Yawning loudly, Noah covered his mouth as he got up from his bed. Judging from the sparse moonlight filtering in through the window, the night had begun to end. He sat up, frowning as he realized that Layla wasn’t in the room.

“Could she have left to hunt wolves by herself, or did she betray me?” Noah pondered as he washed his face in the bathroom.

“I suppose it doesn’t really matter, she’s smart and definitely not a good kid. Betraying me will bring no benefits to herself as she knows how talented I am. At least, I hope so.”

Noah exhaled deeply. Although he thought that, now he wasn’t too confident. He wasn’t super talented despite his mana core as it only allowed him to steal bodies and view souls. Scheming, leadership, and acting were all important practices he was weak in, inhibiting his ability to perform. He only had his skill in fighting and tenacity.

Noah was still powerless. However, his gaze sharpened, he could grow stronger. He was no longer in his old, useless body. His new physique was talented, his growth limitless.

Sitting cross-legged in his bed, Noah began to meditate. He inhaled slowly, dragging the surrounding mana into himself. Closing his eyes, he focused internally on the flow of mana. From his skin, through his arteries, and into his mana core, where it was refined and obtained a mountainous purple color.

As he continued to meditate, perspiration welled up on his forehead, causing him to pause and slick his curly hair back. Taking in one last breath, he stood up.

Like rusty hinges, his bones creaked in protest against the sudden movement. As there wasn’t any way to tell the time in the room, Noah could only look at the setting sun.

“Too late to go out and fight dogs but too early to continue meditating. Guess I’ll train a bit and sleep,” he thought, stretching his arms and legs.

While the natives of this world might not know it yet, keeping one’s physical body in shape was of utmost importance. Not only was staying in shape a necessity for general health, the value of one’s stats depended on it.

Stats were not additive, they were multiplicative. One’s physical body played an important role in determining their value. For example, the value of one point is strength for a bodybuilder and for a child was not the same. If said child and bodybuilder both had ten strength, the bodybuilder would still overpower the child.

Therefore, Noah had to stay in shape. The original owner of the body naturally knew this; his body was extremely fit, with muscles like marble slabs sculpted by an artesian. Noah naturally wouldn’t let them waste away. He wasn’t a moron, after all.

Using his sword when necessary, Noah began a series of pull-ups, push-ups, and other light exercises. As he never wanted to fully exhaust himself, he did just enough to work up a sweat.

“Noah? Are you awake?” he heard Layla ask as she entered the suite, the door closing softly behind her.

“I’m here,” he replied casually, continuing his workout. Layla came into his vision, a tired but pleased expression on her face. Her clothes were specked with blood and her dagger was still in hand. She placed it down and plopped down onto her bed.

“You seem quite happy,” Noah noted as he took a break. He used a nearby rag to wipe his face. Layla didn’t reply.

“Did something good happen? You were gone for quite a while, all night in fact,” he asked casually, readying a spare change of clothes as he prepared to take a shower.

“I went hunting alone and I fought a bunch of wolves by myself,” she replied, suddenly giggling. “I even managed to get enough points to buy an enchantment for my knife.”

Noah laughed, his eyes narrowing into slits. “Is that so? That’s great, now I don’t have to watch over you anymore when we hunt.”

Still lying sprawled on her bed, Layla clicked her tongue. “You never watched over me, rather, it was me taking care of you.”

Noah didn’t to bother to argue over this topic again, closing the door behind him as he entered the bathroom. Not wanting to waste time, he took a quick, cold shower and changed. However, he kept the water running even after leaving the shower.

Kneeling down, he opened the shelf beneath the sink and pulled out his sword. Looking at its cold, smooth blade, a dark gleam flashed between his eyes. To think that Layla had already betrayed him, it was much earlier than he expected. Someone must have contacted her.

At first, he had taken Layla in as a second pair of eyes. However, due to her intelligence he could only compromise and teach her various means of survival. While he didn’t regret doing so, as she helped him greatly while they were hunting, he won’t do such a thing again.

Compared to a second pair of eyes, having someone sleep in the same room as him was much more worrying. However, it was too late to change anything and now he could only escape this trap.

With the shower still running, Noah pressed his ear against the door of the bathroom. While they were near-silent, he could hear footsteps just outside the room.

“Five, no, six. I guess they really care about me,” he chuckled inwardly. Although he didn’t know exactly why Layla sold him out, it could only be for benefits. Feeling slightly jealous, he rubbed his chin with his empty hand.

Noah couldn’t help but hate the people who bought over Layla.

“Was it Jack?” Noah pondered. To promise some advantage that would get her to betray him, it could only be the “ruler” of this tutorial.

Noah had always had his guard up against him. Not only did he have a rare core, but his charisma was also quite outstanding. Against such a person, Noah didn’t stand a chance in direct combat. He could only rely on tricks.

Patiently, Noah waited. It would be near impossible to escape through the front, and as the window was facing the park, he couldn’t leave through it without being undetected. Despite the bathroom’s cold air, he couldn’t help but sweat.

Such a situation… Noah had taken a loss.

“I should not have taken in Layla so wantonly just because of her talent. Did I think I could win her over and worship me? With my charisma it would be a miracle if she had any lasting positive emotions of me. It’s a good thing I made an escape plan; without it I would be dead.”

Smiling despite himself, he opened the window, allowing the shower to mask any noises. Peering out towards the ground, he saw a group of twenty people looking up at him. Noticing Layla and Jack standing side-by-side, he waved good-naturedly and stepped out of the window, onto the hotel’s ledge.

“Noah, I’d advise you to surrender yourself. Any attempts of escape will only harm your case. Given your talent, we can work something out. I’m willing to let you pass this trial as long as you promise to reform your ways,” Jack said, his voice entering Noah’s ear as if he were standing right next to him.

“A sound-related core.” Noah thought solemnly. Such a core was not easy to deal with. On higher levels, it would even be able to burst brains and shatter skulls using just vibration. Of course, Jack was nowhere near this level, but he didn’t throw away the possibility of damage.

Noah didn’t say anything, only continuing to walk along the ledge, his back flat against the wall. Walking sideways like a crab, he made his way to the rightmost corner of the hotel. Although his heart was beating ferociously, a smile curled his lips.

Understanding that Noah had no intentions of giving himself up, Jack motioned some of the people by him to flank the hotel’s sides. Three men and a woman separated from the group, following Noah as he wound around the building’s side.

Looking at the view was entrancing. From such a height Noah could see the entirety of the park and beyond. The air was crisp; he could see the orange sun setting in the distance. He turned his head down, watching as the split-off group returned his gaze from below.

To the surprise of the group, Noah took a step off the ledge, falling down. However, just as they thought he would die, he spun midair, grabbing onto the ledge of the third story. His grip was strained, but due to his light weight and relatively high strength, he didn’t let go.

Climbing up with his elbows, he entered through an already open window. Seeing this, the pursuing group’s faces darkened.

The woman cupped her hands to her mouth, shouting, “He’s re-entered the hotel. Get Joe to move in!”

“Got it!” she heard Jack reply.

Meanwhile, Noah was charging down the hallway of the third story. He ran towards the stairwell.

The clanging of boots on the ground alerted Noah of someone walking up the stairs. Reaching for his back, he unsheathed his sword and broke into a sprint. A man carrying an axe appeared at the entrance of the stairwell.

He turned his head; however, it was too late. Noah’s blade sliced at his chest like a silver streak, leaving behind a fatal cut. The man cried out, bringing his axe down but Noah dodged out of the way, ignoring the standing dead man and heading down the stairs.

“Must’ve been unrelated to Jack,” Noah thought indifferently. As the man had been alone, it was likely that he wasn’t participating in the operation for Noah’s capture.

The hotel was full; while most people were out working for contribution points, it wasn’t rare to meet someone heading back to their room to sleep. The unfortunate man could only blame his poor luck.

It was on the ground floor that Noah ran into enemies again. However, this time, his face turned grim. The group of three had not only discovered his presence but surrounded him in a flash. It was obvious they were prepared.

“Let Jack know we’ve got him,” said the tallest of the three. The shortest, a skinny man, left in an instant. Noah had no chance of killing him as the remaining two block off the hallway, leaving him without any room for escape or pursuit.

However, Noah had no time to think about these things as the tallest lunged at him, the man’s spear barreling through the air like a torpedo. Noah parried it with his sword, attempting to lodge it into the wall with his saber. He succeeded, yet the other man’s sword had arrived at his face.

Left with no time, Noah flicked his wrist, deflecting the blade at the cost of a quickly-swelling bruise. Rather than flinching at the pain, he aggressively attacked his saber a whirlwind of cuts that the inexperienced men could barely follow. The spear welder, having lost the advantage of length that his spear provided, was there first to succumb to Noah’s attacks.

The sword wielder's attacks grew more frantic, slicing through the air wildly. Noah blocked with them easily. Less than a minute later, another body lay on the carpet, bleeding from a gaping wound on his face.

“Shit,” Noah swore, not even picking up the men’s weapons as he ran down the hallway. Behind him, he could hear the footsteps and shouts of multiple people.

Locked doors blurred by him as he ran towards the hotel’s back exit. It was better than exiting through the front. While neither options were good, he didn’t believe he stood a chance against Jack, never mind the rest of his alliance. A shiver ran down his spine.

Noah couldn’t help but admit he screwed up. A wave of despair washed over him, nearly knocking him off his feet. His stomach churned; he regretted going out two nights ago to kill those few members.

Seeking to cause a bit of chaos and disruption without skill in planning to back him? Noah shook his head, upset with himself. His poor choices had left him with quite the bleak future.

Reaching the end of the lengthy hallway, Noah didn’t look over his shoulder and turned the corner. Surprisingly, a door opened up in front of him; he nearly collided with it.

Flinching, Noah jumped back. His eyebrows tightened for a second before easing. Rather than continuing to run, he stopped as an average-looking man leaned out and greeted him.

“You look troubled, Noah,” James smiled, standing in the open doorway. Now that Noah stopped, he beckoned into the room.

“I can let you stay here, for a price.”