"Okay, my boy, it's about time."

Mister Black's announcement snapped Strong River out of his meditative reverie. Cultivating the initial layer of the Blood Devouring Palm had indeed been a rather painful endeavor -- he could not help but massage the center of his right palm as he thought about it -- but Mister Black had assured him it was successful.

After learning the Blood Devouring Palm, Mister Black had congratulated him on being a quick study of the technique and informed him that the men were not yet in the vicinity and that he would warn River when they were close. River had then returned to practicing the Passion Sublimation Technique before the lotus, drawing in the lotus' energy for refinement while pouring out all of his stray emotions. As of yet, he hadn't achieved another breakthrough, but he was nevertheless stronger than when he had broken through to the third stage of the Human Realm.

River stood up from his position of repose, stretching his body with the snap of stronger tendons and muscles. He tilted his head back and forth to loosen up while cracking his knuckles.

"Show-off," Mister Black's voice chided him. "You're still a stage below the both of them. Technique can bridge that gap, but you'll also want to exercise some guile, my boy. It's easier to bridge the gap in raw power when your opponent is off guard and unaware. Information control, my boy: the more you know about them, the less they know about you... when the differences aren't that large it can make all the difference in battle."

"So what do I do now, Mister Black?" River had spent so very long giving way and enduring, following the flow set by others, that this new way of thinking was a challenge.

"Well, you can start by looking a good bit more pitiful and helpless, boy. You got thumped pretty good, so getting back to ground would be good until they're here. Then you just act like you would have you never had met me."

Mister Black's wisdom and knowledge were undeniable at this point. River slid back to the ground without question or argument, slumping over a bit.

"Yes, good, that pose. Splash on some water, but don't clean yourself up. They're going to be suspicious if they can't figure out why you disobeyed and came over here. That'll make them think about it for a moment."

River had a feeling like that of butterflies battering the walls of his stomach. "Mister Black... are you gonna be okay if I screw this up?"

The old man chuckled. "I gave you the Passion Sublimation art, and yet you're already a bundle of nerves, eh? Don't worry, boy, while you may not have perfected that quite yet, you have another tool in hand. And I have a trick or two that even now I can use if we need it. I'll be fine, worry about yourself here."

River nodded. Now wasn't the time to return to meditating, so he had to endure the burgeoning dread and nervousness he felt. River found himself looking forward to the day when he mastered the Passion Sublimation Technique and converted all his unwelcome impulses into power.

"Hey, little doggie! You better still be here, little doggie!" A voice shouted from a distance, giving River a jolt that felt as though his heart was trying to leap out of his rib cage.

"Steady now," Mister Black's voice soothed. "Not too steady -- they expect you to be scared -- but don't give it away either. It's almost time."

River could now hear thrashing sounds through the tall grass as the two men approached. One of the men whistled. "Oh, doggie, you better still be here, or you'll be very very sorry..."

The noises stopped as the men stepped into the flattened section of the field where they had attacked River before.

"Crap, you think the brat ran?" A man said in a hushed tone that, had River not advanced as he had in the past couple hours, wouldn't have been audible.

"Sure hope not, it'd be a lot of bother if-- over there, look!" The second man glanced over in River's direction and pointed. "Hey, little doggie!" he bellowed as the pair stomped their way over.

River lowered his gaze, just enough to avoid eye contact while still keeping watch on the men as they approached.

"You idiot, didn't we tell you to stay put? Now, what would have happened if you'd really run off and made us mad, doggie, huh?" The first man yelled as they neared.

"Looks like our doggie is a thirsty one, bro," the second man noted. "Looks like he dragged his butt over to a puddle for a drink."

"Tsk, tsk, what'll we do with you, doggie? You don't even stay when told. Looks like you need some more training," the first man stepped up to a few meters away from River, cracking his knuckles as he spoke.

"Yeah, what'll--mn, hey, you seein' what I'm seein', bro?" The second man cut off into a more hushed tone.

"Huh? Oh wow, now ain't that a fancy looking flower. The boss'll have to see this, y'think?"

River felt the panic bubbling up inside of him. He pushed himself up a bit, but his arms betrayed him with a tremble.

"Man, I don't know what it is, but it looks like the kind of fancy stuff the boss has been looking for ever since he advanced. Only... there's seven petals on it, but it looks like one's missing?" The second man's excitement turned to concern as he noted an anomaly.

"Crap, it looks like our doggie went and had himself a little treat. Maybe if we smack him hard enough, he'll cough it up and we can still give the boss the whole thing?" The first man threatened

River's trembling increased, but it wasn't fear, or nervousness, or panic this time. It was rage. Brave Dragon had already taken his love from him and now these... thugs of his were planning to snatch away his only chance for revenge? They would seize it and gift it to the man who turned his world to ashes? River felt his face heating as the blood rushed to his head.

"Haha, look, you scared the little doggie, bro. I think he's gonna piss himself." The men laughed at his obvious distress.

Something snapped inside River. Pushing his newfound strength to the limit, he launched himself at the second man, tackling him to the ground and raising a fist. With that, the laughter was over.

"I..." River growled, punching the man squarely in the jaw, dislocating it. "Am not...!" he landed another punch, breaking the man's nose and causing blood to gush out. "Your!" Another punch landed, and teeth flew in the air. "DOGGIE!" River brought up both fists like a hammer and slammed the man's chest, the impact sending a mouthful of blood spewing from the man's mouth and all over River.

The first man had not yet reacted, but his eyes had widened in shock as his friend was bloodied in an instant by the helpless weak "doggie" they'd been able to kick around just hours ago.

River pushed himself off the second man, who had been reduced to making feeble gurgling sounds and jerking his arms. Balling his reddened and raw fists, River snarled at the startled thug shook his head to clear some of the blood. A couple droplets flew and spattered on the first man's face.

And then the man turned and ran, stumbling a bit in the high grass as he did.

River was stunned. Never before in his life had he been considered even remotely threatening. But now, one of Brave Dragon's murderous thugs lay incapacitated under his feet, while the other had turned and run. This feeling was...

Exhilarating.

"Don't dawdle now, boy!" Mister Black brought River back to reality. "If he gets away, he'll be back with their boss and then you'll really be dead meat! Don't start a job you aren't going to finish!"

River kicked the second man hard for good measure and then bolted after the first man. Despite the gap in their physiques, it still only took a few breaths of time to catch up.

"Stay away from me, you freak!" the man shouted, swinging out with a flailing arm that caught River full in the stomach, knocking the breath out him as he careened to the ground butt-first. River gasped, sucking in the air as he tried to push himself up. The panicked man kicked him back again.

"You imbecile, he's onto you now!" Mister Black roared. "The palm! Use the palm! Before he knocks you to pieces!"

The man, emboldened by the effectiveness of his attacks, balled up a fist and threw a punch. River dodged the strike and then reached up, grabbed the man by the wrist, and activated the Blood Devouring Palm.

The two tumbled to the ground together, River gripping the man's wrist and the man trying to extricate himself to no avail. River felt something new, a power that flowed into him from that palm. The flood washed away the pain of the man's retaliation, strengthening him while also making the man too weak to escape his grasp.

"D-devil... you're a devil, aren't you," the man gasped as he felt weaker, lethargic. "Let me go, you freak, let me go..."

River didn't let go. Maintaining his grip on the man's wrist, he stood while keeping the man kneeling. The man's skin began to pale and his eyes bulged in horror as his strength, his life, was fleeing him.

To River, though, it felt... amazing. Wonderful. As he stood there, the shackles of the third stage broke and River's physique directly stepped into the fourth stage of the Human Realm. This only heightened the disparity between him and the feeble, pale thug now under his power. Closing his eyes, he wanted this feeling to last forever...

It didn't last. The feeling cut off, and River gasped as he felt as though he had been standing on the tallest tower in the world and it had collapsed underneath him. His eyes shot open.

What had been one of Brave Dragon's thugs -- a hardened man of the fourth stage of the Human Realm who could shatter doors and mow down mere mortals with a punch -- was now best described as an empty husk, a mummified wrinkled corpse. River recoiled and let go of the empty shell in a moment of startled horror.

"Now now, my boy--no, I should say, young man. Don't be so startled," Mister Black chimed in. "This is what it means to cultivate, to become strong. You either win or you become a corpse. This one made his choices long ago and wouldn't feel a thing if the roles were reversed."

River nodded, the new numbness spreading through him a striking contrast to his previous exhilaration.

"Now grab what you can and go back. You have a job to finish. The other one isn't getting up yet, so this should be even easier. As for how to deal with him, there's an opportunity to be had here, young man. You see, there's a very special attribute to the Sanguine-thread Lotus..."

River continued nodding and listening as he rummaged through the man's belongings -- a hunting knife, some copper and silver coins, an opened and fresh-smelling pot of healing salve, among other sundries -- and couldn't help but spare a moment to look at the palm that had claimed the life of the man.

Knowing what Mister Black was telling him now about the lotus, it now made perfect sense on how that technique adapted a single petal of the lotus into the tiny, lamprey-like mouth now retracting and hiding within the flesh of his palm.