In the following week, that situation never occurred again. Even when the new semester of senior year began, William Carter still did not experience anything like it again.

“Hey, William Carter, how was your vacation?” Johnny and two other classmates surrounded William Carter, excitedly asking about his holiday. One arm was draped carelessly over William Carter’s shoulder, but William Carter didn’t mind at all.

“It was fine. How about you guys?” It was obvious these guys just came over to show off, so William Carter gave them the chance, but he would never waver in his own choices.

“Oh, you know, practicing the Giant Strength Technique felt absolutely amazing.” Johnny exaggeratedly flexed his arm, striking a bodybuilder pose. “Look, in just two months, I already feel like my strength has at least doubled!” Of course, this was an exaggeration—there’s no way such terrifying results could be achieved in just a month.

“Yeah, right, bragging.” All three classmates, including William Carter, simultaneously gave Johnny the finger. But thick-skinned as ever, Johnny was unfazed and continued showing off his bodybuilder poses to everyone around.

During a break, William Carter also went to see the Gorilla Man instructor. The instructor really admired William Carter for sticking with it and gave him a lot of encouragement. However, he had new students to train, and since it was his first time instructing, he was very busy and didn’t have much time to guide William Carter, so William Carter had to leave in a hurry.

After a full day of classes, William Carter had basically gotten to know all his classmates. It seemed that everyone around him had already started practicing first-level techniques, while only William Carter was still sticking to the basic Body Strengthening Technique.

Hearing that there was such an oddball as William Carter among them, the other students were quite curious. Those who were on good terms with him tried to persuade William Carter not to be so stubborn and to give up on that foolish idea. As for those who weren’t close, they had already started mocking and ridiculing him.

“Well, I wonder what kind of divine skill William Carter is planning to cultivate?” Inappropriate voices always seem to sound when people are most irritable, and at times like this, they’re even more annoying.

Without even thinking, William Carter shot back, “Henry Clark, just mind your own business.” This Henry Clark was a classmate of his, and it seemed that because of Emily Thompson, he always deliberately targeted William Carter. Now that Emily Thompson had left, the relationship between Henry Clark and William Carter still hadn’t improved.

“Trash is trash. You don’t even dare confess to your girlfriend, and you’re a loser even at training.” Whenever he got the chance, Henry Clark would go all out trying to put down William Carter: “You don’t even dare to practice a first-level technique. If you can’t practice it, what are you if not a loser?” Henry Clark had confessed a few times before, but each time Emily Thompson had rejected him outright, leaving no room for negotiation. Henry Clark always blamed this on William Carter.

“Damn it!” Being insulted like that, of course William Carter got angry. “You really think you’re somebody, huh?” In the past, William Carter just didn’t want to bother with Henry Clark, especially after learning his own secret—he’d always been cautious and never thought much about it. He didn’t expect this guy to openly provoke him. How much can one tolerate? William Carter might be meticulous, but he’s not someone who just puts up with things. Instantly, he responded tit for tat.

Since starting high school, William Carter rarely lost his temper, but this time, with his inner frustration and this guy’s deliberate provocation, he finally exploded: “So you’ve practiced a first-level technique for a few days and you really think you’re the best in the world? Come on, you so-called non-loser, if you’ve got the guts, let’s have a match!”

“A match? In what?” Henry Clark took the bait. He’d always wanted to provoke William Carter, but since William Carter usually ignored him, he never had the chance. Besides, back then everyone was at about the same level, so even if they fought, Henry Clark wouldn’t necessarily have the upper hand. As for a group fight? Henry Clark didn’t have nearly as good relationships with classmates as William Carter, who was always learning and making friends.

But now, William Carter had come to him on his own, and it just so happened that Henry Clark had been practicing the Giant Strength Technique for over a month, while William Carter was still working on the Body Strengthening Technique. The advantage was obvious—opportunities like this didn’t come often.

Excited, Henry Clark never considered what difference there might be between his month of practicing the Giant Strength Technique and William Carter’s Body Strengthening Technique, which he’d been training at nearly four times the normal speed. Of course, he would never know the key to all this.

William Carter had thought about this too, and he was also very curious. That’s why he took this chance, under the guise of responding to provocation, to propose a match. He felt that ever since he started keeping a secret, he had to consider too many things every day. Now, William Carter even felt he was becoming too utilitarian, as if he was always doing things for some purpose. He wondered how much longer it would be before he could finally let go of this mental burden.

“Free sparring, one-on-one!” Even if someone had practiced the Giant Strength Technique, it was impossible to use it in the middle of a fight; at most, a month or so of training could only improve one’s strength a little. William Carter would, of course, choose this safe method—to teach this annoying guy a lesson, and at the same time, to learn more about the secret within himself.