The sound of birds echoed in the distance, and the people setting up their stalls made the streets quite noisy.
Apollo opened his eyes and noticed it was already morning.
"What? I've been doing it for hours?" Apollo muttered in surprise. Engrossed in his cultivation, he hadn't noticed the time. "And someone even gave me a silver coin?"
He glanced at his Alm points and noticed they had gone up by 10. Adding his previous Alm points, he now had 16.2 Alm points.
"Lucky," Apollo said, putting the coin in his pocket before he went back to the corner of the restaurant.
I wonder how much strength I've gained, Apollo thought while clenching his fist.
"System, can I see the progress of my Simple Breathing Technique?"
"Sure, Host."
A translucent screen materialized in front of him, displaying the percentage of his progress.
Simple Breathing Technique: 10%
Description: A breathing technique to enhance the body and mind.
"Let's see if there are any changes in my status screen," Apollo said, and his status screen appeared in his mind.
STATUS SCREEN:
Name: Apollo Leone
Race: Human
Alm Points: 16.2
Spirit Cultivation: None
Physique Cultivation: Half-Step Foundation Building
Attributes: None
"What?!" Apollo's eyes widened in surprise. A night of cultivating that technique had made him a Half-Step Foundation Building Cultivator? This is such a godly technique! Although it didn't sound grand, just thinking about the strength and speed that the worker from Filly Restaurant displayed made Apollo nervous. If not for his experience and wit, that guy could have beaten him with just one punch. Though he had to use his full strength and not underestimate his opponents, the worker was so arrogant, thinking Apollo was just a normal beggar.
Looking at his other stats that hadn't changed, Apollo concluded that the Simple Breathing Technique could only affect his Physique Cultivation. If he wanted to see some changes in Spirit Cultivation and Attributes, he would have to buy something from the store.
Shaking his head, he decided to think about this another time.
Apollo sent a punch into the air, and hearing the wind tearing apart, he couldn't help but smile. "But I still don't know my real strength. Is there a place here to test it?"
The beggar boy pondered. He wanted to get a better feel for his strength so he could adjust to his body. It wouldn't be good if his body was not accustomed to his sudden strength; it would be like a kid driving a ten-wheeler truck.
"Is there a gym here or something?" Apollo muttered before deciding to find one in the city.
But after taking a couple of steps, he heard his stomach growling.
"Hmm, I should buy some bread from Big Chub." Apollo decided to visit his 'friend' and ask him where he could also test his strength.
He left his beggar spot and looked to his right where the Filly Restaurant was. Apollo could feel that this restaurant would give him a hard time if they found out he was still there, even though they had already sent someone to make him go away. He wanted to avoid conflict at the moment and only when he was confident in his strength would he try to confront them.
What's wrong with a beggar staying beside your restaurant? It's not like I will steal your food!
While thinking about this, he went to find Big Chub.
...
"There's no beggar beside the restaurant, Ma'am Filly."
"It seems he really left. That's good, you can now go back," Filly waved her hand, and her worker left after a bow.
She had sent someone to check if there was a beggar loitering around; she just wanted to make sure, and her half-step worker must have done his job right.
Filly then proceeded with her work. She was currently creating new kinds of food to add to the restaurant's menu. She noticed that the food the customers were eating was very simple. Although it tasted good, she felt that something was lacking.
She massaged her forehead and leaned on her chair. Sighing, she looked outside the window and saw the rising sun.
…
"What are you doing here, kid?" Big Chub asked the beggar in front of his stall.
"Can I buy some of your bread?" Apollo raised the silver coin.
"Sure, kid!" Big Chub laughed. "Haha, just pick the bread that you want."
"Okay!" Apollo picked three pieces of bread and handed over his coin.
"That would be 2 bronze coins," Big Chub said, taking out the change and giving it to Apollo.
"Thanks!" Apollo started eating the bread in front of him.
Seeing this, Big Chub couldn't help but frown. This boy… isn't he a young kid from a rich family? Why is he acting like he's not? Wait, don't tell me!
"Kid, tell me the truth. Are you really a beggar?" Big Chub leaned closer.
Apollo's cheeks were filled to the brim with bread, making him look like a chipmunk.
"Yeah, why?" Apollo answered with his mouth full, making his words barely understandable.
Big Chub slapped his forehead. That is too d*mb of me!
"Kid, don't you know? Your eyes, they're blue. Only rich families have those eyes!" Big Chub said seriously.
Apollo's eyes widened. He didn't know that having blue eyes was such a big deal. Is that why when he asked around, other people treated him nicely? Did they think I'm a rich kid just trying to play around?
I have to make a change! This will only bring trouble. What if the guy who brought down the Leone family finds out that one of them managed to escape? With his half-step strength, Apollo is not confident in staying alive.
Fortunately, he went to find Big Chub, or else he would only know this information when it was already too late.
"You okay? You're red," Big Chub asked with concern in his voice.
"I'm alright!" Apollo shook his head.
"Okay, I'm just saying be careful." Big Chub realized that he was starting to care about this boy. "Anything else?"
"Y-yeah," Apollo put the remaining bread inside his robe while thinking that he would buy something from the system store that could hide his appearance. "Do you know a place where one can see their strength?"
"Yes, there are a lot in this city. But why?" Big Chub raised an eyebrow. For some reason, he was quite intrigued by this beggar.
"I just want to take a look," Apollo answered without changing his expression.
"I see… you probably wanted to see Cultivators doing their training," Big Chub nodded his head as if he understood the boy.
"Yes!" Apollo found this more reasonable. He didn't want to waste his brain cells thinking of an excuse.
"There's a public training ground in the south. You could check it out," Big Chub suggested. He also wanted the beggar to go away, as his customers who wanted to buy from him left when they saw a beggar standing in front of his stall.
"I see! Thank you, Big Chub!" Apollo said with a smile before he ran off into the distance.
Seeing the kid's back, Big Chub shook his head. Then he noticed from the corner of his eye that one of his breads was missing.
Realization dawned on him as he finally found the culprit who had stolen his bread!
"Kid!"