Chapter 30: First encounter with a Martial Artist!!

Chapter 30: First encounter with a Martial Artist.

While waiting for my order, I listened to the conversations flowing.

"Hey, did you know that a mythic stage was cleared recently?"

"Really? That can't be. I think that's just a rumor. I mean it's a mythic stage. Where did you hear that?"

"That…I heard from my friend. He was in the Lalitpur dungeon when it happened."

"Do you mean a Nepali cleared the mythic stage before any others? Ha"

"Hey…don't be like that. You are degrading your own country like that. You should be ashamed of yourself. Why can't Nepali be ahead of other nations? Did you forget someone from Nepal cleared the Pro ranking with 100% recently? I think it must be him."

"yes, it must be. I believe you. Don't listen to him. He just looks like us but has already sold his soul to others, you fucking shit."

"Hey, I was just joking. No need to be serious, right? By the way, do any of you know who he is?"

"I don't know. Actually, no one knows who he is. If he is the same as the one who did 100% efficiency, we must be really lucky. At least dungeon break won't occur here."

…

…

I was listening to the group chatting among them. I heard the last sentence and felt bitter. So, I decided to find a way to prevent the dungeon break.

"Is there any way to prevent the dungeon break?" I asked the system.

"Yes, there is. Its dungeon break," it said.

"What? The dungeon break is the way to dungeon break? You really should speak clearly," I said clearly annoyed by its taunting.

"Alright then. But it's not my problem that you have such low IQ," it wanted to tease me more but seeing my expression turning dark, it answered humbly.

"The dungeon break has two meanings. It depends on what breaks it. If it breaks by itself, it means monsters rampaging out of the dungeon. But if system holders break it, the dungeon itself will collapse."

"So, what do I have to do to break the dungeon?"

"It depends on the mythic stage. You need to clear the mythic stage a certain number of times in a certain time. It all depends on the dungeon. I will tell you when you enter the dungeon again. If you want to try it, you can certainly do so."

"Then I have to enter the dungeon even though I won't get any exp? That's really a huge waste," I said annoyed.

I was speaking with the system in my mind, so, I didn't notice the waiter coming with my order. He saw me absent-mindedly staring in a certain direction. I also didn't realize that I was actually staring at something when I was busy conversing inside my head. The waiter looked in that direction and was shocked to see a group of girls.

They seemed to have noticed my staring. They wanted to ignore it but the angle of my gaze seemed to be at a certain place and the drool dripping from my mouth also didn't help the situation. (Apparently, I was really hungry at the time and the smell of the dishes made me droll and the absent-mindedness also…) The waiter ran away as soon as he finished putting the dishes on the table seeing the murderous expression in the girl's eyes. She looked in a certain direction and conveyed her orders.

I was actually lost in my own thoughts after conversing with the system in that same state. I wasn't even aware of how the situation was about to escalate right now. I felt a killing intent at me and my body reacted instinctively dodging the blow.

Whoosh

Whoosh

I didn't need to be clear-headed to know that the attack was supposed to kill me. My body also reacted instinctively as it sheathed <The Stake> and attacked instantly. It was so soon and fast that I didn't even know what was going on. It was the legendary moment when the body reacted faster than the mind itself. I didn't know where it was coming from as my attack was also completely random though it was really fast.

I activated <Tranquility> instantly. Only then I noticed an old man with a mysterious aura appearing beside a girl. I didn't know them nor did I have any conflict with them. So, the murderous aura still emanating from the old man for no reason greatly angered me.

The old man didn't imagine that he would be seen through by a junior like me at all. So, he was surprised. He was even more shocked when he had seen me dodging his attacks, unsheathing a sword, and attacking in a single breath. My movement was so smooth that it was like water flowing without any unnecessary movements or hesitations. He could see a hint of mastered <Tranquility> there.

After achieving <Mushin State>, he was already far stronger than any one of the normal Joes one would see in the world. But still, he was shocked when he saw an 18- or 19-year-old boy showing <Tranquility> in such a backward place like this. He was one of the legendary masters in Martial arts from China assigned on a protection mission. He had been assigned this mission by the head of the family himself. So, even though he never saw anything special in the lady, he didn't say anything and just followed his orders. He was a moral man. So, he was enraged when he saw me leeching over a young girl who was even under his protection. That was why he didn't even hesitate to sheath his killing intent when he attacked me.

Ting.

<Killing Intent detected.>

<Side-mission>

<Defeat the opposing master.>

<Rewards: 50CP, 2,000 exp>

<Special condition detected.>

<Defeat the enemy with the same base stat; Rewards will be increased considerably.>

I chose the special condition instantly and I felt my attributes decreasing by more than half. I knew that we had the same base attributes now. What I didn't know at the moment was that my enemy was someone who had reached <Mushin State> already. And I had reached <Tranquility> only and that was even only with the help of the system. I was only starting to master it by myself. I was still far from an old monster like him.

I could clearly feel that he had something that gave me a dangerous feeling. But still, I had the advantage of my items. I thought that the boost from my items would be enough. Even though the base stats were the same, the boosts I got from <Aerin's ring> and the <Godly Specs> were enough to make me feel confident. So, I decided to openly challenge him.

"Aren't you a little too old to be seeking a grave for yourself, huh old geezer?" I asked arrogantly not keeping him in my eyes.

The old man wasn't angered by this though. After being aware of my fighting prowess, he was wary of my background. Only the prodigies from the ancient families had geniuses like me. So, he didn't want to provoke any great family just over a small matter like this.

Seeing the old man not reacting, I wasn't annoyed. I smiled and decided to just fight it out. I felt that talking was useless here. The old man was clearly someone who wasn't provoked easily. Fighting directly would be more efficient I thought. I equipped my bow and fired 3 arrows in front of the old man as a challenge. I then headed out of the restaurant. I was still cool-headed to remember my poor status right now. I didn't want to destroy it because of the fight and pay when I didn't have a single cent.

F***

I didn't have money at all. I had no CP either. My back was already filled with sweat when I thought about all the dishes, I had ordered forgetting the simple fact that I was completely penniless right now. Luckily, I got this mission I thought.

After I got out, the old man also stepped outside. Even though he was wary of my background, he was a martial artist. And they were taught to never run from a challenge from the very start.

…

…

When the old man stepped outside, I stared at him in the eyes coldly. The old man didn't avoid the gaze and did the same. The atmosphere began to cool as a murderous aura begin to emit from my body. The old man didn't emit them as he had more control over his aura. He didn't want to emit them again.

After the initial staring which felt like eternity itself, I closed in with <Bryte's Sword> and fired the mighty slash. The old man was shocked by the power behind it. Being a <Mushin state> master for a long time, he could clearly see the attack trajectories and the strength behind them. From what he could observe, the attack seemed to have more power than him. So, he nimbly dodged it instead of blocking it.

I wasn't discouraged seeing how easily he dodged the blow. I activated <Heavenly Eyes> which could show me the attack trajectories and the weakness of the enemy. This further boosted my confidence. The old man could clearly feel it coming from me. This angered him as he had been underestimated by a junior again and again. He observed my attack patterns and noticed no hint of Martial Art from any of the big families. So, he also let go of all his hesitations and decided to teach me a lesson.