Crippled

Lin had instinctively gotten used to carrying around a candle or chocolate bar, never knowing when he would need them.

Sometimes, he will catch himself in deep conversations with Zen, in the guise of his thoughts, and would need to refill his energy after such calories consuming brain activities.

Lin got the chocolate bar and picked up a few for his friends.

But when Lin returned a few minutes later, he found a scene that shook him to his core.

Feng and May were both sitting on the ground, looking dishevelled and scared. Standing over them were a group of rangers, sneering and taunting them.

Feng had his hands on his stomach, groaning in pain.

One of the rangers spat on Feng, "tell Lin, during the Tournament of Honours, he would be crippled."

Lin's heart raced as he realized what had happened in his absence. He ran towards his friends, ready to defend them from the rangers.

"Leave them alone," Lin shouted, running towards his friends and the rangers.

The rangers laughed and sneered at him. "Here comes the loser to defend his friends…," one of them who was standing in front of the group said.

As Lin approached them, he juiced up

"Juice," he shouted, the rage in his voice could be heard.

"Juice?, is that wh…," Before the ranger could complete his sentence, Lin fist rammed into his jaw.

Bang! The ranger dropped to the floor.

After Lin had shouted Juice, nobody had seen what came next. It was as if Lin had teleported and landed the blow.

Lin had pulled his chronostasis skill immediately he got juiced up, time was slowed down, and Lin had put his weight behind the punch, driving the ranger to the ground in an immediate knockout.

Lin ran over to the ranger who had spat on Feng, dishing out quick blows with both arms to the ranger's midsection. The ranger had collapsed to the ground, whimpering in pain.

The third advanced toward hold a steel pipe.

"Come at me, you pig!" Lin shouted, taking his stance.

Lin stood ready to fight, his fists clenched as he faced off against the Ranger. The Ranger was holding a steel pipe as a weapon, and Lin knew he needed to be careful if he wanted to come out of this unscathed.

"This pig is about to expose your gut to the sun," the Ranger shouted, annoyed.

The Ranger charged towards Lin, swinging the steel pipe with all his might. Lin quickly dodged the attack, narrowly avoiding being hit. He countered with a punch to the Ranger's gut, but the Ranger blocked the attack with his pipe.

Pain ran through his arm, "You bastard!"Lin shouted.

"I wouldn't hestitate crippling you!," the ranger shouted in reply.

The Ranger swung his pipe again, aiming for Lin's head. Lin ducked and landed a kick to the Ranger's knee, causing him to stumble. Lin saw his opportunity and delivered a swift punch to the Ranger's face, causing him to fall to the ground.

"Stay down or am gonna hurt you. Hurt you real bad, "Lin said, spitting on the ranger.

'The gut!"the ranger shouted, anger consuming him.

People at the park were already gathering together to see what's going on.

But the Ranger was not done yet. He quickly got back to his feet and charged towards Lin once again, swinging his pipe in a wild frenzy. Lin tried to dodge the attacks, but the Ranger's swings were too fast and unpredictable.

Lin had taken two fatal hits in immediate succession to the left arm. Lin had pain run up his shoulder.

Finally, Lin saw an opening. The Ranger swung his pipe in a wide arc, leaving himself open to attack. Lin quickly stepped forward and delivered a powerful punch to the Ranger's jaw, causing him to drop the pipe and fall to the ground.

Lin stood over the fallen Ranger, panting heavily as he caught his breath. He knew he had won the fight, but he also knew that he couldn't let his guard down just yet.

The two rangers who hadn't gotten involved in the fight backed down and started running out of the park, defeated. Lin turned to Feng and May, relieved to see that they were okay.

"I'm sorry I wasn't here to protect you guys," Lin said, feeling guilty that he had left his friends vulnerable to the rangers' attacks.

Feng and May both smiled at him. "It's okay, Lin," Feng said. "We knew you'd come back and help us."

May dropped into Lin's arms, "You are my hero, thank you for showing up," the hug around Lin getting tighter.

Feng saw the need to train. He was tired of running away from bullies as well.

"Lin was really amazing," Feng thought, "is that as a result of training hard?"

"How were you able to do that", May asked Lin, straining in pain as Lin gave her a hand, "I was scared they were actually going to cripple you here instead of waiting to get to the arena".

May had been so worried, she broke into tears.

"Your training seems to be paying off already," Feng added, taking Lin's hand.

" I guess watching my dad over and over do his thing inquired me," Lin tried to come up with an excuse.

"By the way, not wanting to get crippled seems like a good motivation."

"That was really scary. If you hadn't come, "I probably would have gotten crippled first," Feng cried in pain.

"You know what?" Feng stopped and took a deep breath, "I am ready to do what it takes. "

Feng winked at Lin but worried if he had what it takes.

"That's great to hear," Lin said, smiling at Feng.

Lin's wristband beeped, and a notification pooped into sight.

[three opponents defeated, 60 exp points rewarded]

[ HP: 60/60]

[ Speed: 15]

[ Strength: 9]

[ Stamina: 11]

[ skills: Juice lv1, Chronostasis lv1]

[ Exp: 90/200]

[Level multiplier: x1]

"Seems like I will need more enemies to get stronger," Lin thought, wondering what it would feel like getting to a high level.