Chapter 23: This kid’s a bit strong
“Alright, our noble future knights are coming this way. Good luck!” Jeff suddenly yelled loudly as Han Shuo and Cal were talking.
More than ten colorfully dressed knight students wearing exquisite swords walked in through the lobby doors following Jeff’s announcement. Most of them were teenage boys, with an exceedingly few amount of young girls.
They cast arrogant looks in judgment, sizing up the human targets in the lobby. The warriors in the lobby were the first to be noticed. These guys had much more strength than the average person, and would be the most beneficial in terms of real combat experience. They were thus naturally the first to draw attention.
The group of warriors that Cal headed up were the first to be targeted by the students. As the crowd of students haggled over an acceptable price, the group of warriors were led away for practice at the training field. Cal was one of them, and he cast a regretful glance from afar at Han Shuo as he left.
Warriors were the strongest out of all the human targets, and the most useful for knight students in terms of actual combat practice. If knight students wished to hire them, then the amount they would have to pay would naturally be far above that of ordinary, burly commoner.
After the warrior human targets, who had been mixed throughout the lobby, had been hired away as first pick, those remaining were all commoners. Of those, the ones who were brawny and stocky became the first to be selected.
Some flexed their huge muscles, showing off bodybuilding poses that screamed I’m-so-strong-my-muscles-are-awesome. They wore fawning smiles as they looked at the future knights, hoping to be selected and receive rich compensation in return.
Han Shuo’s body was unremarkable to begin with, and being completely obscured by a crowd of tall and strong muscle men, he was taken even less seriously. Han Shuo started to become secretly anxious as he saw the knight students pick their targets and leave one by one.
The three muscle men next to him were standing in three different directions, almost completely covering him. The knight students probably couldn’t even see him. As Han Shuo fretted, he also tried to find a way to stand out.
“Hi, big guy, excuse me!” Han Shuo patted the two meter mountain of flesh ahead of him and flashed a friendly smile.
The brawny man’s skin was copper-colored, and his back was a sturdy frame. Muscles rippled through his two meter tall height, like a bodybuilder who Han Shuo had seen before.
When he heard Han Shuo speak, the man turned around and glared at Han Shuo with a vicious look. His right bicep muscle abruptly curled and tensed, forming a small mountain of flesh. He then laughed coldly in pride, and turned his head without another word.
What the, so what if you have big muscles! Han Shuo also gave a cold laugh internally and reached out with his left hand. He placed it on the man’s waist, and suddenly pushed forward hard.
Dondondon. The big muscle man stumbled and staggered forward three steps following the inrush of the force from Han Shuo’s strong push.
The lobby was already extremely crowded thanks to the presence of many mountains of flesh. People around him were shoved against their will when this person suddenly came crashing in. The area in front of Han Shuo immediately became quite chaotic.
“Damnit, Daniel, do you want to break the rules?” The other mountains of flesh, that had been body slammed by the mountain of flesh called Daniel, roared furiously after steadying himself.
“It wasn’t me! It was the kid behind me!” Daniel protested his innocence to the burly man beside him, and immediately glared at Han Shuo ferociously, saying coldly, “Kid, do you want to die early?”
At this moment, Han Shuo had already taken advantage of the situation to slip out and occupy one of the better positions on the other side of the lobby. Upon hearing Daniel’s words, Han Shuo gave a cold laugh and also stretched out his right hand, making the same bodybuilding pose that Daniel had just made. He flexed his biceps and made an I’m-so-strong gesture, cocking an eyebrow and gazing at Daniel provocatively.
A few additional knight students walked in suddenly and was about to pick the human targets in the back. They all halted their motions of hiring and looked over in interest, when they realized that there seemed to be something interesting going on.
Han Shuo had arrogantly struck such an outrageous pose because he had seen these new knight students walk in. Based on Han Shuo’s body condition, it would be a bit difficult to be chosen out of the crowd. Trying to gain attention with his body and self boasting would also most likely not amount to much. The fastest shortcut was to use tyrannical strength to rout a mountain of flesh. Only then would the knight students change their minds about him.
Except, even though Han Shuo had struck a cocky, provocative pose, he was still an idiot in the eyes of others. If a mountain of flesh like Daniel had made such a gesture, it would have naturally been quite intimidating.
But, when a 170 cm tall and thin Han Shuo strutted arrogantly amongst so many mountains of flesh, one could only say — ridiculous, courting death!
“Ha, kid since you seek death, I’ll send you on your way!” Daniel did not immediately erupt into a full blown rage when faced with Han Shuo’s provocation, but was rather delighted. He laughed loudly, raised an arm thicker than Han Shuo’s thigh and grabbed for Han Shuo.
In the lobby, fights often broke out between human targets seeking to distinguish themselves and attract the attentions of a rich and powerful knight student. This was a common sight. Daniel was naturally happy instead of angry when he saw that Han Shuo’s reckless provocation was playing right into his plans. He would be able to use this kid to prove his aggressiveness and ferocity in front of the knight students.
Except, muscular and fierce people were usually all brawn and no brains. Daniel had given no thought to how much strength Han Shuo would’ve needed, with his body condition, in order to push Daniel forcefully from the piles of flesh and even cause those he’d crashed into to stagger as well.
The errand boy in charge of registering names, Jeff, couldn’t bear to see Daniel reach towards Han Shuo and called out involuntarily, “Daniel, he’s an errand boy for the students. You can’t harm him seriously.”
“I will!” Daniel smiled in response and didn’t slow his right hand, still going towards Han Shuo.
A few human targets with good intentions and some of the kinder knight students winced in anticipation. Some of the young female knight students even screamed in fear.
Just as Daniel’s meaty hand was about to fall upon Han Shuo’s head, Han Shuo’s body suddenly shifted from the position he had been standing in, causing Daniel’s incoming hand to grasp at this air.
Han Shuo also laughed weirdly at this moment, as if mocking Daniel’s incompetence. He stuck out his left arm again, and curled his left bicep with the same posture. His right finger pointed at the small muscle that had flexed on his bicep and nodded towards Daniel. His meaning was apparently even though he hadn’t said a word. “See, I’m strong!”
“Ah, this kid is really cocky!”
“Provocation, absolute provocation!”
“Hah, interesting fellow!”
“….”
A stream of exclamations came out of mouths of the human targets and knight students. When they saw that Han Shuo hadn’t been caught, they took things one step further and struck ridiculous poses themselves, further heightening general interest. Even a few knight students, who had been negotiating prices with some other human targets, temporarily halted their conversations and focused their attention on Han Shuo.
“Kid, how dare you insult me. I’m gonna get you today!” Daniel’s face burned bright red, like a spontaneously enraged bull. The knight students standing around him were his sources of fortune. Daniel’s fury was utterly inflamed by such naked humiliation. Judging from the way he looked, he had most likely long forgotten Jeff’s words of caution.
As Daniel spoke, his eyes spat out fire and his hands formed fists of iron as he glared vehemently at Han Shuo. He brought them crashing down towards Han Shuo, wanting to violently damage Han Shuo’s body instead of grabbing him.
To outsiders, this punch was worlds apart from Daniel’s previous action, whether in terms of speed or strength. This indicated that Daniel was truly furious this time. If Han Shuo was really hit, he would be gravely injured, if not dead outright.
Those who had previously paid attention to the proceedings out of the kindness of their heart started to worry for Han Shuo again.
Seeing that the attack was about to reach him, Han Shou pushed off his heels and twisted his body, somehow miraculously dodging Daniel’s iron fists attack. When Daniel struck empty air, his body followed through the action and stumbled forward a good distance. The human targets in his path, who had been watching the show, all scrambled backwards in panic, fearful of being embroiled in the mess.
Han Shuo on the other hand had created circles in front of his chest with his two arms, pointing his fists upwards and puffing out his chest. With a trace of a disdainful smile at the corner of his lips, he had once again struck a provocative bodybuilder pose.
A string of astounded noises suddenly emitted from the onlookers. The knight students originally had the attitude of watching a good show started unconsciously treating Han Shuo seriously. The first evasion could perhaps be explained as a fluke, but Han Shuo still successfully dodged Daniel’s attacks after the latter had increased the speed and strength of his iron fists. This could no longer be explained by luck.
As everyone was marveling in astonishment, Daniel was like a crazy violent beast. His eyes bloodshot, his body shot forward again, like the wind accompanied by a roar of rage, reaching out with both hands and seeking to smash Han Shuo into pulp.
Miracles kept materializing as Han Shuo kept avoiding Daniel’s attacks. He was as cunning as a fish, and his speed exceedingly swift as well. He even had the breathing space to continuously strike all sorts of bizarre and unique bodybuilding poses.
Han Shuo’s actions were absolutely a naked provocation, an outrageous flaunting!
“Wow, he’s so strong. Those insulting poses never repeat, I’ve never seen anything like it!” A female knight exclaimed in surprise.
“This kid’s a bit strong!” A male knight student exclaimed in surprise.
“Daniel’s in a spot of trouble this time!” A mountain of flesh exclaimed in surprise.
“…..”
The entire lobby was in an uproar!