"Peak Core Formation realm?!?! That kid?"
"C'mon, it can't be."
"That's a kid, right?! How can he even cultivate?!"
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Lorin City was a big. But that doesn't mean everything related to city are great. One of the demerit this city had is the lack of resources. The atmosphere only had a sliver of Qi and Mana. The highest cultivation in this city was 3rd stage Core Formation realm. Because of that, the streets were peaceful. No one ran around the city flaunting their cultivation. If anyone had, the official knights and warriors won't sit still.
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Lee can feel a lot of eyes staring at him. Without further ado, he finished the formalities. Darwin introduced him to the 'Mission board'. Lee was happy to see a number of missions as he was itching for some actions.
Freya and Fenfang had to meet their squad members and attend a meeting, so they left without wasting any time. Darwin bid goodbye as he wanted to take some rest. Lee was left alone, but was happy at the moment.
The missions on the Mission board are divided on the basis of ranks based on color. Lee stared at the board of rank 4 missions with a frown.
"Need to be explained?!"
A voice came from his behind and he was distracted. Changying stood there and said-
"The missions are divided on the basis of ranks. You need to have…"
Lee smiled and cut her off-
"It's okay. I get it!"
He took a mission that was pinned at the top of the board. The piece of paper had yellow stripes over it. Lee can see that the danger level of the mission is equal to the color. Red meant extremely dangerous!
He took the mission info to the desk. Changchang explained the mission details as this was his first time. He needs to catch 12 spikehogs. It was a mission issued by the Alchemy Guild.
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7 A.M.
450 Essence harvested.
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Lee walked out of the city through the guarded gate. The guards asked for his ID and he showed his. Upon seeing his rank, they let him go as soon as they saw it. Lee walked for half an hour before stopping.
'D, according to the info, those spikehogs must be here. But I don't see them. Anything in the Map?!'
[None, nothing in the vicinity.]
'Then let's take a break. No need to rush, eh?!'
[According to the mission information, Spikehogs have thick skin that is resistant to cutting. It's spikes on the back will block your blade. In this scenario, would you like to unlock a major memory of your training?!]
'Define the word 'Major'!'
[The blade came into your hand as a secondary weapon. I'm talking about the training you did with another weapon, and some information about your idol!]
'Please do'
A sudden and sharp sting made Lee nearly scream out. He fell on his knees as he clenched the fist and hit the ground. Each hit made the ground shake. A minute later, the pain subsided. Lee raised his head and opened his eyes and uttered-
"Bruce Lee, bless me!"
He immediately opened the Shop interface and bought a nunchuck. It was made of strong and durable wood. An unknown spirit gave him boundless energy. He checked the Map and saw a single Spikehog about a mile away from where he was. He sprinted towards it.
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A large Spikehog was eating grass. It had poor sense of vision, but keen olfactory and auditory senses. Lee observed it from the bushes at a distance. To provoke it, Lee took a stone from the ground and throwed at it.
*takk*
The stone hit the Spikehog and it screeched in pain. About time, Lee came out of the bushes. His nunchuck and blade was in his Inventory. So he stood barehanded. He showered a few more stones at it.
Seeing an unarmed pest messing unnecessarily, it was enraged and charged at Lee. The distance between them became less as the beast charged forward. As it came near him for about a meter, he quickly stepped to his left and took out the nunchunk and whipped horizontally.
*pichik*
The hide strong enough to resist a cut was severely damaged by the nunchuck. Lee didn't unlock the memory of nunchuck, but everything related to Bruce Lee. He worshipped him as his idol for two reasons. One, the mastery of close-combat with an unusual weapon. Two, the same surname 'Lee'.
The impact corrected the Hog's path and it rolled over. It survived the hit, at a great cost. That adult Spikehog felt fear and pain for the first time in its life. It wanted to run away, but it's legs gave up.
Lee slowly walked to the fallen creature. He saw the damage done by the nunchuck was greater than a sword could have done. As a bladeless weapon that can deal more damage and suffering, Lee inwardly worshipped his idol. Without wasting a moment, he stabbed his blade deep through the tear mark nunchuck made.
The beast cried out loud and a big herd came running. Seeing their comrade lying dead near a man's feet, they all charged at the same time. Lee had no chance of surviving that head-on, so he dashed forward and jumped over them and reached their behind.
*puch puch puch puch…..*
The pain emerged from the hit of nunchuck made some scatter, but many remained. Their butts were spanked by a flexible stick just now. How can they run away?!
The intelligent Spikehogs grouped together as they came at him. They didn't charge and we're very careful as to not expose their back to this sadist. But the scene wasn't different.
Those that came near him were either disoriented or knocked out by his flashing nunchuck. Some had their jaws tore open, but the pain only made them more angry.
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9 A.M.
450 Essence harvested.
=====
Lee had missed the notification of 8 A.M as he was seriously into the mission. When the 9 A.M. notification appeared, he was wiping the blood off from his jacket. His tee and jeans were red in colour.
A total of 35 Spikehogs were killed. Their individual size was one that rivalled a cow. Adding the strong hide and safety spikes, it was an armoured damage absorber. But it couldn't keep its facade in front of the nunchuck.
Lee stored them in his Spatial ring and slowly walked back. Two steps later, a stopped him-
"What a fantastic weapon it is. Leave it there and run away. You'll not be crippled if you leave your dress also."
Lee glanced at the Map and saw 18 red dots scattered around him, on the trees and in the bushes. They were bandits. Lee can assume what kind of people they were.
"I'm tired. Why don't you people come and take it from me?!"
Lee sneered as he said. All the 18 bandits jumped out of their position.
"Boy, you've got guts. Leave those and you'll not die."
A relatively large man walked at Lee as he spoke. Lee held one end of nunchuck as the other end hung loose.
"Want it? Take it! Spineless dick-sucking poop-eaters!"
That hit the spot. Lee's intention to provoke the bandits hit the bullseye. The leader roared and took a step as he raised his sword to cut Lee down. Lee closed on him and swung his nunchuck horizontally.
*pakk*
The sound was followed by silence. The large body of the leader slowly kissed the ground. The bandits were hopeful in killing him as Lee stood alone. So they didn't withdraw and charges at him.
Lee's proficiency in nunchuck wasn't great as he still needed a lot of training. The lack of training was visible when he one-shotted the bandit leader. Lee aimed for his ear, but the nunchuck ended up crushing his neck from the side.
Two minutes. It only took two minutes to wipe out the bandits. In comparison, Spikehogs were clearly a better opponent than these scums. Most of them had their jaws dislocated and limbs broken in half, but all were dead. Before killing the last one, he extracted the information he wanted.
Storing the bandits in the Spatial ring, Lee walked to the city gate. The Spikehogs' blood was already dry and flaking, so it was easy for him to remove it from his skin. But the blood stench actually came from his dress, and he didn't know how to clean or wash them in this world.
The guard didn't inspect him as the scent of blood was enough to confirm his identity. Some of the guards recognised him and let him pass quickly.
As he moved towards the Guild building, he thought of asking the possible reward for bandit extermination at the reception. He didn't feel regret or fear as he believed that what he did was correct.
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=====
10 A.M.
450 Essence harvested.
=====
Guild reception.
Changying smiled as she saw Lee return in one piece. She expected him to place the mission back, but the blood scent in the air told her otherwise. He came near the desk and asked-
"Where do I put the mission request object?!"
Lee asked with a face devoid of expression, to which she replied-
"And where is the request object?!"
She was visibly confused as Lee walked in barehanded but smelling blood.
Lee noticed her doubt and waved his left hand. 12 Spikehog corpses materialised from the thin air. Each one of them resembled a small mound.
Changying pressed a button at the desk and three people came in with a cart. They came in and froze on their tracks, as the cart was only big enough to transport 2 Spikehogs at once. Lee absorbed them back to the ring and said-
"Show me the place. I'll deposit it there."
The cartmen were happy and led Lee to another room. This room was bigger than the reception room. One of the cartmen requested him to deposit them on the big weighing scale placed on the floor. He waved his hand and dropped 12 Spikehogs. The cartmen thanked him in one voice. As they began to check the product's condition, Lee went back to the main room.
Changying was surprised to see a Spatial ring. It was a rare commodity among the commoners. Before she asked about the ring, Lee probed-
"Is there any chance that the mission requestor will buy more than what's mentioned in the mission?!"
Changying frowned as she replied-
"More than means?"
"13 more!"
Lee's reply was more than she expected. She told him to wait for a moment before running inside the building, through a door. A minute later, she came back.
"The Alchemy Guild is happy to buy 13 more. The reward will be doubled."
Lee smiled as a reply. He went back to the storage room where he deposited the corpses before. The cartmen from before frowned as he entered again. Lee went to the weighing platform and waved his hand and 13 more Spikehogs fell down. The cartmen were aghast and stared at Lee as he walked out of the room.
Returning to the desk, he signalled that he had a doubt. Changchang attended him and asked his query.
"What will happen if you kill a bandit?!" (Lee)
"You'll be rewarded." (Changchang)
"What will be the reward?!" (Lee)
"Depends according to the crimes they have done." (Changchang)
Lee raised his brows as he nodded. He dropped the bandit leaders body on the floor and said-
"This is the bandit leader and I have 17 more in storage. Where do I get the reward for them?!"
The bandit's corpse attracted a lot of attention. Changchang explained in detail that the body must be handed over at the Army headquarters to obtain the reward. She also told the location of the army headquarters.
Lee took the body inside the storage ring and turned to walk away. As soon as he stepped outside the building, an arrow came from the right. He didn't dodge, but caught it barehanded. He looked at the direction it came and saw a man sitting on the horse with a group of adventurers around him. He was about 25 and wore luxuriously expensive robe. His arrogance was written all over his face. He applauded as he got down from his horse and walked towards Lee.
"As expected of someone who killed the bandit gang! You are truly a genius."
Lee avoided him and tried to walk away, but he blocked his path with his sword. Lee was annoyed by this action, but his high Resolve didn't waver.
Lee looked dead in that man's eyes. He let go of his taunting tone and spoke up-
"I'm Mick Saderlin, a Veteran Archer. I'm a rank 5 adventurer. Join my-"
"Nope!"
The arrogant man was cut short by Lee as he pushed the sword aside. The man gritted in anger and shouted as his sword pressed against Lee's neck.
"Who do you think you are?! Some big shot?"
Lee looked for one last time and slowly grabbed the sword. It's blade broke in half under his strength. The broken blade fell on the ground with a nearly no noise.
Mick's hand was trembling uncontrollably. His followers saw this and silently scattered. Looking around, the arrogant man understood that he's on his own.
Lee had the arrow from before in his hand. He thrusted the arrow into Mick's trembling body. The arrow went into his stomach without a hindrance.
"This is your final warning. Never show your face again. Do not attempt for revenge in any form. I'll skin you alive, if any of these happens."
Lee's words sounded like thunder in his ears. Lee turned around and disappeared in a flash. Mick fell backward with blood flowing from his wound. He can tell that Lee consciously avoided a fatal injury.
Everyone around him saw this and was aghast. They just witnessed serene attitude, inhuman strength and flash speed. Many recognised him as the one who flattened the crystal sphere. Some confirmed that he was the one who killed all beings in the Evaluation Ground. Mick heard all these and thanked God for his extension of life.
Lee followed the directions Changchang gave him and reached in front the Army headquarters. It was a relatively big building with at least 5 storeys. Lee had no idea what all things were waiting for him inside!
(A.N. The cultivation stuff might be confusing, so let me explain. Ordinary people absorb Qi from the atmosphere and use the accumulated Qi for the breakthrough. Since the atmosphere in Lorin city only has a sliver of Qi, the cultivation becomes very difficult, but not impossible. Even Fenfang is someone who came from another place. Same goes with Mana users. The only way through which anyone can accumulate Qi at a faster rate is to buy Qi accumulating objects and cultivating with its help. Mana can be accumulated by intaking Mana potions. Due to these circumstances, Lee accidentally became the highest achieved cultivator.
The first five realms help the cultivator build a solid awareness of perks and dangers in the cultivation while experiencing fights and growing more resolved, so that they don't become a coward.
The low stat upgrade at each breakthrough is to adjust the body to the optimum. Some will focus on strength and some on speed. The low upgrade lets them know that they are slowly evolving, so that they will choose a field to evolve into. If the upgrade is a lot, then none would specialise. Everyone will become "Jack of all trades, master of none", like overpowered our mc.
I sincerely thank glacer_blade for his valuable feedback.)