"Alright," I said as I stood up. "We'll go catch some rats tonight."
"Rats?" Edmund asked, his face dropping.
"Not the typical rats," I replied with a laugh.
"Ah," Kevin exclaimed, "but... won't we just be dead weights?" he asked.
"I'm going to make you guys a bit stronger. So you're no dead weights," I answered. I could see the excitement in their eyes.
"But, there's a few hours till midnight. Would that be enough?" Kevin asked.
"Midnight?" I raised a brow. "Who says we're waiting till midnight? There will be news about what happened to Garrick and his men throughout town soon. What do you think his subordinates will do? Wait for the soldiers to round them up?"
"We've got about two hours till sunset. We'll move then. It should be enough time to get you guys to third rates at least," I added. "You guys sit with your legs crossed while I go get the stick.", I ordered.
"A stick?" Edmund asked. "Why?"
Hehe... This is why I love teaching. "You'll know soon."
Yeah, it might sound farfetched, but with the cultivation technique they'll be using, two hours should be enough to teach them and bring them to the level of third-rate Martials. That's the entry level for martial artists and with their talents, it should be possible. They'll have to endure some tough love though. Haha.
I picked the stick Edmund was using and went back in. They were already sitting, legs crossed, waiting for me. Good. They seemed eager enough to learn. I went behind them, sat down legs crossed.
"You'll be doing some breathing first. There'll be a rhythm you'll have to follow, so you have to follow it accordingly, alright?" I asked.
They both nodded. Good. This was the critical part. I can't have them losing from the start. I placed my hands on their back. They're lucky I'm the one doing this. I've trained a lot of Masters. Hah. They probably can't fathom the good fortune that they're experiencing right now. They're going to be martial artists in two hours. Most martial artists that have struggled for years would cry if they heard this. They would even kill to learn this technique. They should be grateful.
That I, Baek Jo-Pil, master of Murim, the Conqueror of All, will be teaching them.
Even if this body was not perfect enough, I had all the knowledge of what I needed to do.
"Now, breathe in. Don't breathe out unless I say so," I commanded, passing a little qi into them to clear their qi channels as they did it.
"Breathe out."
A short pause,
"Breathe in–"
"Out."
They were following it splendidly. I had great expectations of Kevin and thought I'd have problems with Edmund, but this was going better than I'd thought. His motivation to be strong must be so high. That's beautiful.
I made sure they followed it accordingly, and with the infusion of qi into their pathways, I could smell the grime coming out of their skin.
"Right about now, you should be feeling a little warm under your navels, yeah?" I asked.
They both nodded. Good. If they'd spoken, I'd have hit them hard with the stick. Dodged that one.
"That's your dantian," I continued. "Try moving it."
They struggled moving it. It was already amazing that they could feel the qi within less than an incense stick's worth of time. They'd have been considered geniuses and raised with the most care if they belonged to a big faction.
"Try some more," I ordered. I wasn't going to go easy on them.
Edmund succeeded in moving the qi in his dantian first. He's really got the talent to be trained in the Shaolin arts. Soon after, Kevin moved his qi. Good.
"Now, try circulating it. Follow the energy I'll pass through you. Follow it closely, okay," I ordered.
They both nodded.
I moved my qi through their meridians and they followed carefully. I went very slowly so that they could follow me. After moving through the complete channel—
"Now, keep moving it like that and bringing it back to the dantian. The principle is simple, right? Feel the same energy outside around you, circulate it in your body, and move it to your dantian. Okay?"
They nodded.
Good. That was the basics of cultivation. It was a technique I'd refined and taught my disciples before any other thing, and they became respected figures in Murim.
Ah. I should do my own thing now. The pill I got from the safe.
I took it out from the bag and looked at it. It contained energy, like the essence pills from the Shaolin temple. This could give around 30 years' worth of energy and boost me to Peak state if I absorbed it with the righteous qi cultivation technique. I'm going to be absorbing it with the technique I use now. There's always demonic energy around. Probably because the world has demons.
I took it and began refining it. I could feel the energy I was gaining from it. Hmm. This is a bit different from the Shaolin temple's pills. It contained demonic energy too. Is it possible that they used demonic creatures in making the pill? What a fortune. Those temple monks' pills were the purest of qi. This is good.
I absorbed half of the pill and got to first rate. I could push further to get to Peak rate, but I decided to hold on. I used the remaining energy from the pill to stabilize it. Even at this state, I could fight a peak-rate martial and win within ten moves.
I opened my eyes and it was already sunset. Kevin and Edmund stood close to the wall. I could feel the energy of third-rate martials coming from them. They must've finished and taken a bath. They looked clean.
"How is it?" I asked as I stood up.
"Good. I feel so good," Kevin replied, clenching his fist.
"Now wrap that energy in your hands and punch the wall," I ordered.
"Oh. So it's like that." Edmund tried punching the wall like that and felt pain. He wasn't injured but just made a dent on the wall," Kevin answered, holding Edmund's shoulder, laughing.
Edmund tried shaking him off and they both did as I ordered.
"Wow," they both said as they looked at their fist marks on the wall.
Edmund turned to me, "Let's have an arm contest, Theo," he said excitedly.
I looked at the wall, a part that still looked good, and punched it. It came crumbling.
"I did that without qi," I answered. "Still want to arm wrestle?" I added.
He shook his head very fast. Haha.
"Now, let's go catch some rats," I added as I dusted myself. We moved out.
---
We moved through the alleys smoothly. I slowed down so they could follow me properly. They followed excellently. The energy from being third rates gave them a lot of stamina. Edmund seemed to be doing better though.
"Are you sure they'll be where we're headed?" Kevin asked.
"Yes. I'm sure," I replied.
According to Garrick's memories, they should be there. We got there and around the corner, a cat scurried off, making some noise.
"Shh," one man said. "What's that?" he added.
"Just some cat," the other replied. "Stop being so scared," he added.
They walked right to us.
"Told you, didn't I?" I said to Kevin.
As soon as they heard my voice, they leapt back.
"Ah. Just some kids," one of them said, heaving a sigh.
"No," the other replied. "Those are the kids from yesterday, right?" he added.
"Right," the other answered, moving forward. "Just at the right time," he added, laughing. "I could use some punching bags to vent before leaving town."
"Should I leave him to you guys?" I asked Kevin and Edmund.
"Not exactly the hunt I was expecting, but do you think we can take him on?" Kevin asked.
Yeah. It's no fun when the prey delivers itself like this.
"Yes. Sure. With ease"
"Wait," Edmund said, "What if we took them on by ourselves? Split them?" he asked.
Oh? Isn't he a charming pup?
"Yeah. Go on. A tip for you—gather qi at the area you want to protect to make it simpler," I replied.
"What are these little squirts talking about?" the one moving towards us said as he cracked his knuckles.
"I'll make sure nobody interrupts your fun," I added as I stepped backwards.
Kevin rushed at the one coming forward and Edmund at the one at the back. They were startled. Possibly from the fact that the boys attacked them first. The first one got his composure faster and punched Kevin, pushing him backwards to my side.
"You blocked well," I said to Kevin as I pushed him forward.
"Well, your hint was simple to follow," he replied, smirking.
Edmund was already beating the other one to a pulp.
"I guess fighting is not my specialty," Kevin added as he moved forward.
"Please... Please stop," the one getting beaten by Edmund begged.
"Don't kill him... yet," I shouted, telling Edmund.
He withdrew some of his qi and started punching. That's unexpected. He seems to use qi naturally without noticing. That's a genius right there.
Kevin had started beating the crap out of the other one.
"The old man Kyne," Kevin started asking, "who did it?"
Good. He didn't get blinded by vengeance and is asking the right question.
"It wasn't me... I swear, it wasn't me," the man replied.
"Then who did it?" Kevin asked, raising his hands to hit him once more.
"Felipe... It was Felipe... Said the old man interrupted his playtime with a young gal and he just pushed him a little."
"Where's this Felipe fellow?" I asked, cutting in.
He looked at me without answering and Kevin gave him a big punch on the face.
"Answer," he commanded.
"He skipped town last night," he answered. "The adventurer guild was investigating it. Heard the old man was a relative to someone important in the guild."
Kevin's eyes lit up at this.
"Related to who?" he asked.
"I don't know. Please, I really don't..." the man replied, pleading.
Edmund had beaten up the other one until he fainted. He came to us.
"Where's the other scums?" he asked the man.
"I... I don't know. We all went our different ways," the man replied.
Edmund took a deep sigh, clenched his fist, and spat on his face. He looked unsatisfied.
"Don't worry, Ed," I told him. "We'll make sure scum like them don't get to enjoy the gift of a good life," I added.
"We're through here. Let's go, Kev." I tapped Kevin on the shoulder.
He looked confused. In deep thought.
"We'll go to the adventurer guild. We'll find out about it," I reassured.
His eyes seemed to come alive. "What about these two?", he asked, "we can't just leave them here. There must be some bounty on their head" he added.
Bounty? Yeah. But the soldiers would as a lot of questions and we really don't need the money. "Don't worry about the bounty money" I replied. "Hey Ed, drag the other one here" I ordered. Edmund dragged the other one to me. I touched them and spread demonic qi into their bodies.
"What are you doing?" Kevin asked, "By tomorrow when they wake up, they won't be able to remember anything and won't be able to move. They'll just lay here until they die of hunger" I replied. "A fitting end for these bastards", Kevin replied. "Is it some kind of magic? Can I learn?", Edmund asked.
"If you're ready, I'll let you know it", I answered. He won't be able to do this with demonic energy. Perhaps with magic? I'll look into it.
"We're having meat tonight" I added. "Yay!", Edmund shouted excited. "Where did we get money for meat?", Kevin asked, "Garrick was kind enough to donate to us", I answered smirking.
"Let's go home", I added. The night's hunt was over. It was time to rest.
Edmund gave the men one last glare before catching up beside us. Kevin looked a little more steady now. His eyes were sharper. Not from rage—but from purpose.
"Let's pay the adventurer guild a visit later," I said. "And if Felipe really did skip town… we'll hunt him too."
That brought a grin to Edmund's face. Kevin simply nodded. Our little hunt had just gotten bigger.