Chapter 39: Night Drinks

Stephanie and I are heading up the castle or fortress or whatever they call it, and right above the prison cells is the knights' barracks. When we reached the barracks, the young man who was following behind the chief yesterday directing the actual flow of the troops stood right in front of us and blocked our path. As he saw that I was leaving with Stephanie, he menacingly said, “One person already tried to take advantage of Stephanie today. I won’t let it be two!” then just straight up charged me. With my eyes of wisdom, I saw that he is a Rank-7 Pinnacle. Seeing as I can still see his stats, we should be on par. I then compiled a book on him that shows that he is a knight following the medieval practice, standing for what he deems as honorable and just. I found it odd that he just tried to charge me randomly. Stephanie shouted for the guard to stop, but he didn’t and tried to hit me again.

As Stephanie is about to jump in and block the strike for me, I used Qi Telepathy, an exclusive skill for 5th rank cultivators that are using the same form of cultivation as me. I used this kind of telepathy to tell her that I can take care of him. She was shocked to see what happened next. In the blink of an eye, I was right in front of the knight and with a single strike, knocked him out. It was swift and quiet and, in my opinion, quite anti-climactic. Stephanie said, “Strong! Teacher, I thought you were only of the 3rd rank a few days ago. How did you do that?" Right, since my mana is formless, no one can actually perceive the mana that I possess. Most people see me as just an ordinary individual. I changed my aura slightly so that Stephanie can feel the power of my mana. Suddenly, she shouted, “Rank 7?! What did you do? Teach me!” I then told her to enjoy her life first. This is the first time she is living without the looming threat of death. Soon, I’ll be teaching her directly.

While I may have talked a big game, I am still worried that I’m currently stuck in my cultivation due to the thinness of the mana in the air. Once we exited the barracks, it was just a short walk from the inner walls of the castle to the actual castle itself. The inner castle houses the audience room and the bedrooms of Topher, Joyce, and Stephanie, the ones who are considered as the figureheads of the kingdom. Once again, we were blocked, and this time, it is by the captain guard. Seeming to hold respect for me now, he bowed and said, “Sorry for my earlier indiscretion. The first daughter just seems like a lost lamb whenever she leaves, so I just get a tad worried.” Stephanie, wearing a flustered expression, replied, “Uncle Tyrone, please stop. Even though I do not often hang out with my friends to play games and whatnot, I at least know how to interact with people!” I just frowned and said, “If that is true, why did you send your second in command to block our way?” The guard captain looked a bit embarrassed and told me, “Actually, I heard about that as well. I know that Lance wouldn’t do something like that. I'll try to investigate him and get back to you on the matter.” and again, he bowed. I just shrugged since I didn’t really care if someone that weak was to attack me. While our strengths may be similar, my speed and techniques are something that could tip over any DIY maneuvers that people have made in the past 20 years.

As we entered the castle, I got redirected by a maid to go straight to the dining hall. Inside the dining hall is Topher and David waiting for me in a tiny table set up specifically for small gatherings. It has been a tradition among us, friends, that when we drink and hang out, we just use one cup for the drink to get passed around. Before I headed in, Stephanie tugged at my shirt and whispered, “Sorry, teacher. I’ll depend on you,” then hurried to her room. It seems that she still hasn’t told her dad. I approached my friends, and as I sat down, I heaved a sigh of relief. Then, I put down my mask that bears the symbols of a dark sword and a white shield. Like in the old days, I took the drink that David offered me and sniffed it. Since I don’t drink alcohol, I wanted to check if the drink contains some and thankfully, it didn’t. In fact, it smelled like fresh green apple juice. David and Topher looked at each other and just laughed. As I took a sip of my drink, I was hit with the memory of my mom peeling apples for me whenever I am sick. With my eyes of wisdom, I found out that it identifies as a drink that has the taste of “Fuzzy memories." In awe, I said, “Woah, the flavor of the new era!” Topher and David laughed as they alternately told me the details on how they come up with new food and drinks. “Yeah! With the help of Jolly and Son, we were able to create this new series of food and drinks that induce feelings.” Like the food I ate earlier, this also gave a buff, but something less significant: "A clear mind is given for the next 5 minutes after the feeling has been established.”

As I finished my drink, I said, “Regarding Stephanie...” Topher frowned and replied, “Yeah, yeah. Don’t worry about it. David already told me all about how Troy and Stephanie are dating.” We only pushed through with this because David told me that we may be able to use my rashness as a formidable weapon to weed out some enemies. For sure, tomorrow, people will charge me with unlawful use of power that will then incite the enemies. I shook my head no and said, “Sure, you'll get to destroy your opponents tomorrow in the rebellion, but this will damage your reputation among the public." David seems to have missed this point, and so he sobered up immediately and said, “I get what you mean. But with the tournament coming up, we need to weed out those that are in here for personal affairs. Since the representative this year, Lance is still under the influence of the merchant faction.” The merchant faction is the internal name given to those merchants or people with spirit stones that want to take control of the territory, either under their name or under a nation, of that, they are not sure. I then said, “Oh! Lance? The second in command of the knights? Why him? He seems pretty weak. I beat him with one punch, and he got knocked out.” Topher and David looking confused, said, “What do you mean?”