance and catch him off guard. With his superior speed and martial skills, he would then follow up with a combo meant to break bones, and in the process, teach the insolent Fred a lesson. Unfortunately…

"What the?!" s.h.i.+n exclaimed as a tingling pain crept up his lower body.

Instead of sending Fred flying, s.h.i.+n was the one who felt the full impact of his ma.s.sive strike. Completely covered with iron skin, the muscular Fred was reinforced entirely as if he were a fortress. Kicking an iron wall didn't cut it. s.h.i.+n felt like he was a rodent that had attacked an immovable rampart.

After having his entire being broken down by Kanari's bodyguard time and time again, Fred was immune to weak attacks by those around his cultivation level. In fact, Fred was confident that his defence had surpa.s.sed that of his seniors, making him the greatest defence-oriented student in the academy. He was even optimistic of taking Kanari's Lunar Beam head on without any repercussions.

"My turn."

In s.h.i.+n's moment of weakness, Fred capitalised and grabbed the boy by his ankles. Treating s.h.i.+n as if he were a caveman's club, Fred slammed the boy onto the ground, forming a crater beneath him with every hit.

"f.u.c.k you!!!" s.h.i.+n cursed as he created a water sphere to cus.h.i.+on his fall. With his scales, s.h.i.+n was able to lube up his entire body, enabling him to slip out of Fred's tight grasp. Instantly retreating a dozen metres, s.h.i.+n felt his head spin.

'd.a.m.n it, I might be slightly concussed...' s.h.i.+n lamented his earlier folly. What was he thinking? Diving headfirst at the Iron t.i.tan without a plan? 'Tch, his defences are much better than Danroy's!'

"Stop daydreaming!" Seeing that s.h.i.+n was crouched down and unmoving, Fred charged forward and launched a high knee towards the youth's face. Gritting his teeth, s.h.i.+n was forced to make a last minute escape.

'This a.s.shole… I'm going to neuter him for Kanari!!!' s.h.i.+n swore to take Fred down with a vengeance.

Leaping forward, s.h.i.+n executed the seismic combination that he had further perfected since the year-end tournament. With his superior speed, s.h.i.+n was able to thoroughly blindside Fred with his movements, allowing him to land almost all of his. .h.i.ts onto the iron man's body. However, no matter how hard he launched his attacks, Fred's body remained unmoved. In fact, even his expression was frozen.

"You done?" Fred brushed off s.h.i.+n's attack as if he were an adult playing with a toddler. Stomping his feet onto the ground, the fifth-year generated a light tremor that shook the training grounds, destabilising s.h.i.+n's balance in the process.

'How is his defence that powerful?!' s.h.i.+n couldn't comprehend how Fred grew to be so durable. The hits that he landed weren't soft. An average Spirit Core cultivator would have made ten stops to the infirmary after taking s.h.i.+n's attacks head-on, and yet, Fred stood there as if nothing had happened.

'Divine Binding Needles wouldn't work, martial arts don't work, and my created water attacks definitely don't possess enough firepower to break through his defences...' s.h.i.+n thought back on all his moves and could only wallow in despair as he realised how powerless he was against a foe like Fred. 'As expected, I need a crazily potent offensive ability like the one in the memory of the charred thorn. Otherwise, I will be left behind!'

Further driven to work towards his new ability, s.h.i.+n cracked his knuckles. 'Whatever, I'll just pound him down and see what happens.'

Unlike the year-end tournaments, s.h.i.+n didn't need to win the fight against Fred. In fact, if not for his belly of hate, s.h.i.+n wouldn't have accepted the challenge anyway. Thus, he could just continuously launch strike after strike on Fred's body, in hopes of releasing his built-up stress.

"BOOM!!! BOOM!!! BOOM!!!"

Accelerating to his top speed, s.h.i.+n tried out every martial art he had in the book. Soul-Piercing Fist, Seismic Step, Fluttering Elbow, Crocodile Whips its Tail. Everything that s.h.i.+n had learnt over his freshmen year, he unleashed onto the iron body of Fred's. Since Fred claimed that he had no weak spots, s.h.i.+n tested that a.s.sertion with a scientific curiosity. He aimed for the meridians of Fred, known weak points of the body, and even his manhood.

No, s.h.i.+n doubled down his attacks at Fred's crotch. Three out of ten hits that s.h.i.+n launched were all aimed at Fred's family jewels, and they weren't mere light punches or kicks. s.h.i.+n would often use his most powerful martial arts on that forbidden area, so much so that even Isadore, who was on the side of s.h.i.+n, started to look away with trembling lips.

'So his b.a.l.l.s are really made out of iron?! They're even tougher than the other parts of his body!!!' s.h.i.+n spat out mentally.

Typically, a kick to the manhood would send a fighter out of commission. However, for some G.o.dforsaken reason, Fred had actually managed to strengthen his most vulnerable point until it became as hard as diamond.

"You know… Even I feel ashamed if you keep targeting my crotch..." Although there was no pain, Fred's entire face twitched in discomfort.

"..." s.h.i.+n remained silent. As he antic.i.p.ated, all of his. .h.i.ts only served to slightly dirty Fred's body. The fifth-year senior's defence was too potent for his weak strikes. Catching s.h.i.+n's right foot with his thighs as it landed once more on his crotch, Fred gave a dirty smile.

"If you're done trying to take me down, let me return the favour."

For the first time since the battle commenced, Fred moved from his position. Grasping both his hands together, Fred raised his hands up high in the air as a tremendous amount of mana enveloped his knuckles. A metallic screech echoed out into the field, forcing s.h.i.+n wince in fear.

"HARGHHH!!!" Fred unleashed his strongest offensive ability to date, in hopes of crippling s.h.i.+n entirely. Unfortunately for him, s.h.i.+n sensed the overwhelming danger and utilised the Dance of the Valkyrie to escape from Fred's hold to fly up high into the sky.

'f.u.c.k, I almost died there!' s.h.i.+n felt his heart racing at the speed of light. His body turned cold as he imagined the possible outcome of getting hit by that attack. Only after a brief moment of reflection, did s.h.i.+n dare to look down onto the devastation caused by Fred's attack.

The b.u.mpy terrain of training area had been flattened as a humongous crater, one the size of an elephant was left behind. At its centre, a man made of iron glared furiously at the sky. On the ground, Fred was near invincible in his generation. However, when it came to aerial and underwater combat, he was akin to deadweight.

"What's going on here?!"

Before the fight could progress any further, Madam Warulee's aggravated voice rung in the students' ears. Behind her, Elrin, as well as some curious onlookers who were alarmed that an explosion had occurred in the backyard, came running as well.

"We were just having a friendly sparring session, Madam." Fred tried to explain.

"In what universe does a friendly spar result in the total devastation of the area?" Madam Warulee screamed. "Don't you know that we're not on Himmel Empire soil? Both of your actions are out of line!!!"

Descending from the sky. s.h.i.+n released his spiritual body enhancement and reluctantly approached the angered middle-aged woman. "I'm sorry, Madam Warulee…"

"Tskkk, a simple apology won't cut it! Both of you, in my office now!!!"

As he watched Madam Warulee stomp away in anger, s.h.i.+n heaved out a despondent sigh. 'What a b.l.o.o.d.y mess...'

~~~

Support me on Patreon to read up to FIFTEEN CHAPTERS ahead!!! :p

https://www.patreon.com/Linodo

Visit my site for additional content!!!

https://linodofictions.com/

Special thanks to my Patrons: Ace, Felix Schöntag, Fullmoon, gerbil, Innos, James Nagy, Jordan Gaslonde, Jorge, Keith Kindall, Marwin33, Max Strand, Michael Garfein, Neal Ohara, Philip Wa.s.serman, Raphael Chantigny, Phill barr, Sam, Sohil Dave, Story Seeker, Taylor Fontenot, ZeoLuca, Dawson Bauman, Fredrik Andersson, john bardsley, M.G. Porombka, Magic Wafflez, G Bowz, Jonathan Harper, Travis Lauda, Henry Ajum, Ziko Rodgers