A pair wearing hooded robes entered a certain alleyway. There was a man crossing his arms in front of a busted iron door. He kept his intimidating look up the entire time. Scars and tattooed his entire body yet Sammuel wasn’t scared of him at all.

[Combat Power: 2.88]

He was better than most but considering Sammuel’s current Combat Power, he would absolutely decimate this guy.

Fian brought out some kind of emblem depicting two fists clasping each other. The bouncer nodded and let the two pass. Knocking on the door using a rhythmic sequence, it opened for them to enter.

Sammuel and Fian entered this dark building and walked through a tunnel. It winded down and around, taking a few sharp turns before connecting to an even bigger tunnel. It seemed as if the sewer system of the city was used as a passageway.

Yet weirdly enough, the stench that came along with it didn’t appear. Sammuel thanked those in charge for having thought of this through. It was a simple act yet it served to make this passageway that much more bearable to walk through.

“Before we meet them, you’re still a Mortal, right? Things will get hectic if you lie.” Fian only said this as a precaution.

Sammuel nodded. The term Mortal was the stage where everyone was born, barring a few highly powerful races. It was equivalent to a Star Quality of 1. From what Sammuel had gathered from Fian, those within the Mortal Stage were essentially… mortal. They haven’t had the opportunity to introduce the magical power of the world to their bodies.

Except for their own flesh and blood, they haven’t had the opportunity to touch the requirement to activate mana. As a creature reaches their physical limit, the world blesses them, letting them reach the Awakened Stage. And from what Sammuel could tell, only when someone has stepped foot here would they achieve power beyond the common man.

However, for them to reach the next step, the world would impose a challenge before them. Fulfilling the task would let them achieve the next level. In the case that they couldn’t they would be forever stuck, unable to break through.

“We’re getting close.”

Countless chained cages were set all around the vicinity. Some cages only had a few bystanders watching on while others were filled to the brim with onlookers. Visceral shouts of primal instinct roared on. People inside the cages were beating each other up. There wasn’t any technique involved, just pure senseless barbaric violence.

Once one of the two fell down on his knees, his opponent used his leg and stepped on him. He continually stomped on him. He continued the battle until the referee came in to stop the fight.

“And the winner of today’s first match is Jack! Let’s give a round of applause to our winner!” Wearing a prim suit, he finished the battle before any major injuries occurred. Giving a signal, the man on the floor was carried out to be treated with basic aid.

“So, dear winner, do you want to stop or try and set a new record? The choice is wholly yours.”

“Fight! Fight! Fight!” The people watching on shouted to see how far this one would go.

“The audience might’ve spoken but what say you?”

Jack felt adrenaline rush through his system. With a big grin on his face, he roared. “I’ll bring down as many that may come!”

After it was said and done, he put up another show. “Any other contenders? Remember, it’s winner-takes-all! The rules are no hidden weapons, anyone beyond the Mortal Stage, and no fatal injuries. We like to keep it civil here.”

It’s just as Fian had said. Completely barbaric but still understood what they could and could not do. Fian nudged Sammuel’s stomach, signaling him to show his worth. He removed his hood and walked up.

“I’ll go for it.” Sammuel’s average build didn’t spike confidence in most of the audience. But this didn’t mean that they weren’t excited. From their perspective, Sammuel would be down on the ground in no time.

The referee came out and opened the door to the cage. He warmly welcomed Sammuel in. The floor still had splatters of blood staining it. It was evident that stains from days or weeks prior weren’t removed.

Keenly looking at Sammuel, the referee snickered. “I guess we’re about to see an interesting show.”

“I guess we will.”

[Combat Power: 23]

The referee was a very formidable person. Compared to everyone here who hovered from Combat Power of 1 to 3, he was a behemoth. It wasn’t that he was a supreme existence but he was enough to deal with any issues that came up.

Sammuel had chosen to use [Ego: Goblin] instead of [Ego: Mineral-Clawed Ferron] for one simple reason, he wanted to keep his true power hidden. Comparing his current Combat Power of 3.03 and the enemy’s 2.88, it might be a close fight but Sammuel should still win out.

With both contenders taking their stances the referee immediately began the match.

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Jack ran forward to Sammuel thinking that he had the advantage. While being in the Mortal Stage, how someone looked was a large factor of their strength. Jack’s burly arms swiped forward, expecting to knock Sammuel out in one hit.

Seeing how forceful Jack’s attack was, Sammuel saw his attack move a certain trajectory. It was as if Sammuel could see where Jack’s attack would land. This gave him a direction to maneuver around. As expected, Jack’s fist landed exactly where Sammuel predicted it.

It wasn’t that Sammuel was well versed in combat but instead, [Flowing Swordsmanship] had made him understand a certain concept. He may not be activating that skill but its influence exerted itself on the battle.

With Sammuel’s innate keen perception and [Ego: Goblin] prioritizing agility, it was easy for Sammuel to constantly dodge all of Jack’s attacks.

Missing one attack could be disregarded. But when all your attacks keep missing, something was wrong. Jack kept on trying to land one clean hit on Sammuel but it was clear that he wasn’t even getting close. Enraged, Jack kept making even greater motions until he left his side wide open.

Taking advantage of this, Sammuel raised his leg and kicked Jack’s side. Recoiling from the pain, he grabbed ahold of his stomach. Sammuel took this opportunity to continue the onslaught. One hit after another like waves of an ocean continually breaking apart the sand before it.

With one last jab to his jaw, Sammuel managed to knock Jack out.

At once, the audience yelled out, “Boo!”

They were interested in seeing people beat each other up. Blow traded with blow. The fight before them wasn’t as interesting as they wanted it to be. This was a disgrace to their entertainment.

Sammuel already expected this kind of backlash. He didn’t mind such words since he was only here for one reason, money. He didn’t incite the audience or defend himself. As they were here for their own reasons, he was here for his own.

Before the referee could ask the question, Sammuel cut him off. “I’m done for today. How much money do I get?”

“5 silver coins. But if you win one more round, I’ll increase it to 20 silver coins.”

Sammuel understood that he was being baited into fighting more. He looked to the audience who taunted him to take it. Their insults consisted of hurting Sammuel’s pride and inciting his temper. He didn’t care about them, instead looking at Fian’s expression.

Seeing that she passively accepted it, Sammuel nodded.

“Now ladies and gentlemen, our new winner Sammuel has decided he wants to keep fighting! Any contenders want to put him in his place?”

“Me! I can handle that twig!”

“No! Pick me! He ain't got nothing on me!”

“He’s just a coward running away. Bet if someone hits him once he topples over.”

After a bit of deliberation, one person took it upon himself to put Sammuel in his place. Seeing such a lively event, the referee couldn’t help but further hype up the battle.

“Would you all like to bet on who would win?” The crowd went wild, and most of them wholeheartedly agreed with this proposition. The bets were first taken into account before calculating the payout.

With only a small battle consisting of nobodies, it wasn’t realistic for the referee to firmly believe in who would win. As such, he would first calculate the payout based on how many people bet on each one.

“The challenger, Dawson has a payout of 1.13x while Sammuel has a payout of 1.54x. You all really seem like you want Dawson to win. You, hear that, our fellow contenders? Seems like Dawson is the fan favorite.”

“Ha! Watch that kid fall down with a single hit!” Dawson didn’t even wait for the referee to begin the match before running straight at Sammuel. The referee couldn’t help but sigh, he started the match preemptively before they met contact.

The results were the same as last time, Sammuel kept dodging all of Dawson’s attacks and counterattacked when it was safe. Only now did Dawson realize how suffocating it was to fight against such an opponent. Instead of battling with his brawn and will, he was completely losing.

After Dawson fell down, the referee exclaimed in joy. His pockets were lined with money. This had been a very profitable day. Getting closer to Sammuel, the referee patted him on the back lightly. “Want to be rich? Just say the word!”

The referee took out 21 silver coins and gave them to Sammuel as part of the deal. “Here’s a little extra for being a good sport. If you ever want to be a star then just find me.”

Sammuel had cut off his streak prematurely. The audience was still fuming as they wished to see Sammuel get his face punched in. This caused a certain old man to rush up to Sammuel.

“You bastard! You have no honor!”

Sammuel ignored him and merely left the underground fighting arena. He had earned a decent amount today with barely any effort. It was equivalent to 21 months of working in the library, and that was considered relatively high for how much income they received.

Splitting their earning, Sammuel kept 23 silver coins while Fian pocketed 3 silver coins. They were both satisfied with the outcome. Now that he finally had enough money, it was time to do something drastic. Escorting Fian back home, he decided to find a relatively decent clinic.

Making sure that he had enough, he finally remedied a problem that he was plagued with this entire time.

[Switch Ego: Base]

Sammuel felt his stomach open up once again as blood poured out. This was much more severe than he had thought. His strength left him quickly as all of his stats dwindled back to nothing. This was his state before entering this world.

Opening the door with bloodied hands, the nurses and doctors immediately went over to treat his injuries. From the looks of it, he was essentially on the verge of death. If he had gotten treatment any later then he would’ve died.

It was an ordeal that he had to suffer through to finally make decent progress. Resting on his bed, his stomach had been sutured up. His intestines were also ruptured but it also had been similarly patched up. After he drank diluted medicine, he felt a wave of relief go past him.

Getting up, he went over to the counter.

“Sir, you can’t move right now. It might make the stitches fall off. There’s no reason to hurry at all.” A nurse went over and blocked his path. This completely made sense. But Sammuel didn’t want Fian and Marie to worry over him for the time being.

Paying 20 silver coins, he managed to convince the clinic that he needed to leave. The majority of the cost was due to the diluted medicine. It was essentially a miraculous pill that could heal his body using mana. Costing 18 silver coins for the medicine alone, Sammuel couldn’t help but somewhat understand why normal people didn’t just go out of their way to kill other creatures.

“Everything costs so much money.”

Still, now that Sammuel finally had his [Ego: Base] back, he could finally try and level the Card Quality up to Bronze. Once that happened, he would be able to finally start his journey to a higher peak.

But for now, he needed to level it up. It was still only level 1 for now. The most promising aspect of getting [Ego: Base] back was one particular thing.

[Affinity Level to Flowing Swordsmanship: 10.4%

Increased EXP Gain: 32.3%

Card Quality: Colorless (Ego: Base) | 1.22x]

He could finally start making a lot of progress on [Flowing Swordsmanship].