With a group in front of them lying on the ground, Adam tied each one of them up with magic.

"What's this all about? Is this how you welcome guests?"

"Yes, it is! I apologize but this is mandatory!"

"Mandatory? I guess it really is true, you need to be strong to even set foot in the Kingdom of Valor."

Adam then promptly removed the restraints he placed on them. The man who had the broken hand immediately went to a nearby station to get it treated, apparently, this is a usual occurrence with how no one seemed to make a fuss.

"This is an interesting kingdom, Zane, you want to-"

Zane interrupted Adam, "I'd rather follow you this time."

"All right, Abel, Gabe, you want to go on your own again?"

Abel answered, "We'd rather not, we'd rather follow you as well."

Adam guessed it was time to start growing Zane's name, he already has enough power to stand out by himself and he already has some semblance of leadership within him.

"All right, Zane, go on the front. If anyone picks a fight then just use overwhelming force, you need some fame if you're going to participate in the tournament next month."

The group then went inside the kingdom only to realize something that caught their attention. This place looked like any other kingdom except, for one thing, there was already a fight happening in front of them.

These two men were trading blow for blow seemingly at a standstill where any one of them could win. Eventually, one of the two men fell while the other one left and continued on with his day as normal. Everyone around them turned a blind eye to this fight.

Adam gestured to them to keep going, "Why don't we get something to eat? That shop over there looks good enough."

They entered the family restaurant and a lively girl welcomed and greeted them. They sat down and waited for their meal while a few glances were directed at Zane.

A man nearby loudly said, "A boy like you won't make it, give up before you embarrass yourself."

Zane didn't think it was directed at him so he ignored it and just waited for his food. That is until Adam whispered something in his ear.

"Zane, that guy's talking about you. He thinks you're some kid that's abusing his power. What're you gonna do?"

The conclusion that the man came to was something that anyone would've gotten to. Zane still had his lean physique and with his luxurious clothes that obviously expensive, it made him seem like someone who was throwing money at his problems.

Zane looked at the man who blatantly said that and ignored him, "I don't mind, especially when he's underestimating me. I guess I'm learning."

"Good."

Eventually, their food was served, Zane took a bite and was slightly confused, he looked at Adam wolfing down his meal and just continued eating whatever was on his plate.

"Here, they don't care about the taste but how it affects their bodies. What you're eating right now strengthens the body by a very small margin but since it's you, it won't even affect you whatsoever."

Zane then was disappointed, "Oh..."

After they finished eating, Adam stayed behind to pay for their meal. He left and paid a single gold coin which was more than ten times the cost for their meal.

"Keep the change, I really need to be going now."

When the man saw this he got furious, someone who was rich and using his authority to hire people to guard himself was a coward in this kingdom. The entire reason why people stay here was to get stronger by constantly fighting each other.

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Everyone in this kingdom had the same sentiment, people who don't use their own strength to make a name for themselves have no right to be here.

He went outside and challenged Zane.

Zane was about to step forward but Adam stopped him, "Don't you remember what you said earlier? How are you supposed to make people underestimate you if you show your strength right now? Gabe, you're up."

Gabe went in front of Zane with a wide grin and said, "You don't have the right to even face him if you can't even beat me."

Compared to the fight earlier, this one sparked everyone's interest. Someone's letting someone else fight for him, a coward's move.

The man saw how this teenager who was just a bit older than Zane accept his challenge instead. He got even more furious and immediately jumped forward and tried to bash his head instantly. He already saw the future where his fists would knock out Gabe in one hit but what happened was something else entirely.

Gabe took a step forward and pierced both his wrists with his fingers instead. With the momentum of the man's fists, the cut on his forearm turned into a long line. The man winced in pain as he immediately jumped back in realization.

"That's an assassin's move! Despicable!"

Gabe didn't care about anything that man said and flicked his fingers removing the blood on his hands. Zane was obviously surprised at how Gabe learned something like this so Abel answered him.

"Gabe learned a few tricks from Rosaline, from how easily he could use them now, I believe he's becoming stronger and stronger, he's really a battle maniac."

Someone else in the crowd got furious at how everything turned out so he didn't even issue a challenge and immediately came and attacked Gabe from behind. Abel wasn't going to let this happen so he became a bit more ruthless than necessary. He grabbed the arm that was about to reach Gabe and crushed the bone into two.

Gabe looked back and said, "You didn't have to do that, I already knew that he was coming for me."

"I do, otherwise he would've lost his life, right?"

Gabe ignored Abel's last words and instead issued a challenge towards everyone in the streets regardless of who they were.

"Come! I challenge every single one of you here! I want to see if you could even land a single hit!"

Abel sighed and just went along with what Gabe did. Everyone in the vicinity went and attacked them all at once. With how preoccupied Abel and Gabe were with fighting, no one went to attack Zane in this chaos.

Everyone was fighting

Zane thought to himself, despite their anger, they still uphold their word.

Adam whispered to Zane, "This is the weakest of this kingdom. The further we go, the stronger everyone gets. Based on this, do you think you need to get stronger or not?"

"So you instigated him to ask me this question?"

"Well, I needed to show you a basis on this kingdom's strength. What better way to see a fight?"

Zane continued to look at the fight happening in front of him, it was a one-sided victory. Abel and Gabe were hit a few times but it didn't even faze them at all.

"Of course, I still to get stronger, there are still people stronger than me but how many people are stronger you?."

"Right now, if you go berserk you can beat the current me. I am serious when I say I am weak, I have no offensive spells nor do I have the capacity to hold out for a long time. I use trickery and planning as my weapons."

As people were still getting beaten by Abel and Gabe, Adam and Zane were still talking about strength. Zane couldn't help but believe that Adam only said the truth, if Adam really was as weak as he said then the organization he had set up made perfect sense.

"That's why it's time to train again, I need my sword to be even sharper. This time it'll be even tougher."

"I get it."

As soon as their conversation ended, the fight in front of them finally finished. There were bodies laying on the ground, some of them were bleeding while some of them had broken limbs, seemingly to show which of them took care of whom.

Zane finally took charge, "Let's go, people here are too weak. I need to see people who have actual strength."

With how brutal their arrival was, word quickly spread about another boy clearing his path not by his own strength but by the strength of those around him. By the time they reached a bit closer in, there was another checkpoint.

This checkpoint had another trial that people had to undergo to let them pass. Zane ordered Abel and Gabe to handle everyone who came with them so they were basically unhindered as they got closer to the center.

"There's another checkpoint that'll hinder us but it's an individual test. You won't be able to hide anything at all if we go in. What's your next move?"

"We'll stay here instead and wait for the tournament. That's the correct move, right?

"I'll grade it 90/100, good but could've been better."

"So, what's the right move?"

"To bash through the checkpoint with overwhelming force. We'll get hindered by the guards here but they won't be able to stop us at all. Abel and Gabe have grown strong enough to do that, besides they haven't even used mana yet."

Zane realized that what Adam said was true, he should not only know his own strength but also his people's strength, also knowing the fact that pure strength is what's followed in this kingdom makes Adam's idea work.

As they were on their path towards the checkpoint, a few people showed up and directly challenged Zane but Abel and Gabe fought in his stead instead. As expected, it was also another overwhelming victory, though they finally started to use mana in blocking some of the hits.

When they reached the checkpoint, there was obviously a bit more guards at this point. Zane went forward and ordered Abel and Gabe again to face them all. When they were about to get ready for a fight someone else interfered.

A rough-looking man with his sword appeared, "Listen, kid, this is as far you'll go. You won't be getting past me."