Caleb Li let out a deep exhale as he opened his eyes slowly. He blinked twice and looked at the small room before fixing his eyes on the panel floating in the corner of his vision.
[Lifespan: 30 days]
With just one vitality pill, his lifespan had increased to 30 days. A smile blossomed on his face, and he sighed in relief.
He knew thirty days were nothing, but at least, he wouldn't have to worry about suddenly dying when his time was up.
He stood up and stretched his body. His joints cracked, indicating the stiff position he had been in for the past couple of hours.
He stretched his body to loosen it a bit before leaving the small room. Coming out, he observed the courtyard carefully and realized it was large and quiet.
At the other end of the courtyard was a training ground. He saw some people practicing archery and was fascinated. As a sniper, he loved long-distance weapons.
Therefore, when he saw people practicing archery, he wished he could join them in their training, but he shook his head and threw the idea out of his mind.
When he appeared in the Mercenary lobby, the old man was attending to some mercenaries. He stood by the side and waited calmly for the old man to complete his work.
He looked at the intimidating mercenaries and was shocked by the terrifying killing intent emanating from their bodies. Some of them had various deep injuries, but it meant nothing to them.
"Kid, how is your health?"
Caleb Li heard the voice of the old man and turned his head. He smiled. "Thank you for saving my life. I'll surely repay this kindness." His voice was full of gratitude and determination.
The old man looked at him and chuckled. "Alright. I will wait for that."
He only helped the kid on a whim since he had nothing to do. Besides, he knew he was an outsider, and he knew life outside the organization wasn't easy for newcomers.
He had seen a lot of outsiders come and go, but he had never seen a kid that just passed the trial and wanted to become a mercenary without any cultivation.
Besides, the kid's vitality was reducing at an alarming speed.
All this piqued his interest, and he wanted to get to know this strange outsider.
Putting all the thoughts to the side, the old man looked at him seriously and asked. "What are you planning to do now? You don't expect me to allow you to live in the organization courtyard for free, do you?"
"No. No." He shook his head quickly. "You've already guessed my identity. I need your help, and I'll do whatever you ask me to do."
"Hmm." The old man creased his brow and thought for a moment.
"You're already a mercenary. Therefore, you can have access to the benefits of a mercenary." The old man talked to himself.
"I am going to lend you two books for a month. Whether you can learn them in a month or not is not my problem. At the end of the month, you have to pay 200 copper coins." He looked at Caleb Li seriously.
"Do you agree?"
"Yes."
He agreed quickly. Did he have a choice? If he did not agree to this, where would he get the chance to get stronger? His college entrance examination was already around the corner.
"Good. I like how decisive you are." The old man smiled and took out two old books from the counter drawer.
"Sorry, I didn't ask. Which weapon would you like to learn?"
"Bow." He responded.
"Are you sure? Learning archery is not as simple as it seems. Besides, ranger weapons have an obvious flaw. Do you know that?"
"I know."
"Good." The old man nodded and gave him two thin old books. "These are common skills and techniques. If you have a bit of money, you can buy them from any of the stores. Still, don't share them with anyone."
"I know." Caleb Li smiled with his face radiating with gratitude. He held the two thin books tightly.
He knew with these books, his journey as a cultivator would begin.
"Go. Your time has already started." The old man chased him off.
Looking at the departing back of Caleb Li, a rare smile appeared on his face before he turned to look at the man with a scar standing in front of him.
"Old man, is that your disciple?" the man asked.
"No. Are you done with the mission?"
Seeing that the old man didn't want to talk about it, the man didn't push and submitted his mission.
As for Caleb Li, he was back in the small room. He sat in a lotus position and opened the first thin book. He read it carefully, but after an hour, he realized he didn't understand a thing.
The only thing he understood was the name of the technique. Cloud Breath Meditation, a common-grade technique.
Even though it was the most common-grade technique, his talent was so poor that he didn't even understand a thing.
He tried to reread it once again to check if he missed a thing, but the result was still the same.
"Was this body talent that bad?!" he exclaimed with wide eyes.
Previously, he thought people were overreacting when they found out about his talent. But now, he realized why those people had such reactions. He was total trash if he couldn't understand the most common technique.
As he was pondering what to do with his lack of talent, he heard the system notification.
[Ding!]
[Breathing Technique detected]
[To comprehend the Cloud Breath Meditation, use 10 days of your lifespan.]
[Do you agree to use 10 days of your lifespan?]
[Yes | No.]