A match for ten

When Shui entered Fairies' Wardrobe, the first thing he noticed was a man with a shaven face covertly feeling up Ali's bottom with his left hand despite having another woman in his right. Since it was a clothing store, mainly women came here, but in addition to the boyfriends and husbands who would tag along, there were also vulgar men who came for nothing more than to look at things other than the products.

Shui wanted nothing more than to slam his fist into that wretched face, but he knew such an incident would only bring trouble to them. Luckily, he had a very convenient way of taking care of weaklings like this.

With martial intent, Shui broke the man's right pinky finger.

"Ahh!!"

"What's wrong honey!?"

"I don't know it just suddenly,"

While watching his face contort in pain as he held the wrist of his right hand, Shui found it hard to keep in his laughter so he moved away from the entrance and waited for the man to leave the store with his lover. Once they were gone, Shui went to Ali who was partially relieved and partially worried. For a small business like theirs who knew what trouble this incident could bring even if it wasn't their fault.

"Big Sis Ali, did something happen?"

"I'm not really sure. All of a sudden he started screaming in pain and ran out. I hope this doesn't bring any strange rumours."

Now that Shui was here, Ali made sure to hide the unease she experienced from being groped. Unlike Suiri in the past, they couldn't let their troubles worry him. However, Shui felt different to her since this morning. Out of nowhere, he suddenly seemed more mature and perceptive. So much so that she was afraid he could see through her act.

"Ohh... Well, I'll go to Big Sis Jeanne to see if she needs help."

"Okay."

Shui's reaction relieved Ali so she was more at ease while seeing him head deeper inside the store. Of course, this was all done on purpose by Shui. He wasn't sure if these big sisters were the same people in his mother's shop outside of the trial, but at least within it, he had the desire to protect them.

"Big Sis Jeanne, good evening."

Jeanne was a mature woman with a shapely figure and shoulder-length black hair. Out of his three big sisters, she felt the most like a mother and was the only one in a romantic relationship.

"Welcome back Shui. How was school?"

"Great! Guess what, I made it to the first level in the Mortal Realm."

"Wow, good job! We need to celebrate."

Jeanne was at the third level in the Mortal Realm, but only when he told her, did she think to check his cultivation. They didn't send him to school in hopes of him being a strong cultivator, but she was still glad that he improved. After all, she was well aware of how the world treated the weak.

After finding out that Shui had his first breakthrough, his big sisters decided to close shop early and have a celebration feast. Though he wasn't starved, this was the first time since his last birthday that he was able to eat whatever he wanted. He noticed that his big sisters weren't taking part in the feast, likely because they wanted him to enjoy all of it, so he playfully asked, "Why aren't you eating?"

Ali awkwardly replied, "Well, I'm a bit worried about my weight..."

"Don't bother! We're family, so we should celebrate and eat together."

Once he said that they were family, the three women easily gave in and joined him. After that, the dining table became more festive and even after Shui went to bed, his big sisters took out alcohol and continued enjoying themselves.

"Whew~"

Once he was in his room, Shui dropped to his bed and let out an exhausted sigh. He didn't know if it was because he no longer had his soul cultivation or if he was too empathetic of the world in this trial, but it was hard for him to pretend that he didn't know anything and be the sweet little kid they wanted him to. If he was stronger he wouldn't have to worry about putting them in danger, if he was stronger he wouldn't worry them. But because he was weak, he had to pretend to be the child they wanted him to be.

While still depressed over this matter, Shui looked through the window, at the full moon in the sky.

"Guess I shouldn't waste any time."

Ordinary low-level cultivators would only be able to absorb nature energy, but with the World Assimilation Art, Shui could also absorb different natural essences. The two most common and easiest natural essences to get were lunar and solar essence. At Base stage, he would only be able to absorb lunar essence during the full moon and solar essence during the hour of noon, but that didn't mean he could let these chances miss him. Shui spent the entire night cultivating by his window, but he actually felt refreshed by morning and managed to consolidate his cultivation.

Later in the night, Jeanne's husband came to pick her up so when it was almost the next day, Shui only found Ali and Sally with their heads on the table. Since there was no need to wake them up, he carried them to their rooms and cleaned up the aftermath of the feast. When they woke up, breakfast was already prepared and Shui was ready to leave.

"Good morning. I'll be leaving early today so bye."

"Bye..."

The two who held their heads due to intense hangovers, watched as he left with dazed expressions before looking at the table of food. It wasn't anything out of the ordinary, but they were still surprised to get this treatment.

"Is today special or something?" Ali asked.

Sally wondered the same thing but couldn't come up with anything. The two sat by the table, pondering what could be the reason for him to make breakfast for them, when both of their stomachs growled and they touched their bellies in embarrassment.

Sally then cleared her throat and said, "Well, we might as well eat it since he made it for us."

"True."

The two of them sat down and took part in the breakfast Shui made.

While his big sisters were stuffing themselves with his cooking, Shui was being blocked by a group of ten boys ranging from the ages of ten to fourteen. Due to the two familiar ten year olds among them, he had a good idea as to why they were waiting for him, but he still acted ignorant and ignored them.

One boy at the age of fourteen pointed at him as he tried to walk away.

"Is that the one? I thought his name was familiar, he's the son of that slut who sold her body to old man Anders."

Though he was normally as calm as a still lake, this comment alone made him pause his steps.

Another boy added, "Oh yeah, I remember that. Didn't she kill herself because he got bored of her?"

The second comment made him turn to them with intense emotions swirling in his eyes.

"Wow, she's devoted for such a cheap woman. She should have just sold herself on the stree-"

The boy who started the third comment couldn't even finish it because of the stone that was thrown at his face. It was a rock that Shui picked up off the ground, and after throwing it and watching the blood slip down that boy's face, Shui walked towards them. If at least one of them was in the late Mortal Realm, Shui would have managed to hide his claws and waited for the right opportunity to take revenge, but the strongest of them was only in the fourth level in the Mortal Realm. Though it would be hard with his cultivation, it wasn't a gap that made him afraid. They were near the entrance so there was no way their fight would be hidden, but the academy didn't care much for what happened to the normal students. Besides, such a thing wasn't even on his mind. Both in this life and his real one, he could take insults directed at him, but ones directed at his mother were sins that he would never forgive.

"I don't care that you're immature brats. I'm gonna beat you all half to death."