Contrary to popular belief, interdimensional warriors do not tend to travel about with much fanfare, and usually aren't immediately recognized for their strength. Most interdimensional warriors are rather unassuming at first glance. Not being very noticeable or easy to recognize allows them to go about their daily life in peace and also gives them some leeway in refusing difficult requests from powerful people. In fact, there are at least a few interdimensional warriors who have settled down into rather normal lives in most worlds, with the residents of that world being none the wiser that an outsider had joined them. Usually, they are not suspected either, though they may be locally known as "that weird guy."

This does not apply to two ends of the spectrum: the overly powerful and the exceedingly weak. The ones who are too weak have little choice but to keep trying their luck across multiple worlds, scrounging up magic to open interdimensional gates until finding one where they could make a living and have a peaceful life. The ones who are too strong, on the other hand, have to keep moving simply because being strong enough to defeat a dimension-ending threat means you are seen as one too. After all, getting rid of that one Dark Lich with minimal effort just makes you look even scarier than the Dark Lich.

This was especially difficult for those with little subtlety who went about destroying threats with brute force, like Spade and Joyce. Joyce was the main culprit here, though Spade wasn't much better. In most worlds with magic, Tier 10 magic was considered the pinnacle of human achievement, with anything higher being extremely difficult to achieve, but Joyce threw around 20th-tier magic like a high schooler mucking around with a frisbee.

When interdimensional travelers inadvertently gained unwanted attention because of their outlandish appearance, it's usually because they have a limited wardrobe. It's not a statement or trying to be edgy, they're just trying to work with what they have, and they were doing the best they could. Of course, Spade still vaguely regretted wearing the "I Love LA" t-shirt he'd gotten from Joyce, standing amidst the crowd of people clothed in silken robes. Cute girls with elaborate hairstyles and flowing sleeves glanced at him from behind their fans, whispering to each other about the swordsman in flip-flops, cargo shorts, and a cotton t-shirt. With his heightened senses, Spade could hear their confused remarks about him just fine, but it was the middle of a public space, he couldn't just strip and change into something less eye-catching.

"Excuse me," Joyce called as she pushed through the crowd. Spade turned towards the familiar voice with relief, glad to see that Joyce had at least purchased enough food for stress eating through all this. The young mage had left while wearing jeans and a hoodie, but somewhere between leaving to barrel towards a skewer stand and buying a bucket of fried oysters, Joyce had changed into a dark blue silk robe with narrow sleeves and a wide-brimmed hat that blended into their surroundings better. Even so, people were staring at her even more than they were staring at Spade. Spade wordlessly accepted Joyce's offered food, glancing around discreetly before he leaned in to whisper in Joyce's ear.

"I think those are men's clothes," he whispered softly. Joyce smiled cheerfully.

"Oh I know, but I look good," she replied. With a flick of her index fingers, Spade was decked out in a similar outfit. The sudden outfit change elicited soft gasps in surprise from the people in the square, though Joyce was content to ignore them.

"In public?" Spade asked flatly. Joyce shrugged. Sighing, Spade loosened the collar of the robe and prepared to head towards their next job.

///////

"Thank the spirits, if we have the help of interdimensional warriors we will surely be rid of this monster!" The governor was nearly in tears as he clasped Spade's hands with sweaty fingers. Spade fought the urge to shake him off.

"Yeah, no worries," Spade said in a tight voice. "We'll get rid of the yaoguai in no time at all. Literally, it'll probably take like three minutes, so please prepare the payment." Spade had lost the coin toss this time around, so dealing with the Face-Eater would be up to him. At least the yaoguai's name didn't leave much to the imagination.

"Of course!" The governor's eyes shone brightly. Given how quickly they had to make and complete their deals, Spade and Joyce didn't have much room for price haggling. They took the commission fee offered to them and usually received a 15% bonus upon completion. If leaving this to one of the major Guilds or Sects in the area, the governor probably would have had to inflate the initial fee by at least 200% and add a few titles or perks before a deal would have been reached. Spade felt at least a tiny bit bad about driving down the market price, but it was only a temporary dip. Once they left, major threats like this would once again be completely up to the local warriors, whether or not they were capable of dealing with them.

"Good to hear, now where do we find this Face-Eater? We'll get started right away," Spade said in an assuring tone. The governor turned to his secretary, who turned to her secretary, who pulled out a map from his desk and unfurled it with the dramatic air of a Shakespearean actor.

"Please wait," a clear voice rang out from the doorway. The secretary's secretary froze, still holding up the map without setting it down. The governor and his secretary also straightened immediately, the governor physically pulling away from Spade and taking a few steps back as his expression paled.

"Mr. Lee, so good to see you! What brings you here today, sir?" the governor's secretary asked sweetly, slapping the map out of her secretary's hands. The newcomer was a thin man in the white and green robes of a scholar, and for all purposes looked rather ordinary except for his eyes. Spade met Lee's gaze with interest. Lee was evidently blind but was using some kind of qi technique on his eyes. It wasn't something that simulated vision, Spade would have recognized that, but something entirely different that he couldn't put a finger on.

"Apologies for my sudden visit, Lord Governor," Lee said, inclining his head slightly.

"No, no, not at all! It's so good to have you back," The governor hurriedly replied, waving his sweaty hands to emphasize.

"I heard that your Lordship intended to employ interdimensional warriors to deal with the Face-Eater," Lee said. Spade raised an eyebrow. The two of them had only shown up to take the job less than an hour ago and this guy already "heard" of it? It was clear that this man was not to be taken lightly.

"Yes, we planned to wait for your return, but the Face-Eater has been extremely agitated recently, and we couldn't wait any longer," the governor explained, sounding rather defensive for a powerful man talking to a scholar with no government position.

"Of course, your concern for the land and its people is worthy of admiration. I do apologize for the length of my departure, I had hoped to return sooner but was delayed in the Capital. Now that I am back, however," Lee flicked his gaze at Joyce and Spade, "perhaps I can relieve these warriors of this burdensome task."

"Oh-oh well," the governor glanced nervously between the two men, not sure who was the greater immediate threat.

Spade raised his other eyebrow as well. Was this guy trying to snatch up the commission from right in front of them? While acting like he was doing them a favor? What a shameless bastard. "It's no burden to us at all," Spade cut in. "We're happy to help out where we can."

Lee's smile glinted with amusement as he looked straight at Spade. "How gracious of you, great warrior. But I'm afraid that I can't leave such a task to one such as you."

"Oh yeah?" Joyce chimed in, not even pretending that she wasn't eager to see them fight. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"No malice intended, my good lady. However, outsiders such as yourself would be ill-equipped to handle this task. Though deceptively simple at first glance, the problem of the Face-Eater can not be solved through sheer brute force, as you will surely use. I will handle this problem personally, and I thank the two of you for your kind intentions," Lee said smoothly.

"We weren't going to use sheer brute force," Joyce protested. They totally were. Lee only smiled gently and bowed his head slightly towards the two of them. Spade looked Lee over again.

"Well, how about this. Let's work together," Spade offered. "We can split the commission three-way, and we'll combine brains and brawn." There was no way he was passing up this commission so easily, especially not to a blind guy who didn't seem to have any fighting abilities. Lee turned towards him, still wearing the same smile, though the amusement seemed to be replaced by annoyance instead.

"Please forgive me," Lee said in an even tone, "but I must decline your gracious offer."

Spade scowled. This was really turning out to be quite annoying.

"I'm afraid that the stakes are too high to allow your involvement," Lee said gently. "If you must insist-"

"Let me guess, you're gonna fight us and show us who's boss around here?" Joyce asked. She looked overjoyed at the prospect. Spade himself was actually itching for a fight as well. He hadn't had a good fight in ages, all the opponents he'd run into for the last few months were absolute shit, but something told him this guy would be different. While picking a fight with a blind guy was a little iffy in his moral code, Spade was certain that Lee had a strong fighter stashed away somewhere. After all, the guy had no attack abilities that Spade could sense.

Lee also did not hesitate. "If such a fight would convince you to walk away from this job, I will gladly accept."

Spade felt a little less bad about picking a fight now. Evidently, Lee also came in with preparations to attack them from the very start, and it would be a waste to let that go unused. In either case, Spade and Joyce wanted that commission. If he could get a good fight out of it that was just a freebie bonus.

"Well, gentlemen, surely that won't be necessary," the governor jumped in, evidently worried about damage control. "We're very grateful for the interdimensional warriors' offer to help, please allow us to demonstrate our thanks." The governor hurriedly gestured for his secretary to materialize some cash, trying to solve the problem by shoving some consolation money at them. That wasn't so bad, Spade was considering accepting it if the amount was enough.

"No need, if I prove unable to match the warrior in his might, then surely I am also unqualified for this task," Lee said. Spade's eyebrows shot up again. Lee was hankering for a fight a lot more than the scholar initially let on.

"Alright then," Spade said, "As you wish."

////////

Spade stood opposite of Lee in the empty field behind the governor's mansion, arms crossed and tapping his foot. The governor stood at the very edge of the field with a small entourage, looking very nervous and ready to run. "Is there anyone else that's going to show up?" Spade asked. Was Lee seriously going to fight him?

"Yes, he's almost here, please be patient," Lee replied calmly. Joyce re-emerged with a bag of popcorn she had borrowed the governor office's kitchenette to make, already bubbling with excitement. Spade inwardly shook his head.

"Sorry I'm late!" A deep voice called out. Everyone's heads swiveled to its source. Spade took in the tall, muscular man with a giant sword who made his way to Lee's side. Lee smiled at the man, who leaned in as Lee softly whispered the overall situation. The man whirled around and approached Spade.

"Hey there, I'm Hešeri Luolang, but you can just call me Helang or Luolang, nice to meet you," the man said politely, holding out a large, calloused hand to Spade. Spade shook it.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Spade." Spade glanced at the impressive sword with a jade pendant hanging off its sheath. "Nice sword."

Helang beamed at him. "Thank you! It's a Wushan sword, the swordsmith put her blood into the steel in the forging process," Helang explained. Spade was practically vibrating with nerdy excitement as he looked at the sword. Sensing his curious gaze, Helang drew the sword and held it out so Spade could get a better look.

"Impressive," Spade commented, trying not to smile too hard. Helang nodded.

"Your sword is quite a beauty too," Helang said. On cue, Spade drew his sword so Helang could see.

"It was forged in my homeworld by the smiths of my tribe, we're known for having the best smiths across the Plains," Spade said, sharing a look of appreciation with Helang. Joyce cleared her throat, signaling that the weapons-enthusiasts should shut up and start fighting, but was duly ignored.

"The metal of the blade is pretty special," Helang murmured, leaning in close to look. "May I?" he asked, gesturing at the sword. Spade nodded, and Helang gently flicked the blade and tilted his head to listen to the sound before letting out a sound of admiration. Spade opened his mouth to ask more about the Wushan sword, but was cut off by Lee.

"Sorry Helang, but we still have a Face-Eater to deal with, could you please save that for afterwards?" Lee asked. Spade and Helang reluctantly stepped apart, sheathing their swords.

"Alright," Helang said, voice dripping with disappointment. He turned to nod at Spade. "It was nice talking with you." The man then turned and proceeded to walk away from the center of the field.

"Hold on, aren't you going to fight?" Spade called out in alarm. Helang stopped and turned to him with a look of surprise.

"Oh no, Lee's fighting," he said. "I asked him to wait so I could watch when I heard there was an interdimensional swordmaster."

Spade stared at him. "Seriously? I'm fighting that guy?" Spade demanded. Helang and Lee both nodded. Spade looked at Lee again, containing his disappointment. "Alright, let's get this over with then." So maybe his disappointment wasn't concealed too well, but whatever.

"You can always arrange a spar afterward," Lee offered in consolation. "But we should finish this first." Spade nodded in agreement and turned to face the scholar. Since the opponent didn't have any attack abilities, he would have to hold back and end this in one blow without causing too much damage. Easy enough.

"Alright then, well, please begin," the governor called out from the edge of the field, using a megaphone that kept screeching and making static noises alternatively.

Without hesitation, Spade drew his sword and swung a blow in one smooth movement, sending up a cloud of dust as the attack landed squarely on Lee. Spade let out a small huff. Well, there was that.

Except it evidently wasn't. Spade's eyes narrowed as the presence of Lee remained completely constant. The blow couldn't have missed, and Lee's defense capabilities couldn't have absorbed the damage, but the qi aura directly across from him was that of a man that hadn't been injured at all.

"What an impressive blow," Lee said calmly. A gust of wind swept around him, parting the clouds of dust to reveal his smiling face. "As expected, you are truly a peerless swordmaster unparalleled in this world."

Spade scoffed. "And you're hardier than you look." He shifted the grip on his sword, excitement starting to flicker up again. "Looks like I can't take you too lightly."

"I would certainly hope not," Lee said, and pointed his fan forward. Spade reacted in a flash as a dangerous aura appeared right behind him. He jumped into the air, barely avoiding the blow as the ground exploded.

"I thought you were a qi cultivator but looks like you're a mage!" Spade shouted. Lee only smiled. Spade sensed the aura behind him again and swung his sword. The blade cut through air.

"Shit!" Spade jumped out of the way just as a piercing light shot down right where he was standing before like a laser beam. Using qi to heighten his sight, Spade dashed forward, stabbing his sword towards Lee. In less than a millisecond, the sword seemed to plunge right into Lee, but Spade watched in shock with his enhanced vision as Lee fucking disappeared as the attack hit and reappeared right after. Spade hurriedly slid away from Lee as another burst of energy crumbled the rocky surface of the field, narrowly avoiding the invisible attack that sliced towards him. He saw Joyce set down her popcorn from the corner of his eye.

"Don't interfere, Joyce!" Spade shouted.

"Okay," she said, picking up her popcorn again and sharing a shrug with Helang. "But that's a pretty goddamn cool item, Mr. Lee."

"Thank you," Lee said, sending another beam of energy towards Spade without moving from where he stood. Spade dodged it with a smirk. Even if Lee was a mage, he wasn't half as powerful as Joyce, but somehow he seemed just as strong. This was going to be fun. He swiveled and parried the invisible attack from behind with his sword, sending a bright flash of light and a subsequent shockwave throughout the field, nearly knocking over the governor despite the hasty magic shield the secretary threw up.

//////

Joyce listened to her Describer skill's rundown of Lee's item, nodding along and feeling rather impressed. Talk about a loophole connoisseur. Lee had a bit of qi cultivation going on that he used to help him sense things and get around without his sight, but he had no magic, and no useful skills either. He also didn't have any Oaths or Pledges, any interesting bloodlines, or much of anything other than graduating at the top of his class and being a cool scholar, blah blah blah. The only thing Lee did have was a single item. A non-combat item, but Lee evidently didn't agree. It was truly impressive how he managed to make use of the Grimoire of Truth.

"He is stacking loopholes, huh?" Joyce said cheerfully as Spade blocked one attack while somersaulting over another.

"You mean Lee? Yeah, you sure figured that out pretty quick," Helang said in a friendly tone. Joyce glanced at him again before offering the bag of popcorn. Helang took some.

The Grimoire of Truth was very much a scholar's item, and its primary use was to allow the scholar to discover the truth of anything. It could parse out the truth amidst falsehoods and also correct for falsehoods. The exact method depended on what query the user made. This had a lot of limitations since the Grimoire was only an 8th-tier item, so for truths that it could not discern, including magic beyond the 8th-tier, it allowed the user to make that judgment. Joyce watched with interest as Lee abused that clause with everything he had.

The act of traveling between dimensions itself used amounts of energy equivalent to a 10th-tier spell, so interdimensional travelers would also be counted as 10th-tier by the Grimoire regardless of their actual level. Lee was making a query as to Spade's presence and then treating the interdimensional warrior as a "falsehood" using this loophole. It wasn't powerful enough to make Spade and Joyce disappear through the "correction" function, but it was powerful enough to make it impossible for Lee to take damage from this level of attacks. If you didn't technically exist, of course you couldn't land a hit. At the same time, the grimoire was launching attacks based on its "correction" function to remove the "result" that wasn't "true". Since the query domain was the entire dimension, even if Spade ran across the continent, the Grimoire's function would follow him.

The situation would be different if Spade really started launching qi attacks equivalent to 11th-tier spells, but that was unlikely given they were in a city. The mass destruction it would require just to break the current query simply wasn't worth it, and Lee probably knew that already. Just from choosing the right place to fight, Lee had already won. Joyce shook her head. It didn't really matter as long as Spade got to have some fun. One less commission wouldn't really hurt their finances much, especially if they kept eating at Mohan's place with the mountain spirit and Ares. Joyce offered Helang some more popcorn and leaned back to watch the fight.