Chapter 392: Everyone Needs To Flex A Little
June Turner stood silently in front of me, her eyes narrowing slightly from the realisation of what she’d just sensed.
That brief moment when I let my presence slip out had told her everything. Whatever memory she had of me as a newly awakened rookie who could barely control his Essence, it didn’t match the reality standing in front of her now.
She was recalibrating.
Not just seeing who I’d become, but feeling it. The sheer pressure that marked the gap between us.
And yet, behind that calculating gaze, there was something else too, respect. Maybe even a hint of pride.
"You’ve changed," she said finally, her voice low and steady. "Back then, you were just a kid with too much confidence, too much pride."
I smiled faintly. "I still have too much confidence and pride. That part hasn’t changed."
June snorted. "Maybe. But now, you’ve earned the right to carry it."
I chuckled, and the tension between us eased just a little. Steve and North exchanged a glance and stepped back, giving us space as June turned and gestured toward the open courtyard.
"Would you walk with me, Commander?" she asked, her tone calm and respectful, more a gesture of familiarity than formality.
I nodded.
We strolled through the training grounds side by side, past weapon racks and practice dummies. The soldiers nearby made way without being told. They recognized both of us and more than that, they watched me with something between curiosity and disbelief.
"You’ve done a lot, Billion," June said after a pause. "I’ve kept track. Every report, every mission, every step. I know what you did on your secret mission. I know how you crippled the Holt’s from within."
She looked over at me, her expression unreadable.
"And what you did to King Holt."
I didn’t respond.
"I also know," she said, softer this time, "that Arkas trusted you."
That gave me pause. I glanced at her, and she gave a small nod.
"He didn’t tell me everything, but he didn’t have to. I saw it. He was preparing you for something beyond this unit. Something bigger."
We stopped at the center of the training arena. I looked around.
"You’re Level 199 now," she said quietly.
I nodded.
"You’re stronger than me."
"That’s not really what matters." I shrugged.
June gave me a sharp look. "It does to them."
She tilted her head slightly, and I followed her gaze.
One by one, soldiers had started trickling into the arena, some jogging, others sprinting. Word had clearly spread. I saw Sarah, her red hair unmistakable as she froze mid-step upon seeing North by my side. Her eyes narrowed.
"Of course," she muttered.
Beside her, Mark arrived a moment later. His eyes lit up when he saw North, but then dimmed when he noticed how close she stood next to me. He didn’t say anything. Just folded his arms, tense.
Then came Logan.
"Billion!"
He ran straight toward me and pulled me into a one-armed hug without hesitation.
"I thought you’d never come back! "
I laughed. "I have still not graduated from my probation."
More familiar faces filled the area. They stood in groups, murmuring, pointing, slowly surrounding us like we were an exhibit in a museum. Some stared at Steve with awe. Others looked at North, clearly piecing things together.
A shout rang from the back.
"Wait, wait! Are you saying he’s the strongest guy in the unit now?"
That voice belonged to Sarah.
Someone else laughed. "Other than Commander Arkas, who even comes close?"
Mark scoffed. "June, obviously."
The crowd grew louder. The comparisons started flying.
June raised an eyebrow and looked at me. "Should we prove them right?"
I grinned. "You want to spar?"
"No laws," she said. "No fancy tricks. Just body and will. Let’s see if the kid I used to slam into the dirt still remembers how to take a punch."
I rolled my shoulders a little.
"Oh, I remember."
The crowd roared in anticipation, forming a wide circle around us.
June cracked her neck and loosened her body a little.
She stomped once, and the ground beneath her sparked with a subtle charge.
I didn’t draw my staff.
Didn’t need to.
Essence surged within me. I didn’t even need to activate a law. My bones, my muscles, my Essence channels, they were the weapon for someone below me in levels.
June came first. Fast. Her footwork had always been sharp. She blurred forward, shoulder tilted down as she shot a jab toward my ribs. I let it glance off, stepping sideways and delivering a palm strike toward her chest.
She blocked, and retaliated with a spinning elbow.
I ducked.
My fist connected with her midsection. Not enough to knock her back, just enough to send a message.
She grimaced and the crowd cheered.
She moved again, this time launching a flying knee. I met her midair, catching her leg and pivoting with her momentum to slam her down on her back.
BOOM!!
A collective oof echoed from the crowd.
But she rolled up instantly, sweeping at my legs. I jumped over it, landing lightly.
Then struck her again, twice in quick succession. One to her shoulder, another to her side.
"Payback."
She winced and laughed at the same time.
The spar picked up speed. She released short bursts of kinetic force, thunder-light strikes that would’ve staggered most opponents. I absorbed them with ease. Most of them just tickled.
Then I stepped forward with real intent.
My punch slammed into her chest, lifting her slightly before she skidded back across the dirt.
The crowd gasped.
She steadied herself, but her grin had changed. There was pride in her eyes.
"Arkas was right," she muttered, raising her fists again. "You don’t need to follow. You’re the one they’ll follow now."
I smirked to myself.
’Time to really scare the shit out of them.’
No more friendly taps. No more holding back.
The Essence surged through my body like a dam finally cracked open. I channeled it into my legs, focused it into the ground and let it explode.
A thunderous boom echoed across the training field as the ground beneath me shattered. A massive crater erupted beneath everyone’s feet, nearly half the size of the training field itself. Cracks spiderwebbed outward, swallowing soil, stone, and balance alike.
The unit shouted in surprise as the earth dropped beneath them, several soldiers tumbling into the crater in a wave of dust and shock.
Before the dust even had time to settle, I blurred forward, vanishing from my spot and appearing right in front of June.
She didn’t move.
She couldn’t.
I let my will erupt like a crashing wave.
The air went dead silent. Even the Essence around us stopped moving.
My presence wrapped around her like a chain of gravity, heavy and absolute. It washed over the others too, soldiers mid-step froze, eyes wide, mouths open in half-spoken words. A few collapsed to one knee purely from the pressure, while the rest stood trembling, unable to lift a finger.
June’s eyes widened as her whole body locked up. Not from fear. But from the sheer suffocating force of authority pouring off me. Her knees buckled, and she had to grit her teeth just to stay upright.
I raised my foot slightly, no more than an inch.
Her eyes followed it.
And then I brought it down.
A single stomp.
The sound didn’t echo, it ripped through the air. The impact collapsed the rest of the crater and obliterated nearly ten feet of terrain across the training field. The stone tiles shattered. The earth caved. Dust and fragments exploded upward in all directions.
But no one fell.
They floated.
All of them caught mid-air, held in place by me.
Weightless. Silent.
Time felt like it stopped.
From below, the training field looked like a cratered warzone. Dozens of soldiers suspended over the chasm, all looking to the center where I stood, arms folded, Essence flowing like vapor from my body.
And then— I let go.
The pressure vanished like mist in the wind. The soldiers dropped gently to the ground, the crater beneath us no longer a threat but a memory of force.
June stumbled back a step, breathing hard. Her hair was windswept, her posture unsteady.
But she was grinning.
"You—" she said, still catching her breath. "You insane bastard."
I chuckled and reached out a hand.
She took it with a smirk.
The moment broke. Noise returned. Cheers and shouts rose like a wave crashing behind us.
"Commander Ironhart! Commander Ironhart!"
June turned toward the gathering crowd, still catching her breath but eyes bright.
"Well?" she called out. "You saw it for yourselves!"
She looked back at me and smirked again before shouting—
"Until Arkas returns—he’s your Commander!"
Dozens of hands flew up in salute.