I scanned the room frantically, desperate for anything that could help. That's when I noticed a folded note on the chair Haotian had been sitting in.
Meet me at the inn after escaping. I know you didn't carry a weapon, so use Body Reinforcement to counter their blades.
"That little bastard…"
"Old man," the house rep's voice hardened. "You paying or not?"
He pulled a knife from his pocket, its dull edge catching the flickering light.
I didn't want to fight. But I'd rather get stabbed than beg a beggar.
"So that's how it is, huh?" I cracked my knuckles. "Come at me, you son of a bitch."
I channeled Qi from my dantian into my arms, steeling them just in time. He leapt over the table with the blade aimed straight at me, but I caught the knife just in time. Normally, I wouldn't dare risk it, bleeding wasn't exactly a hobby of mine, but my Qi was refined enough to make my arms tougher than the cheap metal in his hand.
His eyes widened. The fear set in fast.
"Let go!" he yelled, trying to shove me back with his free hand. I caught that one too.
Then he tried a desperate kick to my knee.
I saw it coming and fortified my leg with a burst of Qi. There was a sharp crack.
It wasn't my bone that broke.
"That's why you don't mess with a Refiner!"
I hurled him across the room. Chairs scattered, and gamblers yelled.
I didn't wait. I turned and ran straight for the door.
Every house rep, over a dozen of them, sprang up from their tables and came charging.
Shit!
I'd already burned a lot of Qi in that fight. I didn't have enough left for a real brawl. If my Qi were purer, I could've done the same work with a smaller amount of Qi.
But that level was still a distant goal.
They closed in, blocking the exit, surrounding me with knives drawn.
I couldn't fight them all.
There was only one option.
I poured the last of my Qi into my body, reinforcing everything. The effect wouldn't last more than a minute, but it'd be enough.
Hopefully.
"Kill that motherfucker!" someone yelled.
They all came in.
I ran with every little muscle in my limbs.
A few reached me before I made it through the door, but with my body hardened by Qi, I shrugged off their strikes and pushed them aside.
And then, I was out.
There was luckily, a trash heap nearby.
It was one of the rare moments in my life where it was both a sigh of relief and concern that left my mouth.
And to think I was complaining earlier about how that place smelled like someone had taken a dump in it ten days ago.
How the tables turn.
I hid in the trash without hesitation. Had to hide before the Qi wore off.
Moments later, they burst out into the quiet street, shouting and scattering in every direction. Maybe they thought I'd used high-level body reinforcement to dash off into the distance. If only they knew I wasn't an Adept yet. I could only use the most basic form of Body Reinforcement.
They overestimated me. Lucky for me, they did.
As they spread out to search farther and farther away, the opportunity opened up.
Time to go.
But first, I took a whiff of myself. I knew exactly what would happen, but it was an instinct I couldn't resist.
Yeah…
Fuck!
By the time I reached the inn, I was out of breath and stinking to high heavens. On the way, I caught countless looks of surprise, disgust, and pity. My appearance was attention-grabbing in all the wrong ways.
I stormed into the room, fuming, only to find him lying on the bed with his eyes closed.
Perfect.
I charged straight at him, throwing my hands at his smug little neck. He deserved it.
But just before my hands could reach him, he vanished.
A touch landed on my shoulder from behind.
I turned.
There he was, standing with that same infuriatingly calm smile.
"Go clean yourself, old man. You stink."
I had to postpone the argument for a bit.
"So you're telling me this was part of the training?"
"Yeah. You need combat experience if you want to grow."
I slammed my fist into the table between us. Dishes clattered to the floor. The maid rushed over to clean the mess, and the people on other tables cast wary glances at us.
"Shut your damn trap! I almost died! And do you realize we just scammed them? We ran without paying our debts! How the hell are you going to fix that?!"
Without a word, he strolled to the counter, dropped a few coins, and returned with a calm expression and a replacement meal.
"Old man," he said, "I expected you to notice it yourself. But you were fooled, too."
"What are you talking about?"
"They were the scammers," he said. "They were using Weapon Imbuement to control the die. I noticed an adept-level martial artist hiding among them, and he was subtly manipulating the rolls."
"But wouldn't they get caught if they did that?"
"They only used it on the big bets, like the gold coin you lost."
I squinted at him, suspicious. "You sure you're not just making excuses? Maybe you ran off because you didn't have the mon—"
He tossed a gold coin at me.
I caught it and stared at it for a moment.
So he did have the money.
"Old man, I'll start assigning you missions from time to time, ones I think you're capable of handling. And don't worry, no innocents involved."
"But why?" I asked.
"Because training alone won't cut it," he said, voice firm now. "You need real opponents, real danger. That's the only way to gain actual combat experience. You're a Refiner, and that den was perfect, they capped out at Initiate level martial artists. I took care of that one adept level guy before leaving so that you did not face the impossible."
"But there were so many of them," I muttered.
He shrugged. "That's how the real world is. Numbers aren't fair. Fights don't wait for you to be ready."
"I see…"
I wasn't sure whether I should be enraged, surprised, or grateful. And what escaped my mouth were words of desire and curiosity.
"How do I get strong enough to take all of them down next time?"
Haotian smiled.
"Now you're asking the real question, old man."