Chapter 8: Mr. Knight

“Mmmhh! Mmmhh!!”

“Heh, quite a feisty one aren’t ya?”

In the third floor of an abandoned building, Stephanie is being held captive by a man.

Tom was the one responsible for the whole kidnapping but even he is someone that took orders from someone else.

After all, if he was the one truly in charge, he would have long since pushed Stephanie down. Who could resist such a beautiful girl?

Having a hard time resisting himself, Tom pinched the cute cheeks of the girl tied to a chair in front of him.

“Such a cute little face. Really, I hope your father doesn’t hand over the cash so I get to keep you all for myself!”

“Mmmnnhhh!!!”

“Hehe, what, you also want to stay?”

“MMmNNnn!!!”

Stephanie glared at Tom with as much hostility as she can muster. However, this didn’t naturally scare him, rather, he was even more unable to hold himself.

“Nnngg! Just a bit! It should be fine if it’s just for a bit right? Kekekeke, let’s remove those clothes of yours...” Tom smiled and laughed as his expression seemed to fill in lust.

“MMMMMNNN!!!”

Just as Tom was about to start taking off her clothes, sounds of banging and thudding were heard from beneath them.

Soon, gunshots were fired.

“Fuck! What the hell’s happening!?”

The gunshots stopped. And then the whole building grew quiet.

Tom grabbed the gun behind him and cautiously looked at the door in front of him.

*BAM*

The door sprang open and a figure was seen.

He wore a suit and tie but his head was covered in what looks like a knight’s helmet while his hands wore metal gauntlets.

The knight in the suit walked casually forwards, with two guns in both hands, pointing at Tom.

“Shit!”

Tom slashed the rope behind Stephanie to get her off the chair and used her to cover himself closely.

“Drop the gun!”

“Mmhhh!!!”

“I said drop it!” Tom shouted at the intruder.

The knight in the suit didn’t say anything as he still continued to walk forwards, causing Tom to back off.

The third floor of the abandoned building wasn’t completely intact.

There’s a side in the room they were in which was completely visible to the outside.

The reason they chose this building is because no one usually looks towards the abandoned building but it didn’t mean that they aren’t visible.

This was meant as a warning to Arlo in case he thinks of doing something and also for Tom to have an easy way out.

If he kept backing off, he would reach a ladder that he left and easily get down to escape so he wasn’t too worried.

However, by escaping, it meant that he failed his mission and as much as possible, he didn’t want that.

“Drop your gun!” Tom once again shouted as he was filled in unease.

+ + +

Immediately after the sounds of the gunshots in the abandoned building was heard, the police and the media rushed into action.

The surroundings had been already surrounded by the police and several news reporters were chattering about in front of the building.

Arlo also took action and coordinated with the police as he mentioned that there is a chance of snipers on top of the buildings.

Helicopters hovered in the skies, locating the snipers. Soon, the three snipers were found and arrested immediately.

However, it wasn’t just the police taking to the skies. A news reporter had also found an opportunity to board one of the helicopters and took her cameraman along with her.

“Thanks for the lift Bill.”

“No prob.”

Leith Teyson is a relatively new reporter but with her numerous connections, she became easily known immediately.

This time as well, as she had previously known one of the police pilots, she was able to ask for a favor and have her on board.

Soon, they landed on the building just beside the abandoned building where the hostage and the criminal were visible.

Seeing the situation, Leith faced the camera and after receiving the go from the cameraman, she began her report.

“Hello everyone, this is Leith Teyson reporting LIVE in Makati City! Just a few minutes ago, reports of gunshots were heard from an abandoned building in the west side of the city. Now, as you can see from the situation behind me, two men with guns are in a stand-off with one of them holding a hostage!”

The camera zoomed in on the situation on the third floor.

“It appears that this masked man has cornered the hostage taker! However, due to the hostage, he is unable to make any moves!”

“DROP YOUR DAMN GUN! OR I WILL KILL THIS BITCH!”

Tom’s voice was pretty loud so it was even heard from where they are now.

Lucas paused, and finally dropped both of his guns on the ground.

“Heh, now kick it over!”

Lucas did as he said and kicked the guns over to him.

Seeing this, Tom laughed and started to become arrogant.

“Hehe, what’s with the mask huh? You think you’re some knight in shining armor!? What are you gonna do now Mr. Knight!? Hahahaha!”

Hearing Tom’s maniacal laughter, Leith frowned.

“It seems that this...Mr. Knight, or so the criminal called him, had come with the intention of saving the hostage! It appears that Makati City has gotten itself a masked vigilante! However, his career might be short lived if he fails to live through this.”

Leith’s eyes glittered at the thought of reporting a real life masked vigilante but also worried that he might not last long.

However, just as everyone was beginning to think that Lucas will be dead soon, he spoke.

“You’re wrong.”

“Hah!?”

“I’m not a knight in shining armor.”

From beneath the mask, Lucas’ mouth curled upwards.

“I’m a knight in a business suit.”

“Eh?”

Suddenly, the guy wearing a knight’s helmet in front of him disappeared and reappeared in front of him, instantly grabbing his gun.

*Bang*

The sudden surprise had caused him to pull the trigger. Thankfully, Lucas’ hand had covered the tip of the gun, causing the bullet to pierce through the gauntlet and sink into his hand.

Lucas only winced in pain a bit but he still dealt a blow to Tom’s neck who instantly collapsed.

The surroundings grew quiet as everyone saw Tom get knocked out surprisingly.

Lucas looked at his hand and thought how nice it is to have learned [Heal]. Now, all he need to worry about are the blood in the scene.

Thanks to the gauntlet, the blood didn’t splatter too much and the only item with his blood on is Tom’s gun. He took that and silently placed it in his back.

Afterwards, he picked up the two guns that he had kicked over earlier.

These two guns were from Arlo’s bodyguards and he had touched it earlier without the gauntlets so it would have his fingerprints.

Naturally, he can’t leave those here.

Leith had finally snapped out from the shock and excitedly reported.

“It would seem that this Mr. Knight is not a simple person! Possessing superhuman speed, he immediately subdued the criminal and saved the hostage! To everyone watching this news right now, what we have witnessed today, may be the birth of a real life Superhero!”

+ + +

After knocking out the thug boss and taking care of the guns, I turned towards the girl.

En, she’s pretty alright.

The reporter on the roof of the opposite building is pretty too.

“...Lucas...you’re not thinking of that other woman over there right?” El’s cold voice sounded in my head.

“Ehh, no no no. I’m always thinking of you my queen!”

“Pervert! Who wants you to think of me!? You dare to have any ideas to this queen!?”

“No no! Definitely not!”

“Y-you-...! Hmph!”

Good grief, I really can’t understand women…

Whatever, let’s untie this girl first.

I also used [Heal] on her so her bruises would get healed immediately.

“You alright?”

“Eh?”

The girl let out a confused sound but just as she was about to answer, steps could be heard from the door.

The next moment, police came running in together with Arlo and his wife.

“Stephie!

“Dad! Mom!”

The two parents rushed in and hugged their daughter as if I didn’t exist.

Hey hey hey, I just saved your daughter you know!

...Whatever, I need to leave now.

“Hands above your head!”

“Drop the guns!”

The police shouted as they pointed their guns at me.

Che- as expected, the police would point their guns at just about anyone…

“It’s fine officers! He saved my daughter!”

“That may be true, but he did it while breaking the law!”

“Please move aside sir! He is armed, and dangerous!”

Arlo stood in front of me in an effort to defend me. Still, the police kept their guns pointed at me and advised Arlo to step away.

These cops most likely didn’t care about the law much but only thinking of how they’ll get famous after catching me.

I sighed.

Anyway, the girl has been saved so there’s no use staying here anymore.

“Thanks, but I don’t need your help. I’ll be keeping the guns though.”

“Eh?”

Confused, Arlo turned around but suddenly, using my [Elemental Manipulation], I made another burst of light to temporarily blind everyone.

Then I disappeared.

“What the-!?”

“Where did he go!?”

“All units search the perimeter!”

“The knight has escaped! I repeat! Mr. Knight has escaped!”

The police shouted all over the place while some gave commands and reported in their radios.

Which reminds, me, I still have the radios I got from these thugs.

I’ll just drop them off somewhere. I’ll be keeping the guns though.

But still...Mr. Knight? Who the hell came up with that!?

“Hahahaha! Mr. Knight! They’re calling you Mr. Knight! Hahahaha! What a lousy name! Hahaha!”

“...I’m glad it pleases this lady queen...”

“Hahahaha! Pleased! This queen is very pleased! Hahahaha!”

Ugh...damn it.

I know that thug boss just called me Mr. Knight but that was just him messing around! Why did they make it my name!?

Mr. Knight...even Marvel’s Moon Knight’s name sounds cooler…

Sigh...Let’s just go home…

+ + +

In the internet, the LIVE news from earlier is still being discussed in different forums and websites.

If you open Facebook, all of your latest news feeds would show Mr. Knight in 9 out of 10 posts.

If you open Twitter, the most trending topic is Mr. Knight.

If you open any forums, the hottest topic is still Mr. Knight.

In just a few minutes, the name Mr. Knight had become a national sensation in the Philippines and had even started to reach other countries.

Soon, the major news stations of other countries had started to report about this masked vigilante with seemingly super fast movements and had also disappeared in a blink of an eye! The man known as Mr. Knight!

Lifesucks: /How much of this is real? Maybe it’s just a movie shooting?/

NobodyMan: /It’s a LIVE broadcast, how can it be edited!? Besides, it’s on several news stations too!/

Rooted: /The world’s changing man, I tell you. First is this guy, then super villains would come next./

Never-Regret: /That’s true, but isn’t it exciting!? A world of heroes and villains! Haha!/

Workaholic234: /Where did this guy come from though? What is his origin story?/

Grinding_Machine: /Hey, doesn’t that look familiar? The moment he disappeared and reappeared...it looks like the [Blink] skill in [World Gate Online] right?/

TwitchyFingers: /You’re right...then again, maybe not? I’m not really sure, the camera’s pretty shaky at this point./

AlsoHuman: /You guys just played too much. That’s probably just a very fast dash. I’m curious how he disappeared at the end though./

Grinding_Machine: /Yeah, I don’t recognize that one from any skill or magic I’ve seen in WGO so I guess it doesn’t have any connections./

AlsoHuman: /Why would there be a connection? And even if there is, what? You think he’s an NPC who traveled worlds? Get real, WGO is just a virtual reality game./

Lulululu: /Stop talking about his powers, look at those helmet and gauntlets. It doesn’t seem special right? Would he keep it that way from now on?/

Enigma: /Nah, he’ll probably upgrade those in the future. It’s always like that in the comics. But I doubt he’ll wear armor. Since his whole gig is that of a ‘Knight-in-a-business-suit’ as he said it, he would keep the suit in the future I guess./

Comic-Lover: /Haha, yeah. I’m also digging the whole knight wearing a suit and tie thing. Very awesome!/

SparklingGirl: /Kyaa! Mr. Knight is so cool! Hehehe, I hope to see fanarts and fanfics about Mr. Knight immediately! No wait, I’ll just start one right now!/

Rooted: /I’m calling it, the net’s gonna be flooded with Mr. Knight fanarts, fan fictions, and memes in the next couple months! I pity the guy underneath that helmet!/

SparklingGirl: /Fufufu, a yaoi fanfic about Mr. Knight and Moon Knight from Marvel...guhehehehe.../

Comic-Lover: /Aw sheesh girl! No! At least pair him with a girl!/

SparklingGirl: /Mr. Knight x Deadpool could also work!/

Comic-Lover: /At least use Gwenpool or Ladypool or something!/

SparklingGirl: /Mr. Knight x Batman The Dark Knight!/

Enigma: /Mr. Knight x Ironman/

Comic-Lover: /.../

Rooted: /...On behalf of the troll world, I apologize to Mr. Knight.../

+ + +

!!!???

What was that!? Why did I suddenly tighten my butt!? What is this ominous feeling crawling in my skin!!!???

An enemy!?

I looked around but I couldn’t see anyone suspicious.

Was it just my imagination?

Still...why do I feel like my innocence is in danger just now???

I sighed and slumped down on the couch in my [World Home].

“Master, you seem tired?” Mei asked in a gentle tone.

“Yeah...just a bit...”

“Hey, if you’re gonna sleep, just do it in the [Water of Origin] pool so you can cultivate!”

Oh yeah, right. Let’s do that.

Thinking so, I used the [World Key] to transfer to Zoulang and immediately saw the familiar cave.

I stripped my clothes and just dived in the water so I could sleep.

“Kya!? Y-you! Close your eyes if you’re gonna take off your clothes!!!”

“Eh? Ah, right. I forgot that you can also see...”

“P-pervert! Why are you still looking down there!?”

“Zzzz”

Too lazy to retort, I just slept like that.

When I woke up, my cultivation is still at Low Martial King but I didn’t mind. The qi stat is already in the 3 millions though, I wonder how much more till I reach middle rank?

Looking at my unbalanced stat window, I finally decided to cultivate mana and stamina the same way too.

Condense into liquid…

This whole condensing into liquid thing isn’t actually real liquid. I doubt that you can find it if you split my dantian, brain, or heart open.

It’s more of a mental image of the three energies.

Spirit seemed to be different though.

Anyway, I continued to turn my mana and stamina energies into liquid form until I can no longer do since the [Container] is already full.

With regards on filling up the container, only by increasing INT or VIT can do so.

You have changed the state of your mana!

From now on, your mana will automatically turn into liquid upon increasing of INT and level!

You have changed the state of your stamina!

From now on, your stamina will automatically turn into liquid upon increasing of VIT level!

“Your body is too weird...”

“Hey, just cause you saw me naked doesn’t mean you get to say things like that. At least say I’m unique.”

“Pervert!”

Teasing El aside, this is indeed weird.

Why didn’t this happen to qi as well?

Hmm…

Ugh, this won’t get me anywhere. In any case, I’ll just treat this as convenience. It’s not like I’m losing out on anything.

Alright, let’s continue cultivating for a few more hours, then head back to Harus and continue forging.

The day ended like this and when morning came, I head out to Harus.

I have finally reached the middle rank when my qi stat reached 5 million. Truly ridiculous. I don’t think I’ll ever run out of qi in a fight.

When I said that to El, she did that cute snort she always do and smugly explained.

“Listen up, when energy cultivators battle, there are multiple ways of consuming qi. First is their martial techniques which would be used repeatedly for at least 80% of the battle. Second, since energy cultivators tend to have weak bodies like you, throughout the fight, they would keep circulating their qi all over their bodies so it would last till the end of the battle. And lastly, the use of sacred treasures would also consume a high amount of qi upon activation! Your pathetic 5 million qi is worthless when battling someone from the same rank or higher!”

“Oh...don’t worry. I have cheats.”

“...”

Satisfied with El’s response, I laughed. However, I still thought about what she said.

It’s true, the numbers in my stat window are just the numerical values and are not special. This means that someone in the same rank as me would have the same numbers as well. It’s just that they can’t see it for themselves.

In any case, I can’t be too complacent just because I have cheats.

In short, I need to add more cheats in my arsenal!

But first, let’s forge some weapons and armors!

After going back to Harus, I immediately continued to forge wholeheartedly.

Hours passed, Todd had continued to guide me here and there.

I forgot all about the outside world and continued to smash my hammer down.

*Ting* *Ting* *Ting*

Every time the hammer touches the blade, I would hear the crisp sound of two metals hitting each other.

*Ting* *Ting* *Ting*

I didn’t mind the time, I didn’t care that I had already finished the blade, I just continued to smash down.

*Ting* *Ting* *Ting*

I focused on these sounds and shutted down all the noise outside.

*Ting* *Ting* *Ting*

The sound of my heart beat…

*Thump* *Thump* *Thump*

The sound of the hammer…

*Thud* *Thud* *Thud*

The sound of the sword…

*Ting* *Ting* *Ting*

Spirit: +100

You have completed the C rank quest: [Temper the Heart]!

Reward: Consult Old Todd.

Seeing the notice windows, I snapped back to reality.

Huh? That’s it? I completed the quest?

“Hn, how is it boy? What do you feel?”

“I...I feel...relieved?”

Well, it was more like the feeling that I don’t need to forge anymore. Rather than having all my worries fade away.

“By tempering your heart, you have relieved most of your worries. Before, your mind is filled with worry and urgency. You wanted to immediately remove the [Dragon’s Wrath] and get rid of its corruption. But by doing so, you will surely act immediately after learning the story and you will die.”

I...was I that unstable? I thought I was just normal…

“But you did surprise me though. To actually spend two whole days hammering one single sword. Haha, I suppose your dedication is worthy of praise.”

“Heh, of course. What did you expect from m-...huh?”

Wait...what!?

Two days!?

I spent two days here!!!???

“Oh! You’re finally done you bastard! This queen had called you over and over but you just kept ignoring me! Hmph hmph! So smelly, don’t come home until you wash yourself!” El began to scold me again.

“E-El...did I really spend two days forging a single sword?”

“That’s right! Such a stupid sword, it’s not even sharp enough to cut paper!”

“...”

Stumped, I stood there in a daze for a while then a sound came out of my stomach.

...I’m hungry…

“Come in and eat. I’ll tell you the story.” Todd laughed and directed me in the house.

“O-okay...no wait. So this whole forging thing is just to calm me down?”

“That’s about it.”

“...”

“...”

“...You do know I can just sleep it off right? Or, I don’t know, go get a massage therapy or something...or maybe even kill a bunch of monsters to cool off...”

“...”

“...You just want me to forge some weapons and armors for you huh?”

“...”

I was right dammit!!!

What bulshit tempering the heart! I was just absentminded! Though my spirit stat did increase because of it but El mentioned before that cultivating spirit just requires one to be in a state of forgetfulness or something.

I was already pretty damn calm when I exited the [Water of Origin] pool before…this old man…

“*Cough* The story begins 1000 years ago...”

“Hey! Give me an explanation you old geezer!”

“...1000 years ago-”

“Don’t ignore me!”

“...-The end.”

“SAY THE WHOLE DAMN STORY!!!”

I swear...whether it’s this old man or the old beggar before are simply too annoying! Next time I see an old man, I’ll ignore him whatever it takes! Even if he’s a legendary old geezer!!!

Status

Name

Lucas

Level

8

Race

Human - Dragon

Gender

Male

Class

Wanderer

4

Stamina

6150

Mana

6200

Qi

5257640

Spirit

340

Cultivation

Middle Martial King

STR

90

INT

88

SPD

89

DEX

87

VIT

86

LUK

79

Water

48

Light

48

Space

3

Holy

5

Fame

23000

Rage

0

Sealed

Elena Shenxue

Skills

Concoct

1.04%

Dragon’s Wrath

5.02%

Elemental Manipulation

Passive

Star Convergence

Passive

Spirit Formation

0.02%

Implosion Palm

0.01%

World Eyes

Passive

Smith

32.54%

Blink

1.32%

Stealth

2.56%

Heal

0.16%