Bonus Chapter for 2.5k stones will be out in an hour.
Next bonus Chapter at 5k stones.
Good luck.
...
As much as John wanted to release everything at once, that wasn’t the most economical choice, both for him and the readers.
’And this is enough rest.’ The time for training came next. He still hadn’t visited the local martial studios and Chikara dojo till now.
’I should make time for that as well.’ John was inside the specialized training room for the rest of the night, mentally replaying the fight with Task Master and Super Adaptoid fragment.
No time for sleeping or even eating; every bit of the energy he had was channelled into training and practicing his forms.
The main focus of his training was to make his CQC sharper so he had a solid martial arts base to build on.
With his hair turning into a wet mop, John sat down on the white floor. The sweat on his body was turning to steam as he mentally crossed out another martial art from the list he had initially drawn.
Right now, only Niko Style and Water Stream Smashing Rock Fist remained. With Renewal Taekwondo as a future option.
Water Stream Smashing Rock Fist did give the ultimate defence and redirection, but it lacked the adaptability and versatility Niko Style provided. But Bang also had the Exploding Heart Release Fist, not to mention his brother’s martial art that incorporated with his very well.
’I want to buy both, but I am still 1000 EP short for RCT still.’ John sighed, looking at the prices for both these martial arts.
Niko Style was cheaper of the two, with 8K EP, because it was effectively a large every evolving combat philosophy. And Water stream smashing rock fist cost double, 16K EP.
Even if he considered that this was because the latter came from a superhuman world and got years of refinement from the best martial artist in their verse, the better option was to save up for Niko Style for its adaptability. Then he could go for Water mouthful fist later to bolster his defence.
’Then Renewal Taekwondo if I have to improve the leg game.’ He wiped the sweat off his face with a towel and hair, soaking it fully.
Until then, he could only train as much as possible. John cracked his knuckles and stood up.
Within the right training room, the power of his visualization went up a notch and allowed him to do this shadow boxing trick to conjure his opponents.
Even if it wasn’t on Baki level yet, where he would take damage from their attacks, John planned to make it reach that stage as fast as possible.
Only then would he get to face the monsters of Hanma Bloodline for real and learn a thing or two.
For now, he decided to face Task Master and Super Adaptoid Fragment, allowing both to have their shields.
***
By the time John left for university, his body had recovered the energy after a table full of food and tons of water. He still felt sore all over, though.
On the bus, he decided to read through the notifications that had been piling up since midnight.
First there was a bunch of notifications from Thor over the past few days.
[Thor is pondering over Hii’s words. +50 EP]
[Thor is questioning what true strength means. +100 EP]
[Thor is trying to take things one step at a time. +100EP]
[Thor is struggling to judge who is right. +200 EP]
[Thor is questioning his own actions. +500 EP]
[Thor wants to know how this story ends. +150 EP]
It seemed like Thor was reading Princess Mononoke, at least that’s what it seemed like. His notifications were simple and to the point.
And then there was Loki, who had become even more active after the second volume of Pluto got released.
[Loki is trying not to like this story. +25 EP]
[Loki accidentally smiled. +10 EP]
[Loki immediately stopped smiling. +1 EP]
[Loki thinks the author is trying to manipulate the reader’s emotions. +50 EP]
[Loki respects the craftsmanship. +50 EP]
[Loki is looking for flaws in the story. +10 EP]
[Loki hasn’t found any yet. +100 EP]
[Loki believes he would solve the mystery faster than Gesicht. +5 EP]
[Loki is mentally replaying several conversations. +20 EP]
[Loki is surprised by Thor’s behaviour. +20 EP]
[Loki is wondering if someone has trapped him in an illusion. +50 EP]
[Loki cannot find the spell. +30 EP]
This wasn’t exactly that bad; it was the new notifications related to him that popped up every so often.
[Loki wants to know who you really are. +1 EP]
[Loki is investigating your identity. +1 EP]
[Loki is trying to locate you. +1 EP]
[Loki is investigating your identity. +1 EP]
Thus, a Norse God had officially joined the ranks of Rogue, M.O.D.O.C, and Nick Fury in the ’Find John’ club.
John only hoped that the club stopped right here and didn’t get any more members. He was already feeling the pressure. Thankfully, things at the university had calmed down.
Gwen had returned to her usual banter; it seemed like her meeting with Fury went well. Fury himself hadn’t contacted him yet, which was a good sign for now.
The best part was that there hadn’t been an attempt to hack his website since his last meeting with the guy. SHIELD probably figured out that it was a fool’s errand to try further.
John did a little shoulder dance over the victory. But he just remembered that AIM was probably digging into him right about now.
That’s why, when Natasha came in for her lecture all dolled up, he gave her a subtle wink. She was the one who kept him back after lectures, but how the tables turned.
The good thing was that Gwen didn’t question him about why he was staying back. She already seemed to have a rough rundown of Natasha’s current role at ESU after Spiderwoman’s recruitment was finished.
’Still, I wonder what they are talking about.’ Gwen glanced at Natasha and John before exiting the room. She really wanted to listen, but she had a lot of things on her plate right now.
’Couldn’t Doc Ock have chosen a better time for his villainous get-together?’ She groaned, rushing down the hallways.
As the last of the students left, John and Natasha stepped into an empty classroom at the hallway’s far end.
Apparently, the Movie club was using this place for a small project. That’s why it looked more like a high school classroom with those individual desks and chairs.
’Now, how do I handle this?’ John sat down in one of the chairs, all the soreness from training at night gone now.
But the primary issue was this woman in a black pleated skirt and stockings smiling at him.
"Hmm, it is quite the feeling to be on the receiving end of this." Natasha walked over to John’s seat with a sly smile and sat down on the desk in front of him. "I must say I have not been this on edge in a while."
"So, what is it?" She tilted her head innocently.
"I might need a teeny tiny bit of your help." John also smiled like it was no big deal.
But Natasha was like a shark in the water that had already smelled blood.
"Do tell."
John explained about AIM and about M.O.D.O.C who seemed pretty obsessed with him. Natasha didn’t question how he knew, or why he knew this. She simply listened until the end, as it was important information related to her current mission’s target.
"So, you want to protect your identity from AIM." Natasha got the gist of it, and it was something SHIELD could do. In truth, Fury was already doing that because of how John had challenged him.
And she had never seen Fury this amped up about something before. Still, it seemed that John still believed there was a leak in the system. The one he hinted at.
But he wanted her to make sure his information didn’t make it out of that leak with her own methods rather than SHIELD.
’How much does he know about me?’ Natasha’s brow wriggled slightly as she looked at his unreadable face.
"I will be changing houses soon, just to be sure. I don’t like to be disturbed." John wasn’t exactly running away from AIM; his current neighbourhood was a bit too open.
It was an easily monitorable place with too many weak spots. These days he had to constantly look over his shoulder before he could get into the specialized training room for writing or drawing; it was seriously pissing him off.
Since he had money to spare, it was the perfect time for an upgrade as well.
That was just the cover story.
In truth, he really didn’t care if MODOC came with an army to kidnap him; he could try that if he wanted. John already expected his information to leak even with the famed Black Widow around.
So, why would he do all this?
To throw a bait in front of Natasha and do a bit of shark fishing to buy himself time. The time he needed to learn more about RCT and see if he could strengthen his connection/partnership with her.
"You expect me to do it for free?" And she had bitten very well. In truth, she already seemed to notice it, but played along anyway.
"What do you want?" John asked.
"What can you give me?" She reached out with her right hand, tapping his cheek.
It was mostly a way to get extra information out of him while seeing all of his cards and picking what she liked the most.
But John had only prepared one card today.
"Yelena Belova."
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter