[Freedom Technique cannot level up due to the limit of your cultivation level. Skill level increase will be delayed until cultivation level increases.]

After practicing the meditative absorption state of the Freedom Technique during the day, Sigmarus opened his eyes to an unexpected notification floating in front of his face. The moment he finished reading it, he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed through his nostrils.

Maybe my short-term expectations for this tattoo were too high.

Pondering about the utility of the tattoo with furrowed brows, he stood and stretched his sore body. A small portion of the fatigue leftover from the Giju exercise he performed yesterday flew out of his muscles. His chest wound also flared up a little, but only enough to make him grimace.

Midway through his stretches, he glanced at the clock. It was almost time to head to the gym. Since he did not need to prepare much, he cracked his neck and ambled into the bathroom to wash his face. Afterward, he stared at his reflection. The gauntness of his cheekbones had filled in over the last few days and his pale unhealthy skin tone had brightened just enough to improve from zombie-like to cave-dweller.

Huh, I actually look somewhat… normal? I wonder if this is what I would have looked like if I hadn’t become a muskrat. Must be because of the tattoo.

Setting aside his thoughts on the change since his face still wasn’t something worth admiring, he ran his fingers through his short silver-white hair and exited the bathroom. Then, he turned the corner toward his laundry closet and grabbed an old black tracksuit he hadn’t worn since high school. Originally, it was issued out by the school, and every student received one. They were supposed to return it after graduation. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily, his banishment to the underground happened before he could return it. Due to his lingering distaste for the past, it had been collecting dust in the closet for the past eight years. Staring at the thin athletic pants and jacket, several memories rushed through his head. He closed his eyes and sighed. Even now, his past as a useless scrub was holding him back.

Clicking his tongue, he shook the dust off of the pants and jacket. Then, he removed his gym shorts and replaced them with the athletic pants. They fit snugly around his legs but were loose enough to not restrict his movement. Since he didn’t really need the jacket, he haphazardly tossed it back on the floor in the corner of the closet. He then grabbed a random t-shirt and walked toward the door while sliding it on.

Before leaving, he glanced down at the athletic pants one more time. Annoying memories passed through his mind again, but this time, he calmly closed his eyes and muttered, “Can’t let these damn memories shackle me forever.”

* * *

“Yo. Welcome, newbie.”

A man similar in age to himself wearing loose-fitting black gym shorts and a black hooded sweatshirt greeted Sigmarus with a callous wave the moment he entered the gym. The guy was leaning against the wall as if none of this had anything to do with him. Underneath his hood, thin and straight black hairs covered most of his forehead. His cold brown eyes observed Sigmarus with minimal interest. His other features were sharp and rugged. Several small scars covered his face, hands, and legs. The worst of those scars was on his right cheek. It looked like someone had tried to plow his face as though it was farmland. It looked relatively fresh, too, considering its pink coloring. In terms of musculature, he was built thicker than Sigmarus but much smaller than Duke. Despite that, Sigmarus felt his spine grow colder the longer he looked at him.

Sigmarus nodded at the unfamiliar man’s greeting before glancing at another man with a raised brow. He actually recognised this second man as the one who had manned the counter the last couple days he came here. The man, who looked a few years younger than the other two men here, was similar in build to himself and had short light blond hair and narrow dull green eyes. The rest of his face was eerily unmemorable. In fact, the moment Sigmarus removed his eyes from the man, he forgot what the man even looked like and had to stare at him again in an attempt to remember his appearance. However, no matter how many times or how long he stared at the man, he couldn’t recall his features after looking away. Even his monotone pants and shirt were forgettable. Sigmarus hadn’t noticed the strange phenomenon before since the man seemed so unimportant, but now that he focused on the guy, he noticed something about him was incredibly strange.

“Welcome back, Sigmarus,” The guy who had previously manned the counter casually said, stepping forward and extending his hand for a handshake. “Name’s Torin. The weirdo over there is Shad.”

“Fuck you, asshole. You’re the weird one,” Shad grumbled, only briefly glancing at his companion before returning his attention to studying Sigmarus.

Both of these guys are strange, Sigmarus thought. Outwardly, on the other hand, he lightly smiled as a minimum pleasantry, grasped Torin’s surprisingly rough hand, and said, “Nice to meet you.”

“Hmm… Passable,” Shad mumbled, interrupting Torin who had barely opened his mouth to return pleasantries. “Follow me, new guy.”

Without waiting for an answer, the hooded man turned and sauntered toward the door to the office. At the same time, Torin sighed and said, “Try not to mind his attitude. He’s a very capable person and has contributed to the gang more than anyone else. Aside from our leader, that is.”

“It’s fine,” Sigmarus said. Of course, nobody liked being told what to do in such a blunt manner, but Sigmarus had experienced the condescending attitudes of countless people over the years. In comparison, this Shad guy was pretty amiable. He at least didn’t look down on him. Rather, it seemed like he treated Torin with a similar lack of respect despite apparently having equal roles within the gang.

For a moment, Torin observed Sigmarus’ expression. Since he couldn’t figure out if Sigmarus was actually annoyed or not, he shrugged and said, “Let’s follow, then. No point getting on his nerves before we even start.”

With that, the two followed Shad into the office. The hooded man sauntered toward the only door in the room Sigmarus didn’t know the purpose of. While following, he noticed that Shad’s gait was rather strange. Each of the man’s steps were quiet and made him look like he was sliding on ice.

Strange. Really strange.

Unbeknownst to Sigmarus, Torin was still observing him from slightly behind. The moment he saw that Sigmarus was paying attention to Shad’s gait, his eyebrows rose with interest. Thinking that they may have picked up a decent climber recruit, his lips curled into a satisfied smirk, but he quickly erased his expression and turned stoic. Getting excited wasn’t his job. Observing the recruit was.

Meanwhile, Shad keyed a twenty-one digit code into the lock pad next to the electronic door. Small motors whirred and the door slid inside the wall, revealing the top of a cement stairwell.

Sigmarus pressed his lips together when he saw how many numbers were in that passcode. Wasn’t it overkill? Although he was surprised, he followed Shad without hesitation.

The footsteps of Sigmarus and Torin echoed in the narrow stairwell as they descended below ground. Shad’s footsteps barely made any noise at all and were drowned out by the echoes of the others’ steps.

After descending nearly a hundred steps, they arrived at another electronic door. Again, Shad entered another twenty-one digit code. The door slid open, but the room on the other side was pitch black aside from the miniscule amount of light coming from the dimly lit stairwell.

Sigmarus strained his eyes in an attempt to find out what was in this room. He nearly jumped upon hearing Torin whisper in his ear.

“Brace yourself. It’ll get bright in a moment.”

Just as Torin said, Shad flipped a switch just beyond the doorway, and bright fluorescent lights illuminated an enormous room. Sigmarus squinted, but that was it. Rather, he couldn’t close his eyes due to how surprised he was. Instead of just a plain room, the area beyond the door was more like a hangar. All kinds of equipment, from sandbags to sparring robots, took up the space near the walls. On top of all of that, a large boxing ring stood proudly in the center of the hangar. Unable to believe his sight, Sigmarus’ eyes bulged and widened. Much of the equipment, aside from the sandbags and boxing ring, were advanced training machines that could normally only be found upstairs.

“Hehe. I guess a bird with clipped wings would be more surprised by this than a muskrat, eh?” Torin said, chuckling to himself.

Sigmarus blinked and breathed deeply through his nose. Within seconds, his apathetic demeanor returned, and he asked, “How is it possible to have all this stuff down here?”

“Trade secret,” Torin answered with a mysterious smile.

Before Sigmarus could pry anymore, Shad turned around and stared at him with cold eyes. With a voice almost as placid as Sigmarus’ normal voice, Shad said, “Come on, newbie. Let’s see what you got.”

Then, Shad gestured for him to follow and walked over to the large boxing ring.

Off to the side, Torin frowned slightly, but then sighed and said, “Good luck, Sigmarus. Please don’t die.”

“Say what now?”