CHAPTER 28

Mir and Oka left after that and searched for an ophthalmologist. After an hour, Mir didn’t find any and a thought crossed his mind. What if there were none in this world?

After all, he had not seen anyone wearing glasses since he was reborn. He also remembered how every martial artist had its sight enhanced as he progressed through realms. No need for glasses if you can see an ant a kilometer away, right? He still asked Oka and got the answer he expected: there were none. So, he settled for a jeweler and explained the basic concepts behind sunglasses.

The jeweler grasped it and told him he would try. Later, he went to a builder shop. He asked if there were any construction workers available and soon hired a group of disciples to make him a small teahouse in the forest outside the school once the gates would open this month.

He also asked them to take care of the furniture. Finally, he went to a shoemaker and asked for leather black shoes. This went smoother, it wasn’t a revolutionary design that he was asking for after all. Finally, they went back to the pavilion.

Before sleeping, Mir took the earring given to him by elder Fin and put it on cautiously in his left ear. The Abyss Pearl Earring proved to be even better than his wildest hope. It was concentrating the energy around and leading it inside Mir’s body in a constant slow flow.

It had the same effect as meditation except Mir didn’t need to do anything. it would no doubt help a lot. And so, he slept with the earring gathering energy for him. Of course, the energy amount would become too small after reaching a higher rank and realm but that is a problem for another day.

Days later, he went back with Oka to the market mountain and checked the suits, the leather shoes, the sunglasses and asked for fifty of each for both him and Oka. Mir was rich so he couldn’t care less about a few thousand golds. He had millions. He still haggled with the merchants on the prices.

You can become rich but to remain rich, you need to be cautious and try to spare every coin you can. By giving an advance, he could cut the prices nicely. His status as a core disciple helped too. And his experience as a successful businessman in his previous life wasn’t for show either.

Time flew by. Mir trained and reached the fourth realm while Oka focused on learning new skills. The items he ordered were made and received, the teahouse built. Now, he had to prepare a way to attract the targets and find a way to minimize the risks to himself even more. For that, he went to elder Fin.

He asked his help in tailoring the clothes. He had them reach rank 2 with the additional effect being an hardening type. “Iron body” was a simple body hardening skill but making it into a pattern on the suit turned out to transform the suit into something useful. He didn’t need to tamper with the sunglasses or the shoes though. He only worked on them so they reached rank 1. That way, they wouldn’t be destroyed that easily.

After that, he bought two sofas and worked diligently to create space wide enough in one so that Oka could get inside and hide. He had the idea while dreaming a few nights before. It was something he saw in a movie once and left a deep impression on him as it was one of the things he least expected to happen in this particular movie. He thought it might just get the same results here…And it did.

After that, he realized that the earring was enough to have him keep breaking through for some time so he stopped cultivating and searched for a way to gain skills and battle experience. He had after all never fought before. He went to the challenging mountain. Except for the large open arena, there were many small ones around but they were empty and reserved for special events.

The true arenas were actually inside the buildings. He entered one and greeted a management elder. The old man wasn’t really caring about him. There were so many disciples going in and out of this place on a daily basis…However, his attitude changed when he saw he was dealing with a core disciple. He presented the arena to Mir with great details:

“Here, we supply the disciples with a way to fight death battles without receiving injuries. We use a special space/time martial pattern and more complicated ones to have disciples fight against each other. Here, your school token will register all defeats and wins. It will also be used to register your strength so that you can’t abuse the system and challenge weaker opponents.

-What does that mean elder?

-If you’re at the ninth realm, you won’t be able to send a challenge to anyone under the ninth realm. However, they can. And if someone challenges another who is supposed to be in a higher realm, then the stronger one can’t refuse. Here, the most victorious ones are rewarded! Let me show you to a room.”

They walked up and Mir found himself into a never-ending hall. It seemed surreal as the building wasn’t much more than a small house from outside. Curiously, Mir asked:

“How many rooms are there?

-Always one.”

The elder’s answer was mysterious but Mir didn’t peak into it further. He knew when to stop and guessed it was due to some martial tailoring of sorts. It was probably some complex martial inscription again and he could just ask Elder Fin if he wished to know. He had a more important matter to attend to at the moment though. A matter called revenge.

They entered a room. It was small, with a bed, a closet and a rectangular crystal laying on a desk. There was also one more door that led to a second room. The elder said:

“A bed to rest for those who are going to spend more than a day here, a closet to stock your space bag and anything else you want so you aren’t hindered when in battle and a crystal console. By using your energy, it will light up and from there, you will be able to see the interface. From there, you can challenge others, see the rankings, watch previous fights and much more…Once a challenge is accepted, you have five minutes to prepare. Then, this second door will automatically open and you have a minute to enter it. If you don’t, you are considered to be forfeiting. Once you’re in, it will close and you will enter a state of sleep. Your body will remain here while your spirit will be sent in a random arena. There, you will be able to experience a fight to the death with your opponent. True battle experience without damage to the body! I must warn you though, damage to the mind might happen since you will feel the pain. As soon as you start the crystal console, your name and information will appear to all and you might get challenged.

-Basically, it’s a simulation...

-A what?

-Never mind. But how does this even work? Is this building martial tailored or something?

-Not the building. There are so many functions that no martial tailor could make that work by tempering with the building. No. There are thousands and thousands of pieces that have been tampered and placed together to build this facility. But you don’t have to think too much of this and just enjoy yourself with some fighting.

-Alright…Thank you elder!”

After that, Mir proceeded to watch many records of previous matches from powerful disciples so he could grasp their skills. If he was challenged, he would just ignore it and leave it as a forfeit, he could not care less about rankings.

Still, there is a difference between theory and practice. Even after watching many records and learning many skills, if he knew how to use the skill, it didn’t mean he would be able to use it efficiently in battle. He soon understood that he wouldn’t be ready on time to help Oka. So, he devised a new battle plan.

He went back to see elder Fin and asked him for a rank 2 item. Something that would act as a tri-point barrier. That is how he got the rocks needed to activate the barrier that trapped all the Outer Fire Alliance disciples. Unfortunately for them, they were far too weak to dent the energy of the rank 3 grand elder Fin.

Strangely, the item stored the power of the crafter and only needed a part of the user’s power to activate it. Learning of this, Mir decided on using the knife during the battle. the fire bullet from a rank 3 would be a more potent weapon than any skills he could manage to learn in the time left. He kept going to the challenging mountain and broadened his skill list while he waited for the date to arrive.

Then, the day arrived and the deed was done. Mir could only use the knife and barrier once though; the activating costs were just that high in energy consumption.

Elder Fin had listened intently to Mir’s tale and couldn’t help but gasp at the kid’s mental abilities. He even complimented him for his success. Then reprimanded him a bit, just for show. Elder Lan was still walking around in circles cursing the world and his bad luck. They waited for him to calm down and then, he said:

“Mir, this is a genuine problem.

-Elder Lan, aren’t you just worried about you own face?

-No. Well, yes, a bit but No! What do you think will happen when their families learn of their child’s death? If it was just one or a dozen. Maybe a hundred. But all the elites of an outer alliance at the same time? And while on their way to a rendezvous with a grand elder? There will be protest!”

This was true. Mir was a businessman and obviously was someone who had a long-term vision of things. However, in this world where science itself was an aberration, what was to fear? He chuckled and answered the elder:

“So, what? It’s not like they will know we did it, right?”

Both elder Lan and elder Fin looked at each other’s with expression of surprise. They couldn’t believe that a kid as smart as Mir would not know about such a wide-known fact. And looking at them, Mir felt slightly disturbed. Then, elder Fin said:

“Mir, have you heard about Rollbackers?

-No.”

Both elders sighed with their hands hiding their faces. That’s when Mir understood something was wrong. He asked with a slightly apprehensive tone:

“What is it?

-What are THEY? Rollbackers are martial artists with a special skill. They can see the past events by the fluctuation of energy. Though they can’t go back in time too far. There are many of them as anyone can, more or less, get the hang of it as one gets stronger. The more accustomed to energy you are, the easier you can see. As a matter of fact, if anyone were to go there, even if we cleaned up the place, it would mean nothing, they would easily know who did it. Since they went out on Lan’s orders, they will consider the threat from inside the school first. And then, what do you think will happen?

-I’m so fucked…

-Exactly. Now, let me ask you, who did you kill?

-Only the leader, Hilm.

-That’s a relief then. His family won’t do anything to you. You are safe, congratulations.

-…And for Oka?

-He’s doomed. An orphan, still considered outer disciple of the school…The prospects are dark. If a single kid from the batch you slaughtered came from a decent family, he’s dead.

-Isn’t there anything we could do?

-…”

After a brief discussion, they all left the pavilion. Mir went to the challenging mountain and began watching old records again. He had to act as if nothing happened. This was hard but the best way to make it seem like nothing was going on. Elder Fin was the same. He went back to his pavilion and worked on some of his projects. Still trying to break through the rank 4 items…Without success and much money loss.

Elder Lan however had much to do. He was the one holding the only hope to save Oka. He went to the mission mountain. The ones tasked to do all the paperwork and such. He greeted the grand elder, elder Oln. They sat down and began to discuss the matter:

“Lan, I will go straight to the point. Did you kill those kids?

-No, I didn’t. I didn’t even send a mission request…

-I understand. you know the protocol about this, right?

-You won’t act since it happened outside the school. But if a family comes in asking for revenge…

-We deliver the guilty ones to them, outside schoolgrounds. This rule only applies when it comes to inside-killings. And this is what happened this time. You have your part on this too though.

-I know.

-Then, why did you come today?

-Can you overlook it?

-Surely you jest. I never overlooked anything before and never will. I thought you hated in-fighting as much as I did.

-I do. But this time, the situation is different.

-Why? Because it’s one of your disciple we’re talking about? Lan…The situation is the same. Only the parties involved are different. You can’t be fair only when you aren’t involved, Lan. I am disappointed.

-I know. And I understand your point. Still, I would rather lose my face than lose those two. Is there nothing to be done?

-There are always possibilities. If you could find them a protector strong enough, it would be dealt with easily. If you are asking if there’s something you, yourself, can do, then there is nothing.

-As I thought, a backer is the only way. Yet, I can’t bring myself to go for this solution. It would only drag out the problem.

-If you want it resolved, then just kill the two kids.

-…I’ll be taking my leave Oln, it was nice.

-As if. Have a safe trip back, Lan. And don’t do anything too crazy.”