Path to Strength

Yuji Shinakawa - POV

1 week later.

Finding out who would be my opponent in my debut fight was not at all comforting, but rather made me extremely fearful. I may have received a significant increase in my attributes, but that would not help at all, especially when the person I was fighting was at least a few times stronger than me, as well as more skilled.

To put the problem I was getting into into a little context, I should remember Mokichi and Raian's fight during the annihilation tournament.

Even though he was physically stronger, Raian was unable to oppress Mokichi during the fight, with the blond being able to oppress him using only his experience and superior senses. This was indeed a monstrous feat, considering that Raian's strength was praised by Agito himself. That in itself is more than enough to make me anxious, but if you add the fact that Mokichi simply destroyed Raian the moment he started using Baritsu, it only makes my situation worse.

"Damn it!" I muttered, my fist pushing the punching bag into the ceiling like it was nothing. My strength had increased in ravines, but that didn't help in keeping me calm. I was facing the damn Mokichi Robinson! It just wasn't entering my mind.

Boom! Bam!

I kept punching the punching bag until I felt satisfied, spending good hours repeating various Boxing and Jeet Kune Do sequences. My mind did not stray from my goal at any time: training. And I felt that the stress, not physical but mental, was making me restless and frustrated.

"My master always told me this, and although I know that I certainly never had one of the best mental conditions, I always kept calm in my thoughts, but since I came into this world, my mind has become more and more chaotic, and I haven't had enough time to meditate.

No matter how strong you are, a weak mind will never allow you to improve more and more.

I have these ideas ingrained in my mind, but it doesn't make the process to inner peace any easier. I still envy how my master could keep his cool in our training sessions! The old man seemed to read my movements as he moved around me.

Maybe this is what is missing for me to evolve my skills, as I feel I have hit a wall in this regard.

I sighed and sat down on a bench, pulling a towel and wiping the sweat from my body. I felt my muscles relax, and it was invigorating. Since the system came along, I could keep training for hours and hours, because when I rest for a few minutes, my body seems to relieve stress from my muscles in an inhuman way.

This should allow me to measure the time it takes for a trait to evolve, but even with the superhuman condition of my body, a measly week is not enough to even give me a hint of evolution, but considering that I have improved by leaps and bounds in a few months, it might take a few years for me to reach rankings like SS.

And if I get lucky, fight Mokichi and hopefully win, provide me with some reward.

"Geez! You're here already?!" Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind me, causing me to turn to see Akira entering the academy, with Osanai in tow. Both were carrying bags with their training and work equipment, and seeing this, I felt happy. My two captains, no matter how sick they are, always show up before seven o'clock in the morning to accompany me with my training and to prepare the academy for work. This has been going on for a few weeks now, and it never fails to make me genuinely happy.

The feeling of creating something and having people strive for it out of sheer willpower is definitely magnificent.

'It's a shame Shiki can't be here yet.' I sighed. Shiki was a subject I still blamed myself for, but fortunately, I've been able to talk to him during hospital visiting hours, and the boy can't wait to get back to active.

I may not pry, but I know about everything that goes on in the school, and this lets me know that Shiki is the one who is currently looking after the balance of our high school; I have overseen his struggles, and even how he dealt with the third year perverts. Seeing him accomplish these things has only made me certain that I have chosen the correct captain.

"Shorty, what the hell are you traveling on?" I was snapped out of my thoughts by Osanai, who asked as he passed his hand in front of my face. "Let's practice soon before I have to take care of the paperwork. More people have enrolled in the academy, and it's been giving me a headache." The blond man spoke as he walked to the locker room.

I looked at his back with a playful smile. This guy was definitely growing on my heart, and I was seriously considering him as a great friend, along with Akira and Shiki.

"He is very excited for the amateur boxing tournament next month. He believes that if he keeps training with us until the day, he will surely win without difficulty." Akira spoke as he began to stretch.

Listening to the boy's words, I placed a hand on my chin, my expression becoming mischievous as I raised my eyebrow. "Of course he's going to win, I'm the one teaching him, after all."

Akira hearing this, couldn't help but look away as he sighed. I laughed at his action and stood up, making my way to the middle of the tatami, used for the academy's martial arts practice.

"Come on! It's still 6:30, we have an hour to train before the customers start arriving." I spoke enthusiastically. Akira smiled, and was quick to stretch, quickly walking to the front of me.

"The moment Osanai arrives, we stop." Akira raised his hand for a greeting, a confident smile on his face that served to make me even more excited. "But I won't take it lightly."

This kid.

"You always say that." Returning his confident smile, I shook his hand in greeting.

But I couldn't expect that in the next moment, he would use our handshake to try to throw me over his shoulder.

'Shit!' I cursed as I felt my body being thrown over his shoulder, and seeing that I could no longer stop it, I let myself fall

Bam!

The moment my back collided with the ground, Akira immediately tried to grab my wrist and pull my arm into an arm wrench, but I easily blocked him by rotating my hip towards him and locking my calves into the sides of his abdomen. With his guard closed, Akira tried to push one of my legs down to escape, but the moment he put his hand on my leg, I pulled him toward me and threw him to the side. With my superior physical strength, he was unable to escape, allowing me to ride on his abdomen.

But having been trained in the gentle art since his childhood, Akira would not let himself be submitted so easily, and at the very moment I sat on his belly, the boy raised his torso with his legs, suddenly pushing me forward. 'Smart kid.' I thought, quickly rolling forward and regaining my balance as I turned toward Akira, only to see him advancing toward me like a bullet, his body colliding with mine as if two beasts were fighting for their territory.

The boy tried to mount on my abdomen, but I quickly put my feet on his waist and elbow, preventing him from advancing. Seeing an opportunity, he wasted no time in trying to apply a leg lock to my foot, but realizing his intentions, I pushed him back.

"You're a damn monster! The first time we trained, in 30 seconds I was able to ride over you. Now, it seems like my every move is being read." Akira spoke with slight frustration in his tone, but regardless of how good he was at hiding it, I could see the gleam of excitement in his eyes. He was excited to fight someone like me, and I knew that as long as we trained together, he would evolve by leaps and bounds.

"You are also monstrously better than before. Your movements are more polished and harder to predict." I complimented him with sincerity. In Akira's current state, if he were able to take Mikey to the ground, the blond could do nothing. Akira's physique was not evolving like mine, but his skill was improving extremely fast. That was probably what the A potential meant.

"Let's be honest..." He began, and just when I thought he would continue talking, he grabbed my ankle tightly. "I could never beat you."

'He's going to try to push my leg to the side!' I thought, and preparing to counter, I was surprised when, instead of pushing my leg to the side, the boy threw my foot down and landed one of his knees on my thigh, leaving my side open so he could knead my chest.

'He tricked me!'

Boosting his body, he advanced towards my torso with extreme speed, and about to land on my torso to try and tire me out, I quickly stopped him by placing my elbows on his neck and arm, pushing him aside as I advanced and grabbed his waist. Seeing that I was in trouble, he quickly turned to me and pulled one of my legs, knocking me off balance and allowing him to throw me to the side.

With a quick return of my balance, I grabbed him and with sheer physical strength, threw him away, forcing him to roll on the ground so that he could regain his balance quickly.

With excited smiles on our faces, we were about to continue, but the arrival of someone interrupted us seconds before we could move forward.

"Looks like you guys are already having fun without me." It was Osanai who spoke, the blond man standing on the edge of the tatami as he looked at the two of us. "That's enough of that, it's time for some real training."

Akira let his back collide with the tatami as he breathed heavily. The boy looked tired, and I realized immediately that we had been fighting for longer than we thought. "I'm dead!" He exclaimed while breathing like a dog.

Seeing this, I couldn't help but laugh as I stood up. Those two...

"Alright, it's time to box!"

They are really getting better.