The points Jake earned doing guerrilla warfare ended up being spent for Liam and Song.

'I'm totally fine with giving the two of these guys gifts.'

This was one of the more difficult decisions Jake made: while he does love shopping to the point of being remarkably obsessed with it, he also hates giving away the things he purchases to others.

Liam and Song, though, are a different matter entirely.

The three of them had been through a war together, and had bled together on the battlefield: Liam's timely intervention had also saved Jake and Song's life.

There is no way Jake would feel obligated to spend points to help them get stronger: he's not that kind of person.

Besides, if he wanted to punk that period movie reject, he had to get Liam and Song up to speed, and that's why Jake decided to go all-out when spending money on his friends.

'Been a long time since I used my 'Shopper's Instinct',' Jake thought. 'They're going to need it more than I do – while I'm not fighting, I've been combing the shops looking for stuff that would best suit them.'

'Yes, I've looked through both the Awakening Store and the Superstore – that 30% purchasing performance discount really came in handy.

And now, I feel like that guy hosting that car-fixing show: you've officially been pimped!'

Not only did they get an upgrade in their weapons and armor, they were also training if they weren't harassing the Froad troops.

'Liam's also looking good now, having taken the Empowerment Pill, just as I did.'

While Liam had gotten stronger due to Li's training, his growth in power after taking the Empowerment Pill had been exponential.

Now, he was around Song's level of power.

Jake? He was still a force of nature among the three of them.

'The pill's effects on me were beyond all of my expectations – as soon as I swallowed it, it seemed to melt in my mouth and spread from there down to my stomach.

And when it contacted my Bankroll, the power started spreading all over my body!

Holy smoke, my Bankroll has this much power? Amazing.. every one of us gained a lot of power in so short a time.

Now, it's time to show everyone what we've got, and put the fear of God into Froad.'

Swords clashed as the man from Musashi guarded against Song's attack.

***

Unlike before, the samurai immediately resorted to using his Niten Ichiryu skill as soon as battle was joined: pushing Song with a barrage of attacks.

Instead of using it defensively, he was now resorting to a full-power offense, intent on cutting down Song this time: simple and powerful slashes aimed to break his opponent's guard.

Unlike before, though, Song wasn't intimidated by a show of force.

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Each of those slashes were met with parries of their own, and as the barrage of attacks began to slow down, Song heard something.

"This is bad," Toshihiro whispered as he took two steps back, his expression filled with consternation as the situation he had expected completely reversed.

'How did this bastard become so strong, so fast?'

Song was on a completely different level than before. It's absurd, how can someone grow in strength in so short a time?

"Shut up!"

The samurai once again struck Song, this time with much greater force, to try and cover up the fact that he was pushed back.

The Niten Ichiryu skill is basically dual-wielding: using consecutive hits to overwhelm the opponent.

Once a weakness is spotted, an attack from two sides cannot be avoided, thus giving the swordsman the victory.

Song, who had battled against the style before, spent most of his free time thinking about how to counter this skill – and through dint of hard work and insight, found a way.

Jake also carried two weapons, and thus Song was able to train against an approximation of the style while sparring.

Here he found his breakthrough, but the catch was, he needed godlike speed to make use of it.

Wouldn't you know it, Jake not only helped Song visualize the Musashi sword style, he also gave the Evergreen vice-master a set of items that would help him achieve the godlike speed he needed.

'Seeing him shopping is a more amazing sight than seeing him fighting,' Song admitted as he saw the tremendous concentration and energy Jake used when looking through shopping catalogs, for the items he knew Song would need to counter the Niten Ichiryu. 'I couldn't even get a question in, right until he was done.'

'Now, though, I'm going to use this power to see this through.. yes, and the can of Red Cow I drank moments before I attacked.'

Song found himself full of energy, almost beyond his control, making him think he could do anything.

Slaying this samurai, for starters.

Jake and Liam gave him a chance for payback, and he's not one to make other people's hard work in vain.

"Come on!" Song yelled as the set of armor he had equipped, the "Divine Wind Hurricane Set", revealed its power once more.

It had an ostentatious name, but the effect of its parts and as a whole were simple.

Putting the equipment's defenses aside, all it does is increase its user's agility.

Strength, mana, luck, stamina, and additional defense?

Nothing – all of the set's pieces and the bonus given when it is complete is a large boost to agility.

The skill gap between Song and the samurai wasn't something he could fix in a few days, which is why he discarded the thought of a cautious and safe fight where defense was considered.

He instead applied everything into offense, so that he may be able to find that weakness he saw and punch through it with that godlike speed bonus given to him by the armor set.

In a moment of clarity, Song once again saw the gap between attacks, parried the two strikes, dodged the third one, and right before the fourth one struck him..

Red filled his vision, as he found his blade buried in the shoulder of his enemy.

Blood started darkening the pristine haori and the kimono underneath it, and the retaliatory strike was easily batted aside, as it came from the left.

The samurai screamed in pain, and as he backed away, revealed his true character.

"All of you, kill him!" he cried out, beckoning to the troops of Froad as his calculating look vanished, exposing his cowardly nature to everyone around him.

"You heard the man, get him!" the troops of Froad cried out as they began to rush towards Song.. only for an object to fly past them.

"Ahhhhh!"

"Holy shit, what was that!"

"Stay away, throwing weapon!"

The object barely grazed the troops as it passed through; the closest ones were able to see what it was.

"A bamboo hat, huh? What the hell is that thing doing here?"

The hat spun around and back towards the Froad troops, who had to step back lest they be cut down.

It went past them and towards a cloaked man.

The man caught the flying object easily and wore it, and then spoke.

"I knew that would happen. Any one of you idiots who crosses this line is dead. Song, don't worry about the cannon fodder and finish that bastard off. We'll take care of the rest of these guys."

Liam had made his appearance, and he was also itching for revenge.

***

The fact that only one awakener was standing in the way of the entirety of the Froad troops was rather ridiculous.

He took careful, deliberate steps, carving a line in the ground with his weapon.

And when he returned to the middle, he shouted to the troopers.

"If any one of you are willing to throw away your lives for that coward, step right up – I'll be happy to oblige."

Nobody among the Froad troopers took Liam's words seriously, and the more impatient of them crossed the line to comply with the orders of the man from Musashi.

Liam shrugged, took off his hat, and tossed it at the three fools trying to turn a duel into a brawl.

The hat simply passed through the three of them, and when Liam caught it, the three troopers from Froad simply collapsed, as they were slashed open from shoulder to hip by the flying weapon.

"What a waste," Liam said, his seemingly innocuous attitude towards killing three awakeners terrifying the Froad troops in front of him. "Anyone else feeling rather stupid today?"

He didn't have to raise his voice, but the weight of his words stunned the troops in front of him.

"What are you doing?" the samurai asked. "You don't hear me? Go after those bastards right now! Do you want to die? Do you know who I am? If my fellows from Musashi come here, they'll kill all of you!"

His threats affected the troops of Froad, as they were now considering mobbing Liam so they could help the samurai out.

'We'll charge him all at once.

It's better than Toshihiro bringing in his fellows and killing all of us.

Let's jump him.. now!'

Sadly, Liam wasn't the only one they had to deal with, as with the rumbling of an engine, Jake made himself known again.

And with one pass, Jake drove in front of Liam, brought out his sword, and cut down anyone approaching the line.

He went for another pass, but this time, everybody stepped back – he stopped the bike near Liam, switched on the amplifier that was in the motorcycle's compartment, grabbed the microphone, and spoke up.

"You idiots can just back off, right now. I'm not keeping you alive out of the goodness of my heart: I'm keeping you alive because you idiots need to see what happens to people who fuck with me and my friends. Open your eyes, this shit is about to get wicked."

The ferocious announcement weighed down the feet of the Froad troops even further.

The casual way Jake was throwing around his intent to kill them made them think that if they move even an inch beyond the line, their lives were lost.

"Looks like our audience is all set, Song. It's your show from here!" Jake announced, and saw the vice-master of Evergreen acknowledge his announcement with a nod.

"Come on, you bastard. I'll show you the power of Evergreen in front of everyone here."

Song brandished his sword and began to move towards his already injured opponent.

***

"Don't kill me!"

"What?"

"Spare my life. You know where I'm from, don't you? If you spare me, I'll certainly repay you."

A kimono, haori and hakama now stained with blood.

A pathetic man prostrating himself before his opponent.

Gone was his arrogant personality.

"Stand up, fool. And here I thought you wanted to die bravely like a warrior instead of groveling shamefully," Song said bitterly, his face full of emotion.

'Was this bastard responsible for all the deaths of my people?'

He was reminded of the awakeners of Evergreen: showing their nobility and resolve to the very end, unlike this man, who broke as soon as his invincible skill was countered.

"I know Evergreen is too small for you! Come join us in Musashi, instead. You'll get much stronger there," the samurai said, all pride gone from his voice.

"You know how this is going to end already, so stand up," Song replied venomously, and despite being wounded from several cuts, was still standing straight, with no sense of pain in his eyes.

He can imagine the pain his awakeners must have felt, and thought that his own pain was negligible compared to that.

That was when the elite of Musashi redoubled his efforts for mercy, desperation filling his voice at the lethality of Song's aura.

"No, I lost. Please, mercy. Do you want to kill all of Froad? I'll do it, I'll kill all of them for you in exchange for my life.. what do you think?"

***