He was Kenta Sato, captain of the Kendo Club and a notorious school bully.
Yagami Jue did not even glance at him.
He walked straight to a heavy punching bag in the corner.
He took a deep breath and tried to rein in his 1,360 points of berserk strength to around 10, the level of an ordinary person.
Bang!
He threw a punch.
He failed to control his strength.
The canvas punching bag, packed with iron sand and weighing a hundred kilograms, was punched clean through!
Iron sand poured onto the floor like a waterfall.
"Holy shit!"
The Kendo Club members practicing nearby all sucked in a sharp breath!
"What did that kid just do? Punch straight through an iron sand bag?!"
"Is that even a fucking human fist?!"
Kenta Sato's eye twitched, too, but relying on his advantage in numbers, he suppressed his shock and strode over.
"Hey, kid! Are you fucking deaf?!"
Kenta Sato viciously lashed his bamboo sword against the wooden training dummy beside Yagami Jue.
"You broke our Kendo Club's equipment! Pay for it, then get on your knees and apologize to me!"
Yagami Jue withdrew his fist and slowly turned his head.
His deep, pitch-black eyes held not a trace of human emotion, only the coldness of someone looking at a corpse.
"Too noisy."
Yagami Jue's voice was quiet, yet it seemed to carry an invisible pressure that instantly enveloped the entire dojo!
"You..."
Under that terrifying stare, Kenta Sato's scalp prickled, and he instinctively stepped back.
But the thought of losing face in front of his lackeys instantly sent him into a humiliated rage!
"Die, you arrogant little brat!"
Gripping his bamboo sword with both hands, Kenta Sato swung down at Yagami Jue's head with all his strength!
He even employed a killing technique he had learned from the Yakuza!
"Ah!"
In the distance, several girls passing by screamed in fright and covered their eyes.
Yet...
The bloody head wound everyone expected never appeared.
Smack!
A sharp crack rang out!
Yagami Jue did not even turn around.
He merely raised his right hand casually and caught the descending bamboo sword firmly between his index and middle fingers!
Silence!
The entire dojo instantly fell deathly silent!
Everyone's eyes widened so far they almost popped out of their sockets!
"H-how is that possible?!"
"Sato's full-strength slash can shatter wooden boards, and he caught it with just two fingers?!"
"What the hell! Is this kid a monster?!"
Kenta Sato's face was also filled with disbelief.
His face flushed red as he desperately tried to pull his bamboo sword free, but it was as though the sword had been clamped in a hydraulic press. It did not budge!
"That's all the strength you've got?"
A mocking smile curled Yagami Jue's lips.
"And you dare point a sword at me?"
Crack!
Yagami Jue applied a little pressure with his two fingers.
The sturdy bamboo sword burst apart right down the middle!
Bamboo splinters flew everywhere!
The tremendous force split the skin between Kenta Sato's thumbs and forefingers, sending blood streaming down as he fell flat on his backside!
"Monster... you're a monster!"
Kenta Sato stared at Yagami Jue, his eyes filled with utter terror.
Yagami Jue looked down at him.
"Get lost."
"From now on, I'm taking over this dojo."
"If anyone dares come in, I'll crush their bones just like this worthless sword."
Overbearing!
Arrogant!
Utterly domineering!
Not a single one of the Kendo Club's dozens of members dared voice an objection.
They scrambled out of the dojo, terrified that a moment's delay would leave them torn to pieces by this boy who resembled a demon god.
With those troublesome flies driven away...
Yagami Jue could finally train in peace.
Controlling strength was, in essence, absolute control over muscle fibers.
He started with the most basic punching drills.
Every punch had to be precise down to the gram!
Bang... bang... bang...
At first, he still lost control of his strength and smashed the wooden training dummies to pieces.
But as time passed...
His brain, comparable to a supercomputer, and his terrifying physical instincts began adapting to this power at a furious pace.
Two hours later...
He could pick up a feather perfectly between his fingers without breaking it.
"Phew... I finally pass for a normal person."
Yagami Jue wiped the sweat from his forehead and took a bottle of mineral water out of the backpack on the floor.
Just then...
Someone gently pushed open the dojo door.
A petite figure peeked around as she stepped inside.
It was Asakura Yuki.
Today, she wore a tracksuit washed nearly white, her hair tied in a high ponytail.
Although her face was still a little pale, her eyes held a resilience they had never possessed before.
"Yagami..."
Asakura Yuki sucked in a sharp breath at the shattered wooden dummies and punching bags scattered across the floor.
Still, she gathered her courage and walked up to Yagami Jue.
"I... I signed up at the Martial Arts Dojo, just like you told me."
"The coach said my foundation was too weak and told me to work on my fitness first."
"I've already run ten kilometers!"
Asakura Yuki looked as though she were reporting a victory, her little face flushed and her eyes carrying a hint of anticipation, seemingly waiting for Yagami Jue to praise her.
Yagami Jue unscrewed the bottle cap and took a gulp of water.
He looked at the girl before him, who seemed to have grown up considerably overnight, and sneered.
"Ten kilometers? That's it?"
"Were you out for a stroll?"
The anticipation on Asakura Yuki's face froze instantly, and she bit her lip in hurt.
"But... the coach said..."
"Shut up."
Yagami Jue cut her off.
"Those scam-artist dojo coaches don't know shit about getting stronger."
He walked up to Asakura Yuki and towered over her.
That faint, elusive pressure made even breathing difficult for her.
"If you want to survive in this world..."
"You have to push your body to its limits! Push it until it breaks! Then claw your way back out of hell!"
"Ten kilometers? Starting today, thirty kilometers every day!"
"If you can't finish, don't come see me."
Yagami Jue issued the order without mercy.
Asakura Yuki's eyes flew wide!
Thirty kilometers?!
That was nearly a marathon!
For a girl like her, who had once been unable to run even eight hundred meters, it was practically a death sentence!
But when she saw Yagami Jue's cold, unquestionable gaze...
Asakura Yuki clenched her teeth and did not argue.
"I... I understand!"
She bowed deeply, turned, and ran outside.
Watching the girl's rather frail figure retreat...
Yagami Jue's lips curved upward almost imperceptibly.
"She's a burden, but at least she's got some backbone."
In this killing ground that would soon be ravaged by special grade cursed spirits and curse users...
He could not protect this woman forever.
Only by making her stronger, even just a little, could he give her a better chance of surviving.
After school that afternoon...
Yagami Jue left school on time and headed for the underground Black Market in Sendai City.
He had earned five million and spent all five million.
He was penniless again.
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