Volume 9 Chapter 19: Did You Get Ripped?

"Big Brother, what are you going to make?" As they left the store, Leon and Laura questioned their brother. They were quite excited about what he had prepared.

"Something. But I don't think you guys will like it," Keith grinned.

"Eh?"

"..." Keith said nothing else: the next place the group headed to was the White Owl Merchant group. It hadn't changed over these months. When they entered the room,

"Big Boss! Ms.Big Boss! Welcome!" The clerk quickly greeted them.

"Ms. Big Boss?" Keith glanced at May. The clerk explained, "Yes, she would be Ms. Big Boss."

"I see. Can you go get Coyler?"

"Understood!"

"Young Master, that was not my idea. They kept calling me and saying that after I became in charge." May didn't want that nickname either, but it was too late. The name had stuck onto her. It was horrible.

"I don't mind. Actually, let them keep calling you that." Keith shook his head. There was nothing he could say to stop them. He couldn't help but scrunch his face when he heard that.

At least someone was sharing the pain with him.

"…" Carolyn and Krystal wanted to say something about that.

"Boss! It's been so long!" That was when Coyler came down to greet him.

"Mmhmm, it's been some time. How has the company been doing?"

"Amazing! With May as the boss, our business had expanded by a large margin. We've opened seven stores in only a few months." That was an astonishing growth in such a short time.

"That's amazing," Keith grinned.

May shook her head, "It was nothing, Young Master?"

"Also, does Boss wish to look at these?" Coyler then took something out for him.

"More masks?" One was not enough, but there was going to be more? In this case, there were three masks with different designs.

"...Aren't these-"

"These are the masks of the Masked Sisters. I thought it would be nice to have them as well. We also made a small bow ornament of the princess." There was a beautiful white bow as well. It would match with the wedding dress.

"Ooh! I want one now!" Carolyn was interested.

"...Are you a clothing store now?" What was this?

The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

"It's only this for now." Coyler laughed. There was no way the merchant group would become a clothing store. It was more of a one-time thing since Masked Thief had become such a hot thing.

"..." What is this? Keith wanted to cry. The others were grinning ear to ear about this.

...

The following day, Keith woke up and headed to the kitchen. That was when he saw Gus.

"Good morning, Boss."

"Morning, I'm planning to make some espresso."

"Hmm? Do you mean coffee?" The man tilted his head.

Oh, yeah. Keith had forgotten about telling him that. The espresso thing was something he didn't talk about with his family. It was one of those things he had forgotten about.

"It is coffee. But it's a more concentrated version of it." Keith took out a pot and started to boil it. Smelling it, Gus understood, "Something like this is better for the early mornings."

"Mmhmm," Keith nodded as he sipped his drink. It always hit the spot. As he did so,

"Young Master, it tastes a little water down."

"Yeah..." Keith kinda accepted this. That was one of the things with using the stovetop. After he finished his drink, he headed out into the training field. When he did, someone was already there.

"Michael! Woah, why do you feel so different?" Keith stared at the commander of knights. Something was different about him. His aura was sharp; it was like staring at a sword.

His frame was the same, yet it was more imposing.

"Been working out. Now come and face me right now." The swordsman pointed the blade at him.

"…Sure," Keith nodded as he grabbed a shield and an axe.

"Begin!" Michael shouted as he dashed at the kid.

Keith quickly raised his shield in the air and was quickly sent flying through the air! What in the world?! That power was just insane. He couldn't believe it. His body went a few meters in the air like it was nothing!

That was not the end; Michael swung his sword from the side, causing Keith to fly like a cannonball.

And then he was brought down like a hammer! The fight ended like that; it was one-sided.

"Kid, did you get weaker?" Michael frowned.

"Huh? I got weaker?" That shouldn't be. It should be the opposite; he had been getting stronger. He learned more magic and has been working out as well.

"You just feel a lot weaker than before." Michael frowned.

"…" I think you just got stronger. It wasn't that he was weaker, but it was more about Michael being stronger than ever!

"Heh, Kid, you still have more room to grow. Now get up and face me!" Michael waved his sword around like it was nothing.

"…Sure," Keith got up and prepared himself. But the end result was the same no matter how long they went; it was a total defeat from his side. The kid got crushed before he had the chance to do anything.

"Hah," Keith breathed deeply, "How is he this strong?!" Last time he checked, Michael should not have been this overpowering. He was able to beat him before. But it was too one-sided now.

"Michael had been training like a madman these past months," Eric commented.

"Huh?"

"He worked like a mad man by himself. Don't you see how he isn't wearing his short sleeves?"

"Now that you mentioned it." Michael had been wearing long sleeves. The man didn't care if icicles hit him as he would continue to wear short sleeves.

"He probably doesn't have any fat on his body." Workout and workout. Michael continued to hone himself to the utmost. That was why no one could match him.

"I think he might be able to go toe to toe with the sword saint." Eric realized it. He was not able to beat the man either. That was why he needed to get stronger.

"..." So he's gotten that strong. But that was not that surprising. He remembered what Logan had told him before; Michael could easily become stronger if he took it seriously.

That was not a joke.

"You were the catalyst for him becoming that."

"Hah? How did I make him into a monster?"

"Well, he couldn't trai-""Eric! Zip it!" Michael quickly appeared behind the man and held his mouth before he could say anything, "Do you want to die?!"

"…I think he's already dead."

"Huh?" Michael looked down and noticed how Eric had fainted.

"You held him too tight, you gorilla!"

"How dare you call me a gorilla?!"

"I'm alive!" Eric regained consciousness as he moved around. He couldn't believe it. But as they were talking with one another,

"Keith, what happened to you?" Carolyn and Krystal quickly came out from the training area. And they saw an injured Keith wobbling as he got up.

"Here, let me help you out," Carolyn quickly used celestial magic to heal him.

“…”

"Some guys just have it all, am I right?" Derek shook his head. Keith was living the life with all these people looking at him like that. Michael really wanted to beat this kid up right now. But he couldn't do so when there were so many people. He'll just have to do so at another time.