Just A Mere Bandit.

A young boy could be seen training in front of a run-down house. For a boy of the age of 14, he was far too big for a child who could barely eat at home. Sweat dripped down his muscled burly body as he swung around that huge lumberjack ax around. Along with the boy, there was a pair of adults standing in front of the house. A mature but beautiful woman alongside a sleazy bastard.

The man was feeling up the woman's behind. He believed the boy was oblivious to that fact that he was molesting his mother in front of him. Said mother kept a serene smile on her face not to alarm the boy even if she felt disgusted by the man. To do something like this in front of her only child as a single mother... Moon Ah-jung cursed the poor circumstances of her birth but vowed to not let it affect the future for her child.

Jin Goo violently slashed a nearby tree in a brutal arc as he glared at the man next to his mother. The ax effortlessly cleaved the thick tree in two when he gave into his inner rage. He turned to face the two. Holding his two-handed axe, he slowly walked toward his mother.

"Mother, how did I do?" Jin Goo smiled innocently, like a young child seeking his mother's approval.

"You did good, boy! It won't be long until you're ready to join our group with skills like that." Seo, the sleazebag, loudly complimented, more focused on admiring the soft plump texture of the woman's ass.

"Thank you, sir. I can't wait to prove myself useful and help my mother by working to support our small family." Goo bowed.

"Ha ha ha! No problem, kid. Your mother is regularly proving herself useful every night to our Streak of Tigers. Having a retard like you becoming one of us would be grea- GUHAK!" Jin Goo shoulder tackled Seo in the chest.

Seo fell down to the ground from the force of Goo's shoulder bash. His eyes widened in fear as he saw the boy raise his axe. Without any hesitation, Goo's axe swung down. Seo screamed as he was split in two. A small smile appeared on Goo's face.

"I know this may seem rash, mother, but I have a plan. For the time being, please hide yourself. I'll deal with everything." Jin Goo asked politely.

"Take care of yourself. If something happens to you, I will follow you into the underworld. Do you understand, Goo?" Moon Ah-jung looked into her son's eyes.

"I will do everything in my power to prevent that." Goo kissed his mother on the forehead as he headed to the heart of the tiger's streak.

Goo kicked open the door to the tavern. No one dared expect to think that someone in this town would have enough balls to act presumptuously in their presence. For a few moments, they were speechless and confused. Those few moments were all Goo needed as he headed to the biggest prey he could find in the inn. From what he could gather, his clothes were the most lavish out of all the bandits. His cheeks were flushed from the alcohol, giving Goo even more of an incentive to use this opportunity to deal with him.

Jin Goo rushed toward his table and gripped the lower-end shaft of his axe, extending his reach significantly as he swung his axe horizontally to decapitate the martial artist. The man's eyes widened in fear and shock at suddenly being attacked but the skills of a martial artist weren't to be underestimated. Even after being caught by surprise, he still had enough awareness and ability to push himself from the table and leap away. The table was shoved into Goo's sturdy legs, halting his momentum.

The martial artist bandit brought out his sword with a pissed expression on his face. "What the hell, brat?! Aren't you that whore's kid? Have you gone insane? We all knew she was raising a retarded kid but I didn't think you were this retarded!"

"..." Goo didn't respond as the other bandits began to pull out their weapons.

"Face me like a man. You aren't scared of a mere child, are you? Aren't you a man?! Where's your pride hiding behind a bunch of worms?!" Goo's voice roared throughout the tavern.

People began to leave their rooms to come investigate what was happening downstairs. Some of the bandits felt insulted and were about to charge forward to shut him up. While other bandits were actually amused by this sight. Finding good entertainment in this town long since controlled by their gang was difficult. They wanted to see how strong the martial artist was or if he was too cowardly to prove his strength. Like sharks, they were sniffing out their prey to see if the martial artist was a bleeding coward or a dangerous predator.

"You...! You! You think I'm of scared of a whore's son!? A mere retard!?" Cheon-Woo could easily gauge the atmosphere in the room.

If he ran away from this brat's challenge, that was the end of his reputation amongst the Streak of Tigers. Cheon-Woo was pissed. All he wanted was a day of relaxation and fun. Ever since they took over this town, he hasn't had to do anything dangerous. He hasn't trained or practiced in forever and he was drunk, but how hard could it be to take out a stupid brat? Even if he was a little bit of a giant.

Goo kept an observant watch as his plan was halfway to succeeding.

"Everyone stay back! I'll handle this brat!" Cheon-Woo's life energy flushed within his body as he rushed at the boy.

Jin Goo's eyes completely analyzed the martial artist's movements. His eyes flashed verdant green as he could predict the bandit's attack seconds before it even happened! It was his first time putting it into practice in a life-or-death fight. A calm look stayed on Goo's face even when the bandit's sword was slashing toward his throat.

"Hm." Jin Goo suddenly moved in as he brought his knee up.

His knee smashed into the man's chest before his sword could fully extend outward. A thin line of red appeared on the side of Goo's neck but nothing significant. Goo reached out to grab the bent over martial artist by the neck only for him to realize his surprise attack wasn't as damaging as he thought. An orange aura whipped out from his body that sent Goo sliding away after blocking with the shaft of his axe. The force was powerful but not to the point where Goo's daily training for 11 years was helpless against it.

"Ha ha ha! That kid's beating his ass and he hasn't even gathered any life energy yet! Has sitting on your ass everyday made you weaker, Cheon-Woo?!"

"Kid doesn't even know any martial arts and he got the first hit!"

"Hell, maybe I can become a Streak if a kid can push one of the Tiger Streaks, this far."

Humiliation and rage filled Cheon-Woo's entire being. All it took was two exchanges for his reputation to be casted in the dirt. Cheon-Woo no longer held back as he used all of his martial prowess. He was going to kill this kid and any other big mouth that thought he was someone to toy around with!

Goo shattered the thrown chair with his foot and didn't fall for Cheon-Woo's tricks. His ax stopped the rushing bandit right in his tracks. The ax split the wooden floor as Cheon-Woo looked up at him in shock as he fell on his backside. With a strong jerk, Goo brought his axe back into a comfortable position. That strange power of martial artists was strong but not strong enough to take on a direct hit from his axe it seems.

With a short hop, Goo's ax slammed down toward the shocked bandit who could only block the axe with his sword and power. Everyone watched as the man was crushed into the tavern's floor. Goo's ax continued to slam down repeatedly until he could see chips of metal coming off the blade of his axe. But he did not stop because of that. It was only because of a man's shout and his oppressive power that Goo's body was forced into suspension. He couldn't even turn his head to look at the man laughing so loud everyone inside the tavern could hear it.

"Now imagine my fucking surprise when I hear news that one of my Streaks is split like a fucking log outside the house of my favorite whore. Then I come in here to see another one of my Streaks being fucking hacked and chopped at like a tree stump! He's fucking pressed into the ground by a kid that hasn't even grown any hair on his balls yet!" The loud man wrapped his thick arms around Goo's neck like they were buds.

"I wasn't-" Cheon-Woo didn't even get the chance to defend himself.

"Cheon-Woo, you lazy bastard. I told you not to get too comfortable in this town. I warned you." The strong guy killed Cheon-Woo in front of everyone with a casual punch from a distance.

"..." Goo would have liked to frown after seeing that display but just a flick of this guy's wrist was enough to kill a man from a few feet away.

"Say kid, how would you like to become a Streak of the Streak of Tigers?"

"As long as you can make me stronger."

"Bwa ha ha ha ha! That's a first. Most of these bastards are only interested in killing, women, or money." He howled. "Stronger, huh? Alright, kid. Seeing that you can beat two of my Streaks without an ounce of life energy in ya, I'll take ya under my wing! Dang Gan's apprentice! The Young Tiger Prince of the Streak of Tigers! Sounds good, doesn't it?"

"Anyone that dares touch my mother will die." Goo added.

"Damn, you're really busting my balls here, kid. Your mother is one fine piece of ass, you know that? She's the most valuable whore in town."

"..." Goo wanted to punch him in his face.

"Alright, alright. Pass this on, no one is allowed to bother my disciple's mother. I'll kill you myself if he doesn't first."

"I'm willing." Goo knew this was his only path to strength in this small town. Dang Gan was the strongest person within miles most likely.

"Great! Great! Great! I'll finally be able to show off how great I am in Gudang Providence! I've been waiting for a bastard like you with initiative, you know? Maybe you'll finally spark a fire under these useless bastards' asses. You know about the Nine Geniuses of Gudang? I plan to make you take one of their spots and tell everyone about the greatness of our group." Dang Gan happily announced.

Goo only cared about getting stronger to protect himself and his mother.