The bandit swung the door closed behind him after Strong River entered the mound. The young warrior could not help but admire the work the bandits had put into the interior's construction. The floor was polished stonework while the walls and ceiling were paneled woodwork, a level of luxuriousness present that the outpost's hill exterior concealed.

The thug roughly nudged River through the antechamber, leading him in this way to a central room where four other bandits were present, sitting at tables performing various tasks.

"Hey boys, this kid says he's got the extra loot and a letter from that Wave guy," the thug announced.

One man, a dark-skinned man with a shaved head, looked up from a ledger he was reviewing. "Oh? Boy, bring that here."

River immediately recognized this voice as the deep-voiced man who had negotiated with the elder the night before. This man, then, should be the boss of the local outfit. Eyes downcast, he complied with the boss' command, walking over and setting the bag and folded parchment on the table in front of him.

The man snapped the twine securing the letter with the flick of a finger and unfolded the letter. His lips moved silently as he read the message that River already knew the content of, having dictated it in the first place.

"The bearer of this letter is the boy River, also carrying some more of my regard. Once you have read this, send word so that I may come over and break in the merchandise. The rest of your payment will arrive with me. Be careful not to alert him before I have arrived; I want no mistakes."

The bandit boss snorted as he finished reading. "Hey, Bucktooth," he called one of the bandits over. "Get to the village and let our customer know the goods have arrived safely."

Bucktooth, a freckle-faced man whose beaver-like countenance lived up to his nickname, nodded. "Right away." He scurried past River and out of the outpost.

The boss then tapped his fingers on the table while considering River with a frown. "Boy, we need you to stay here for now. Your elder's orders, of course."

"Um, okay, sure," River responded, trying to keep up the pretense of stupidity. "Errr... the elder said you'd give me a few coins for my troubles?"

One side of the boss' mouth quirked as he undid the tie on the bag of coin River had delivered. Weighing out five silvers, he laid them on the table in front of him. "That enough, boy?"

"Oh, wow!" River feigned excitement at the payout. "Thank you, sir, that's more than I'll ever need!" He reached out and grabbed the coins, weighing them in his palm.

"More than you'll ever need? Well then maybe you should give a couple back, boy," the bandit boss replied, toying with the apparently simple-minded boy in front of him.

"Oh, uh," River looked around in feigned nervousness, checking the positions of the remaining bandits in the room, "sure, if you insist."

Then his blank face shifted to an evil grin as he activated Blood Ignition Acceleration. Flipping a coin on top of his thumb, River flicked it at a nearby bandit's throat, repeating this for the other two lackeys in the chamber. He shoved himself back a few steps and flickered out of the accelerated state.

"What the--?" The bandit boss drew his belt knife and rose to his feet, knocking his chair over in his haste. The three lackeys in the room made gagging sounds as blood bloomed and spurted at their throats. The men all began to claw at their wounds, an exercise in futility.

River was rather proud of this trick, something he had practiced in the Primeval Forest's indigo zone using the coins he had looted from those very first bandits. He had spent the entire purse, lodging the coins into tree trunks and a couple of the lesser beasts he had fought. Against higher grade beasts the coins were easily deflected, but humans -- even those with tempered physiques -- were softer targets than those.

"You did say you wanted them back," River replied to the boss, dropping the simple-minded affectation. He made a visible show of weighing the final two coins in his hand as he spoke.

The boss was at a disadvantage, and he knew it; standing behind a desk, facing an enemy that used projectiles and was at a distance, any move he made could provoke an attack from this bizarre and insidious young man.

"What do you want, brat," the man growled, trying to lock River into eye contact while he nudged the table ever-so-gently.

"Want? Well, to not receive the tender attentions of the man on his way here would be a nice start." River responded as he absently played with the coins in his hand, pretending not to notice what the man was attempting. "Oh, yes, I guess a snack would be nice too."

River again activated Blood Ignition Acceleration and sped to the choking man who had been the one to escort him inside the lair. Tossing aside the coins, he seized that man by the neck and lifted him up. The Blood Devouring Palm awoke and sucked at the neck wound as River returned to regular time.

The man struggled, grasping River's wrist, but his declining strength was not a match for the young warrior's.

"Devil!" the boss shouted, almost tripping over the toppled chair behind him as he shot backward. "You're one of those goddamn devils!"

"Yep, that's me," River agreed with a smile as his victim dried up like a prune. The man's arms fell to his sides as his legs kicked their last, and the young warrior casually tossed the desiccated corpse to the side. "Which one next, boss?"

The other two men, still clawing at the obstructions in their throats, could only shoot a pleading look between River and the boss. The boss, shedding all subterfuge, slammed the table aside. Splinters flew as the thing shattered into a few large pieces upon hitting the wall.

"Well, well, don't we have a temper," River chided the dark-skinned man. "Think you'll fare any better?"

In reality, the dark-skinned man was qualified to do much better than all the others, being in the seventh-grade Human Realm himself. It was a pity that in a backwater like this, warriors like him did not have any potent techniques like the blood arts River had learned.

"You're awful confident for a man whose clan is about to get wiped out!" the boss bellowed. "The Lord will come and raze your stupid village to the ground when he hears of this!"

"The Flowing Water clan could use a good flushing." River sighed. "You're telling me all this as though it's something I'm supposed to care about. What kind of idiot is sentimental about a clan who produces people like Elder Wave?"

"You'll care when he comes for your head!"

River laughed. "Bring it on; that's exactly what I am looking forward to. Your so-called Brave Dragon is a weakling who has to resort to ruining young women to try and improve his failing cultivation."

The dark-skinned bandit, provoked, launched himself at River. The red-maned devil again sped up to match his reactions, side-stepping the attack and then chopping down at the wrist of the hand holding the knife. A loud cracking echoed in the chamber as the man's wrist snapped, and the boss bellowed as he tried to throw himself away from the crimson-haired bloodsucker.

Collapsing to the ground, the dark-skinned man knew his reckoning had come. Looking up at his doom, he gritted his teeth against the pain. "Do it already, and be damned, you fiend! Justice will come for you!"

River chuckled. "Justice is already here for you. Abetting Elder Wave, giving him a place to practice his perversions, procuring his victims, sitting by as you listened to them... you have no business talking to me about justice, worm."

His right palm slammed down on the head of the bandit boss, the bone of the man's skull snapping under the blow as River devoured the man's life essence. Sweet, stinging energy flooded into him, a razor-sharp ecstasy that ground away at every fiber of his being, honing him, strengthening him. He shuddered at the pain and pleasure that enveloped him.

River was yanked back to reality as the flow cut off, the husk utterly dried. Tossing the corpse away, he turned to attend to the two remaining bandits. Despite being sixth-grade warriors themselves, the combination of bleeding and obstructed airflow had made them as weak as newborns in front of him, and they too were drained.

After tossing the last bandit corpse aside, River could not help but clench his fists, feeling the strength surging within him. The benefit of this feast of blood was evident: he could tell that he now stood at the absolute peak of the seventh-grade Human Realm. One more push through the veil in front of him and he would finally join the ranks of true cultivators.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" Mister Black commented.

"Yes, justice always feels good, Mister Black. These scum preyed on the weak and now, in turn, have been preyed upon. I can feel the boundary of the Earth Realm beckoning me, Mister Black..."

"Yes, my young friend, you're very close now. Just another step forward and then you will qualify to taste actual power. The violet layer of the Primeval Forest will then be open to you for your consumption."

"Yes... the violet layer..." River repeated somewhat numbly.

"Come. There's still some time before the next course arrives. You now get to enjoy another time-honored tradition for experts like us: plundering the headquarters of a fallen foe. Unless you want to live in the forest your entire life, you'll need to start worrying about getting your hands on some wealth."

"Ah, yes," River snapped out of his blood-fueled euphoric reverie and looked around the chamber. Being unable to read, he paid no heed to the ledgers and other papers now strewn around the room in the aftermath of the battle. Instead, he sifted through the bags of coin, picking out the gold and some silver and leaving the rest.

Besides the antechamber, two other rooms were connected to the central chamber. The first that River entered was what looked to be the sleeping quarters for the men, with various equipment and clothing stored in the cabinets and drawers.

None of the regular clothing particularly struck his fancy, but in one drawer he found an impressive pair of leather fingerless gloves that exposed the palms. He pulled those on and marveled at how fitting they were, both in size and for allowing him access for his Blood Devouring Palm to work.

After leaving the sleeping quarters, a small knot tightened at the pit of River's stomach as he realized what the last room was. Enclosed behind two sets of doors, the second door a solid steel monstrosity with several bolts, this chamber was for Elder Wave's "play".

The room had a rancid smell to it, jars of oils and other substances cluttering a dressing table. There was a bed that would have been simple had it not had several leather belts sewn into the upholstery, buckled restraints for its occupant. The brick-and-mortar far wall had a set of shackles riveted to it as well. Some ironbound contraptions were also in the room, but River couldn't even begin to guess their purpose.

He could only shudder to imagine that this room was the final fate of several other young men and women, that it was where Elder Wave also planned to have Blue Ripple end up, and River himself. Contemplating this, River fought back a wave of nausea as the strange scents seemed to grow stronger in intensity. He fled from the chamber, gasping for clean air as he shut the door behind him.

River circulated his breathing and his thoughts through the Passion Sublimation Technique, calming his heart and smoothing out the tension in the pit of his stomach. Soon, this would all be paid back, and no one would ever again have to fear Elder Wave's appetites.

"You're about to have your company, River." Mister Black announced.

Far from nervous now, River felt relief. It was time.