Chapter 261: Hinata’s Painful Training, Clair Goes Insane

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After Philip went all-out against Goki when he "learned" what Goki would "do" against Emma, he unleashed all of his inner, latent potential at once, leaving Goki completely speechless as the young man was finally able to hurt him, even if only a little.

To Goki, however, that was a job well done, patting his shoulders and congratulating him, leaving Philip momentarily speechless, realizing that the awful things Goki said were all just bait to make him angrier.

"That was just bait, man. I was baiting you by saying the most disgusting, unhinged thing possible. It worked. That means you still love her, don’t you? If you want to protect her from that ever happening, you’ve gotta fight even harder, Philip," Goki said, his voice rough but carrying a strange kind of encouragement.

"Bait...?" Philip looked down at his pained fists. The knuckles were swollen and already turning purple. He quickly forced his dislocated fingers back into place, grinding his teeth against the sharp pain that shot up his arms.

"What’s wrong? Not gonna take the potion this time?" Goki teased him with a wide, bloodstained grin.

"I don’t need it," Philip answered, taking a heavy step forward. His breathing was ragged, but his eyes burned with stubborn determination. "I’ll fight until I break into pieces and then use it! Until then...! Let’s die."

"HELL YEAH BROTHER! LET’S DIE!"

Goki laughed loudly as he charged forward and clashed against Philip once more. Both men punched each other mercilessly, the impacts echoing through the training grounds. Kicks and headbutts came and went without pause. Philip’s large and much taller body was being pummeled down endlessly under the relentless assault, while Goki only gained more and more wounds here and there, remaining barely scratched in comparison.

"Damn it, you son of a bitch...!" Goki laughed again, spitting a mouthful of blood onto the ground. "You punch good when you put real effort into it!"

"Haaa... Haaa..." Philip gasped for air. His face was so disfigured from being beaten down to a pulp that he could barely breathe through the swelling and blood.

"There you go, pal," Goki said as he poured some potion over Philip’s face, helping him recover just enough. He walked past him and then delivered a solid kick to his side. "WAKE UP, PHILIP! TIME TO DIE AGAIN!"

"D-Damn it!" Philip roared as consciousness slammed back into him. He barely managed to avoid a fist coming straight down at his head. "Ah! I avoided it— GUH?!"

CLASH!

But then he was kicked hard in the stomach and rolled across the ground in agony.

"You’re getting the hang of your own body, little by little!" Goki smiled with genuine approval. "Let’s continue. The fun is just starting, brat!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the clearing, Clair was bleeding all over. Several kunai and shuriken were stuck in her arms and shoulders while she cried out in pain and frustration, still forcing herself to fire more and more arrows.

However, Hinata easily predicted the trajectory of every single arrow. She caught them with her bare hands and fired them straight back at Clair using only the strength of her fingers, without any need for a bow.

"Woah!"

Clair barely managed to drop to the ground in time and avoid another arrow embedding itself in her shoulder.

"Seriously, this is the worst! How can you train like this?!"

As she cried, Hinata closed the distance in an instant and thrust her open palm forward with precise force, hitting Clair square in the chest. The impact sent her flying backward, crashing hard into a thick cluster of bushes.

"Ugeeeh... Aaahhh! So painful!"

Clair cried as she pulled the kunai and shuriken out of her arms. Blood poured freely from the wounds while she desperately drank a potion and watched the injuries slowly close.

"Don’t over-rely on potions. They cannot save you forever!"

FLASH!

From the bushes that rustled rapidly, Hinata emerged once more, swinging her palm forward. She had actually been kind enough not to throw more shuriken at her this time.

"Hyaaaaa!"

Clair screamed and rolled away pathetically, but a palm strike still connected with her left shoulder.

"Ugeh?!"

She suddenly lost all mobility in her left arm, leaving her utterly speechless with shock.

"W-Wha...?!"

As she panicked, Hinata blurred into position right in front of her, a kunai already pointed at her neck.

"And this is where you’d die, Clair..."

"I-I won’t die!!!"

Clair angrily drove her elbow into Hinata’s stomach and then grabbed her hunter knife, swinging it wildly at the smaller girl.

Hinata easily avoided every frantic attack with almost casual movements.

"Your attacks are too slow... put more speed and effort into them."

"I am doing everything I can!"

"No, you don’t. Archers have high Dexterity and Agility, and decent Strength, and yet you’re fighting like you had none of that."

"What?! How do you expect me to—"

Hinata mercilessly struck Clair’s hand and forced her to drop the weapon. In the same smooth motion her kunai rushed forward and pierced the flesh of Clair’s arm.

"Aaaaagggh! This is bullying! You’re torturing me!"

"You have to learn with pain. It’s the only way. The more pain you feel, the more your body will move on its own to avoid it. Now, again!"

Hinata leaped high into the air and began firing shuriken and kunai at Clair while climbing and leaping between the surrounding trees with perfect balance.

Clair kept running and trying to avoid the projectiles however she could, but she could not quite manage it. Her back was repeatedly stabbed by the small, sharp weapons, each impact drawing another sharp cry of pain.

"Aaaggh! So much pain! Someone save me...! I don’t want to do this anymore...!"

However, nobody came to her help. She had to fend for herself or die.

This was the harsh reality of the world — a world she had been living sheltered under her parents’ protection, and even now under her rich friend’s privileges.

But now that she had come face to face with such unforgiving reality, she started to think that the world... was really fucking shit.

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