Future Plans

In many folklores, the sun is considered to be the symbol of purity, strength, and the vanquisher of evil. Sunrise is celebrated as the most auspicious time of the day. It is the time when light overcomes the darkness.

On a small river that was around a meter wide and a meter deep, the figure of a young man could be seen standing still. His lower body was submerged in the water, while his upper body was dyed with the golden rays of the sun. Every single muscle on his body was crafted into perfection. He had long black hair that was sticking to his back. On his immature face was a dignity hard to describe in words. One that was only found in people who have lived for a long time.

The moment he opened his eyes, one could make him out to be a young handsome boy. But the indifferent blue eyes that were devoid of any emotion were enough to cold anyone's heart.

"It's somewhat manageable."

Walking out of the river, Xen took a deep breath and put on his clothes before walking towards the village.

From the distance, he could see the figure of people roaming the village. Some women were cleaning the streets, some men were moving small stones out of the dirt road, while most of the old people were sitting on a wooden chair, sunbathing.

"Hey, is it the young lord from the city?"

"Yes. Oh my. He is such a good-looking guy."

The moment he stepped into the village, Xen attracted the attention of the people around him. The villagers heard from Steward Lu that a young master from the city was coming. But due to his personality, he was unwilling to meet them.

The villagers didn't think of it much. In their eyes, the people like Young master from the city were a class above them. It was completely normal for him to ignore lower-class villagers like them.

Even today when they saw the Young man walking on the road alone, they didn't dare to greet him. They just looked at him from the distance.

"The situation is exactly like how I imagined it to be."

After his interaction with the servants and the carriage driver, Xen was aware of the differences between him and others, so he didn't take the situation in front of him too seriously.

"Mr. Lu, are you there?"

After knocking, Xen stood in front of the door silently. Within moments, he could hear hasty footsteps from behind the door.

"Good morning young master. How can I help you?"

Looking at the steward Lu in front of him whose face was flushed red, along with disorderly clothes and a sweet fragrance that was still lingering on his body, Xen instantly understood the situation he was in right now.

'This guy...'

After shaking his head, Xen asked him in a flat tone.

"Do you know if there is a library around somewhere here?"

Xen was still in dark about this world. What he has right now is a shallow knowledge of this world. He had a system, but he needed to be aware of the dangers of this world too.

The 'Art Of Slaughter' was art with vastly negative effects. He needed to find out about the difference between the various exercises to prepare for the future.

"Library....?"

Steward Lu looked at the young boy in front of him with a questioning gaze.

'Shit, don't you have a huge ass library in your house. Are you purposefully humiliating me?'

Looking at his face that was getting uglier by the second, Xen coughed lightly.

"Ahem. I mean any library in the surrounding areas other than my house?"

"Aah. Yes, there is. There is a city 'Ignis' that is around a day's journey from here."

After taking a long glance at Xen he asked hesitatingly.

"Do you want to go there, young master?"

"Why? Is there any problem?"

Looking at his eyes, Steward Lu shuddered for a moment before moving his gaze away from them.

"No... No problem. It's just that there is a danger of bandits and some wild beasts on the road. If you want to go there, you should probably hire some guards and a carriage."

"Don't worry. No one is going to rob a person who is alone. Do you have a map?"

"But young master..."

Steward Lu wanted to say a lot, but after looking at those emotionless eyes, he swallowed back his words.

"Please wait."

Looking at the back that disappeared inside the house, Xen stood there silently. After a moment of wait, the familiar figure of Steward Lu entered his sight again. This time, there was an additional piece of paper in his hand.

"Thank you."

Taking the map, Xen walked away from there towards his house.

Reaching inside his house, he spread the map on the bed and looked at it carefully.

Instead of paper, the map was drawn on some kind of animal skin. The map looked like it was made by some novice. In the middle of the map, a small circle was drawn. Inside the circle, a single word was written in black ink, Solaris.

On the left side of the circle was a big circle, inside which 'Elora' was written.

"That's the place I came from."

Taking a look at the direction and the path, Xen almost formed the route in his head. The two circles of 'Elora' and 'Solaris' were connected by a curved line.

"Ignis?"

Following the opposite direction from the village of 'Solaris', a big circle was drawn inside which 'Ignis' was written.

"This is it."

Slowly moving his fingers along the lines that were drawn from the village to the city, Xen nodded.

Although the map was somewhat crude, it was enough to help him reach the city.

Folding the map carefully, Xen was thinking about the journey. Listening to the steward words and the various cross '×' icons on the map, he was somewhat hesitant.

Sure he was stronger than the others, but there is nothing absolute in this world. He was not in a game where he could start over. One small mistake may spill out his doom.

"Need to strengthen myself."

After making a firm decision, Xen looked at the screen in front of him. Even though he didn't want to do any more quests, his current increasing bloodlust along with the need to find answers was enough for him to reconsider his choice.

[Name: Xen]

[Cultivation: Muscles Refining]

[Tokens: 1]

[Skill: Palm Arts, Art Of Slaughter]

{Shop}{Quest!}{Inventory}

Clicking on the quest, the only remaining side quest came into his view.

[Side Quest]

'Repel the mountain leopard.' [Reward: 4 Tokens]

Last time, he was abused to his death. It wouldn't be wrong to say that the leopard left a shadow in his mind.

If this was any other time, Xen would have hesitated, but after learning the art of slaughter, his mind was in some kind of trance. Right now, there wasn't any emotion on his face. The art of slaughter made him powerful, but it also made him devoid of any emotions.

Accepting the quest, Xen's vision blurred before he found himself in the familiar forest.

'I could have sworn I fought the leopard on the grass field before.'

Observing the changes in the surroundings, Xen was stunned for a moment before a voice interrupted his train of thoughts.

'Brave traveler, help us repel this leopard and we will reward you greatly.'

Looking at the one-legged old man who was standing in front of the leopard, Xen narrowed his eyes.

'Ellio?'

Xen was too familiar with the person in front of him, after all, he was the one who rewarded him Palm Arts.

Before Xen could process the changes, the leopard that was standing still suddenly pounced on him.

Looking at the leopard, Xen bent his body and moved his right hand backward. He was ready to deliver the attack at his full power.

Perhaps it was due to sensing his movements, the leopard who was still in midair suddenly smashed his tail down and repositioned himself on the ground.

"What the...?"

Looking at the unbelievable movement, Xen narrowed his eyes. He was sure the leopard in front of him wasn't in the realm of muscles refining. He was in the realm of muscles refining and he couldn't make such movements.

"Grrr."

Looking at the leopard that was growling, Xen slowly started walking towards it.

"If I can land a hit, I might be able to win."

Muttering to himself, Xen was looking at the leopard in front of him. All its weak points were clear as a day in front of him.

'I can go for throat or I can go for the eyes.'

Without him realizing it, his mentality has undergone some drastic changes. If it was him before yesterday, he would have thought about how to defeat it. But right now, he just wanted to kill the leopard in front of him.

Perhaps the leopard realized the threat it was facing now. The moment Xen came near it, it pounced with all its might.

"Now."

Looking at the pouncing tiger, Xen thrust forth and tried to hit its stomach.

Perhaps it was already aware of Xen making such a move, the moment Xen rushed forward, its tail blurred before going towards Xen's head.

"Huh."

Xen was surprised for a moment before slightly leaning his head towards the left. A burning sensation on his right cheek made him aware of the situation.

All of this takes time to explain, but it happened in a fraction of a second.

That thrust of the leopard not only missed, but it also made it vulnerable to the palm strike from Xen.

"Thump."

With a loud sound, the leopard flew back at a speed visible to naked eyes.

"mewwwww.."

Growling in pain, the leopard looked at Xen for a long time before running in the opposite direction.

"Uugh."

Falling to the ground, Xen clutched his neck tightly and tried to breathe. One could see the blood that was overflowing like water from his neck.

Though he was lucky enough to land a hit in the leopard, it also slashed his neck.

There was a rare look of panic in Xen's eyes. He wasn't afraid of dying here, but of failing the task. Xen looked at the old man in front of him with great expectation. He successfully repelled the leopard and was waiting for his reward.

"Brave traveler..."

"Sure enough."

Before losing consciousness Xen saw the transparent screen of text that he was desperately hoping to see in front of him.

'The task has been completed.'

With a smile, his vision finally went dark.