Money and More Training - Chapter 9

Arin walked calmly

From outside he seemed to be distracted.

But Arin wasn't distracted.

He was aware.

Behind him, two sets of footsteps echoed faintly, always stopping when he did,

"Amateurs.." he thought.

"They think I'm prey."

He smirked to himself, the corner of his mouth twitching up.

Instead of returning directly to his inn,

Arin took a sharp turn down a narrow side alley.

No street signs. No lamps.

It was a dead-end alley, boxed in by a high wall, damp from dripping pipes.

He kept walking until he hit the wall.

Then stopped. Slowly turned.

Two shadows entered the mouth of the alley, pacing forward like wolves who believed their target had finally cornered himself.

One wore a sleeveless vest, the other a hooded jacket.

They paused a few feet from him.

The one in the vest Dren tilted his head.

"He's smilin'. Why's he smilin'?"

Mico, the hooded one, squinted.

"Dunno. Bluff maybe? Or just stupid arrogance."

"Or," Arin said aloud, his voice calm and amused, "maybe I just think it's cute you two followed me into a place where no one can hear you die."

Silence.

Dren blinked, then barked a short laugh.

"Is that right? Alright, tough guy. Let's see you do somethin'."

He took a step forward.

That's when Arin moved.

A blur of motion legs pushing off the ground like a spring Arin dashed straight at them, aura condensed tight around his body, just a thin coat of Ten.

He didn't need it anything more or any weapon at all.

Ten alone, even as a beginner, made him several magnitudes stronger than a normal person.

Dren only had time to raise his arms.

That was his last thought.

Arin's fist drove directly into his face, a straight punch with perfect control and devastating speed. The sound was sickening bone caving, skull fracturing, a spray of blood bursting into the air as Dren's head snapped back unnaturally and he collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut.

Mico staggered back with wide eyes. "What the ?!"

He tried to swing his blade.

He didn't make it halfway.

Arin pivoted on his left foot and drove a rising palm into Mico's jaw with such force that the man's neck cracked audibly. The hooded body lifted off the ground and slammed backward into the brick wall, leaving a red smear as it slid down lifeless.

Two seconds.

Two corpses.

Arin stood perfectly still, breathing lightly.

His lips curled into a small smile.

"Even with just Ten," he murmured to himself, "normal people are… fragile."

He bent down and rifled through their coats and pockets without shame or hurry.

Between the two, he counted 50,000 Jenny in crumpled bills and coins. Not bad. Definitely more than he expected from amateur thugs.

He pocketed the cash, then stood straight, shaking blood from his hand.

They chose the game. I finished it.

If anything, there was a strange… satisfaction.

He'd always believed killing people in the end would cause problems down the line but there was nothing.

He never understood the reason that he started killing people. It did not hold any meaning.

It was just as it is, life or death, kill or be killed...

They weren't civilians.

They weren't innocent.

They were scum. Preying on others. Feeding on weakness.

And in killing them, Arin wasn't just protecting himself. He was cutting rot out of the world.

"It feels better to kill them," he admitted quietly, "than it would to kill anyone else."

He stepped away from the bodies, moving quickly.

It was over before it began.

He was beginning to understand the world he'd stepped into.

Power ruled.

And as his aura still clung to his skin, faint and tight like a second body, Arin realized something else:

"I know much about about nen but using it too different than just knowing it and watching it in the series..."

Arin closed the door to his room with a soft click, locking it behind him. He didn't turn on the dim wall light this time.

He tossed his coat over the back of the chair and dropped his satchel beside the bed.

The fact that he has gained 50,000 made him more comfortable than usual.

Combined with the 15,000 he already had, he was now carrying 65,000 total more than enough to last him three, maybe even four weeks if he remained cautious.

That fact alone made his muscles relax slightly.

He sat cross-legged on the floor and exhaled deeply.

Arin closed his eyes and centered his focus.

"I need to accelerate," he whispered to himself.

He had already opened his aura nodes and begun practicing Ten a basic but crucial component.

To survive in this world, and thrive within it, he'd need more. Much more.

"Ren, Zetsu, Gyo, Hatsu…"

He needed real understanding.

And practice.

Hours of it.

Tonight was as good a time as any.