Hardluck Henry's Guide to Cultivation

Being broke is bad. Being in debt is even worse. Paying bits and pieces on each of the many different loans Henry had drove him to crippling bouts of depression. Henry Stultus put his head in his hands as he stared down at the last five gold coins he had to his name. Henry is a hard worker but that doesn't count for much in a world of literal demi-gods.Henry did not graduate from a prestigious sect nor did he have access to some groundbreaking talent. He could punch really hard(not supernaturally so) and he could take a punch(not invincibility). He had been roped into a team of dungeon delvers fresh out of the People's Academy. Having gone to a state sponsored sect made it so that Henry knew just enough to be able to earn a living.What they don't tell you in school is that dungeon delving is expensive. Potions, torches, provisions none of that stuff is free. Everything cost gold and Henry had none. That's when the sharks started circling.Henry was twenty when the Delving Credit Union approached him. The smarmy salesman had assured Henry that as long as he paid promptly every month then the equipment he needed to make money could be fronted to him. Every delver did this, the salesman had assured him. Before his blood print was even dry on the paper the salesman had disappeared and a box of goods were at his feet.Henry grew up raised by his mother. His father had died in a dungeon overflow when he was ten. His mother, bless her heart, was a simple woman. She raised Henry to be loyal and caring and to trust people. She did not raise Henry to know what compound interest is.Henry went on a handful of delves, some successful and some not so successful. Each time the same salesman popped up offering more goods and another contract that Henry signed without a second thought. Henry was earning a good amount and thought that he could pay it all off in time so why care. He was leveling and he was earning.It went like this for months until the salesman popped one day but this time he had with him two big burly boys. The two bruisers wore ill fitting black suits with black sunglasses that seem very out of place on their big heads. These were enforcer golems, Henry knew that this was not a friendly business call.The group that he had signed on with also knew when shit got real and chose that moment to disappear into the dungeon portal.The salesman informed Henry that he had maxed out his line of credit with the Credit Union and it was time to make his payment. The salesman proceeded to read out the contract as well as the interest rate and a bunch of legal mumbo jumbo that went in one ear and out the other for Henry.What Henry did understand was that his minimum payment was fifty gold. Henry had a total of seventy-five gold in his bank account and it was the beginning of the month.Henry gulped, looked at the two emotionless golems and then back to the smiling emotionless salesman and forked over his debit crystal. There was a slight ping and the salesman smiled even wider as he told Henry he would be seeing him in two months.Henry paid ten gold every month for his little studio apartment in the seedier part of Avalon City. He sent another fifteen gold back home to his mom. That left him five gold to his name. He needed funds to even be able to qualify for a delve.He needed money to earn money.Now at this point Henry could have buckled down and just stopped raiding for a bit while working some desk job to pay off the loan. It would be boring and hard and some would call it a waste of all the training and danger that he had gone through in school.Henry knew that this was the reasonable thing to do.Henry was not reasonable. Henry went to another Credit Union, this one called Friendly Helpers Loans and got a loan of more potions and gear. He made sure that he asked for a lot so that he could go to a higher tier raid. Higher tier raids were much more profitable but also much more cost prohibitive. The mobs were tougher and hit like a truck.Henry couldn't qualify based on his cultivation or talent all he could to sell himself was that he was prepared. He could keep himself buffed and he could keep himself going so the healers wouldn't be overtaxed. He could pull the aggro off the tank if they were not pumping hard enough. Henry was always prepared, but that took money.Two months went by and Henry had another payment due with the Delving Credit Union. This time the guy from Friendly Helpers Loans was there as well, and Henry could swear that the bastards winked at each other. There were now four emotionless golems staring at Henry urging him to not miss his payment date.Henry had earned one hundred and fifty gold on the delve as well as some stuff that he could sell for a tidy sum of twenty gold. The DCU and FHL representatives both stuck out their hands with the same matching smiles on their faces. Beep, beep. Fifty gold to the DCU and fifty gold to the FHL. Henry was going to say something sassy but they were gone the moment he opened his mouth. Damn sharks.This goes on for eight years as Henry rises up the ranks of delvers and also accumulates a horde of creditors. People start to call him Hardluck Henry. He is powerful but never seems to be able to have more than a handful of gold to his name.The power of compound interest is nefarious.Henry leaves the dungeon covered in blood when he sees his fan club with their hands stretched out in front of him. Eighty-six emotionless golems with forty-three equally emotionless sales men greet him. All smiling that dead fish smile that doesn't seem to reach their eyes.He earns so much every delve, more than most people can even fathom. It's still not enough he fucked up royally over the years. The promise of free potions and regents had rocketed him through the ranks. The salesman knew that he would never be able to pay any of his debt off. Henry was pretty sure they all talked to each other about him.He left with about five coins to his name just like he did those eight fateful years ago. The world isn't fair. Henry could literally punch a hole through a dragon and yet he had to eat ramen every night. His mom had gotten sick over the years from the Ki deficit that non-gifted people went through. He tried to pay the hospital bills as best that he could but he had to take out even more loans to cover the cost.There was no escaping it the mounting interest on his principal balance. Henry paused as he thought, maybe there was one way to get out of it. One final and cowardly way. Henry would miss his mom but at least he knew that they couldn't make her pay.He channeled his ki into his fist as he flipped the world off. One strike was all it took to make his head vaporize.In his final thought Henry knew that even with all his misfortunes and bad choices he could be confident that he excelled at one thing.Henry could punch hard as shit.