Despite the curfew, scouting the city had been surprisingly easy. I expected the streets to be filled with patrol squads, but it was surprisingly empty. A few patrols here and there, but avoiding them had been easy.

The reason, as it turned out to be, was twofold. The first part was the city gates, manned by far more soldiers than I had seen before, in full alert, making any attempt to escape troubling at best, maybe even impossible.

The second reason was the larger army surrounding the manor of the city lord. Several rows of soldiers, all ready to act, while the walls of the city lord's manor were equally crowded. Whatever triggered this mess, I had no idea, but the current situation was easier to understand.

Lord Eirto was currently in the process of a military takeover, and he had already taken control of the whole city, the manor being the only exception. The only thing that prevented him from succeeding was some kind of shimmering barrier that surrounded the place.

At this point, I lived in this new world to know that it was an artifact of true cultivation that was responsible of it, its limits unknown.

Worse, at a distance, I could see two familiar figures at the walls of the manor along with the rest. Lannayin and Elsana. Or at least, that was who I assumed them to be from a great distance. After all, how many blonde ladies with pure white robes would be accompanied by a black-haired woman carrying a huge hammer?

"Damn it," I growled as I pulled back into the shadows. I couldn't help but curse my luck repeatedly as I faced an unexpected calamity. I had already planned to abandon Elsana … but I wasn't planning to abandon her in the middle of a coup.

I was a selfish asshole … but even I had my limits. Abandoning the woman that I had been making love to almost without a stop for the last week to death was too much for me.

Worse, I couldn't just say that there was nothing I could do, not when that would be an obvious lie. My enhanced martial talent alone gave me several options, not to mention the seemingly unlimited benefits granted by the System.

I was far from helpless. At worst, I could train rapidly to the Bone Forging Realm, which, combined with my knowledge of many different martial arts, should be enough to resolve the situation. However, it was the last choice, as it would ruin the extra return I had been enjoying.

Luckily, with the barrier around the manor, the situation was currently locked in a status quo, freeing me from the obligation of acting immediately. I moved along the dark alleys, even using the opportunity to add a few parkour moves to my sprinting-based movement technique. It helped me to move even faster in the city.

My increased martial cultivation at the Peak of the Muscle Reinforcement Stage helped quite a bit as well.

With the coup forces controlling only the critical points, I was relatively free to explore the inner city and take account of the current military distribution.

The barracks were already under Lord Eirto's control, city guards mixing with Dragon Saber martial artists. However, there were several bloody spots around the place, showing that it didn't happen without violence.

The arena was under their control as well. Interestingly, the arena was still operational, with fires burning. It wasn't open to civilians. Only people who were wearing the uniforms of the city guards, or the three allied Martial Schools — Tiger Fist, Demon Claw, and Dragon Saber — were going in and out.

I visited several other locations of interest. Snow Blossom Apothecary was filled with city guards who were currently going through room after room, cataloging and carrying away everything, be it pills, money, or books.

The only thing they didn't touch was the herbs, both in the garden, and Elsana's private stores. Most plants there were too fragile to be handled by anyone but an expert.

The guards of the place were helping the soldiers happily, which was rather surprising.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

The compounds of Wolf Fang and Crane Kick schools were similarly surrounded, though this time, it was a mixture of Tiger Fist and Demon Claw disciples rather than city guards. Also, there were no true cultivation barriers protecting the places, which made their continued existence interesting. The Wolf Fang and Crane Kick disciples sported many wounds, and their numbers were even lower than I expected.

They clearly suffered many casualties.

Curious, I decided to visit Lannayin's forge, only to find it not only already robbed, but also demolished. At first, I assumed it was an act of wanton destruction, but then, I realized that a group of workers were carefully breaking everything, including walls and floor, while a bunch of guards carefully watched.

Searching for something.

"What an interesting opportunity," I thought. Listening to them for less than a minute, it became clear that they were looking for the manuscript of the Volcano Hammer Art. I sincerely doubted that it was there — I doubted Elsana would allow that despite knowing the incoming crisis — but that didn't mean I couldn't throw a little chaos in their midst.

"I just need to treat this as a frat hazing," I said, remembering the time me and a few frat buddies disguised ourselves as another frat while stealing the flag of our rivals, triggering a prank battle between them that lasted a year before they realized what was going on, each ready to believe the worst about the other group.

And, as someone who could use all five martial arts, I could use some unique tricks. I sneaked forward, waiting for an opportunity.

It came when one of the workers came across a particularly strong stone. "I found something," he shouted. I was sure that it was a dud, but I still rushed forward.

The sudden appearance of a cloaked figure was enough to alarm the guards, but they were not prepared to be attacked. I kicked the nearest guard away easily before I continued moving forward. At my full speed, I could have ditched them easily.

Instead, once I grabbed the rock, I slowed down enough for the guards to catch up. As I watched them, it became clear that none of them were stronger than Intermediate Muscle Reinforcement, so letting them surround me was less risky than it sounded.

I tried to punch a path for myself, deliberately not using anything but ordinary kicks and punches like a brawler. Then, just when they surrounded me successfully, I growled in anger, and delivered three Tiger Ascend punches in a row.

I was pushing the purest essence I could generate. Then, just as the city guards processed the shock that they were robbed by one of their allies, I started running toward the Tiger Fist compound. "Catch the thief," shouted the guards, some even shot some kind of fireworks, probably functioning as a signal.

That was why, the moment I was sure that I ditched them, I changed my direction and ran at full speed.

I had planted a seed, which was enough for the moment. I slowed down once I was safely away from the inner city, and discarded the rock — which turned out to be an ordinary piece of rubble like I suspected — before changing my clothes and returning to the arena.

I was curious about why they prioritized the place. Sneaking into the arena was easier than I expected. After my little trick at the forge, a significant portion of the city guards moved there to cut the path of the mysterious thief, mistakenly under the impression that they managed to surround me successfully.

"Work harder, you bastards!" I heard someone shout even before I entered. "Everything has to be perfect for tomorrow's show."

I didn't appear immediately. Instead, I used one of the corridors that led to the cheapest seats at the top, with poorer visibility, which was the place with the lowest worker density.

Still, I was surprised to see more than a thousand workers carefully cleaning the VIP section, covering it with silk drapes, flags, and some expensive-looking decorative items. An interesting focus considering they were in the middle of the coup.

I guessed that it had something to do with why Lord Eirto suddenly felt confident enough to deliver a coup.

Then, a particular section grabbed my attention. Twelve guards were standing in front of the tunnel that led into the arena. Every single one belonged to one of the martial schools. More interestingly, two of them were familiar.

Two Tiger Fist disciples, the ones that gave me the gold coin back at Dumassa. Not exactly someone I expected to meet. Even more interestingly, they were the guards with the lowest ranking. There were nine disciples from the three schools, but they were not equally distributed. Four disciples from Tiger Fist and Demon Claw, and one from Dragon Saber.

Though, from their attitude toward that sole Dragon Saber disciple, I doubted the disparity was a slight against the Dragon Saber school. Yet, I didn't pay much attention to the young ones, not when there were three older men who stood behind them, each dressed in the unique pattern of their school to mark them as instructors.

Which meant, at a minimum, in the Beginner Skin Refinement realm, marking them as experts.

Their presence discouraged me from approaching further. Instead, I stayed in my place, using a stolen broom to act like a servant while I observed the tunnel. "Curiosity kills the cat," I murmured as I moved slightly closer when they opened the door, trying to catch a glimpse of exactly who required such a significant number of guards.

Though, with my luck, I should have been able to guess it in the first place.

Marana, the softhearted cook, behind the bars with a solemn expression on her face.