Shawn stalked through the night in search of easy prey to use [Devourer] on. He hadn’t found much success in his hunt so far, he had found a few bugs, but he hesitated to use his power on them, he wanted to find something more powerful. He had a hypothesis that the amount of stats his skill gave him was directly related to the strength of the creature he consumed. He wanted to test that idea, so he continued his search.

Shawn turned the corner and entered an alleyway. He stumbled to a stop, inside the alley lay two members of Crimson Lotus Gang. Their characteristic purple headbands grew slick with sweat as they each swallowed a pill that reeked of a strong herbal essence. The pill worked its way down their throats and their features relaxed, the drug taking effect.

He immediately turned around and fast-walked away, he had no desire to have another run in with the Crimson Lotus, especially now that they were on openly hostile terms with the Scorpion’s Den.

“Was that a damn Scorpion I just saw?” asked a voice from the alley. He wasn’t sure who had spoken, he hadn’t looked back.

“Shut up Chen, I’m trying to relax.”

"But didn’t the boss say we were at war with the Scorpion’s Den? Shouldn’t we get revenge,” Chen said, his words slightly slurred?

“That bitch broke all my ribs. There’s no way I’m getting up.”

“But,” Chen was cut off by an angry voice.

“If you care so much, go do something about it, I’m sitting right here.”

Under the pale yellow glow of the streetlights; Shawn broke out into a run. The world blurred past him as he ran nearly five times as fast as a normal human. If he was lucky, he would be long gone before the man even came out of the alleyway.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t lucky. Loud breaths came from behind him, Chen’s uneasy stride somehow gaining on him. However, Chen wasn’t that much faster than Shawn. Shawn smiled, for once his opponent wasn’t drastically stronger than him.

Shawn’s lack of stamina caught up with him quickly, forcing him to slow down. If he kept running like this, Chen would catch up to him and he would be too tired to fight back. With a reckless plan in mind, Shawn entered a trash-filled alley and stopped running.

Chen caught up to him mere seconds later. “This is for Sile,” he said as he pulled out a knife.

Fear gripped his heart as saw the large knife and his natural survival instincts took over. He flexed his wings and attempted to fly away. He stumbled backward as confusion overcame him, why hadn’t it worked?

Shawn slapped his face to regain focus, he was a human, not a fly. Despite regaining control, he was concerned. The stress of the situation had caused the carefully constructed wall he had built to crack, letting parts of Green’s life leak through. However, it wasn’t all bad, Green was quite experienced in life and death battles.

Chen rushed forward and threw a probing stab at Shawn.

Copying a technique, he had experienced his fly-self do many times, he ignited the Qi resting in his belly. Like a raging fire, his Qi wove itself into his muscles boosting their power. Even his cells moved more efficiently under the burning caress of his Qi.

He took a small step to the side to avoid the knife. Unable to control his speed, he smashed into the wall of the alley. He wasn’t used to the overwhelming power that was available to him when he enhanced his muscles with Qi.

He groaned. Even that small movement had taken a significant chunk of Qi, he wouldn’t be able to keep up that power level for long, ten seconds at the most. Not to mention, the huge strain it put on his muscles, his left calf felt like it was going to explode from moving so forcefully.

The man jumped back and began wildly swinging his blade at an enemy that wasn’t there.

Deciding it was safe to be distracted for a moment, Shawn opened the blue box that had appeared after he crashed into the wall. Keeping one eye on Chen, he examined the skill.

Qi Enhancement Lvl 1: A basic skill that all powerful cultivators must master. Spend 2 Qi per second to increase strength and agility by 5. You can spend extra Qi to enhance your muscles further, but at a decreased rate of efficiency. Be warned, flooding your muscles with too much Qi can lead to irreparable damage.

Accept Skill Y/N

He wondered why he didn’t get the option to decline [Deception], but he pushed the thoughts out of his mind, now wasn’t the time to get distracted. He accepted the skill. There was no immediate difference, no rush of power like when he used [Devourer], however, he wasn’t disappointed, something told him the skill would be useful.

Chen finished his battle with his invisible enemy and victoriously turned to Shawn, his eyes cloudy and unfocused. Whatever moon leaf was causing the addict to experience he was grateful. Without its adverse effects, there would be almost no chance for him to win this fight.

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“Your pet dragon was powerful, but I was stronger. Prepare to face your death.” Chen’s forehead creased as he realized he had been hallucinating. He brought a glowing hand of Qi up to his chest and motioned for Shawn to wait.

Shawn recognized the technique, it was the healing technique Lin had told him about. With it, it was possible to clear someone's system of poisons or more commonly, drugs in less than a minute.

Shawn didn’t like his chances in a fair fight, so he activated [Qi Enhancement] and rushed the man. Before he even made it halfway to him, Chen’s body tensed and his eyes sharpened.

Shawn skidded to a halt and stopped the flow of Qi to his muscles. He hadn’t expected the man to overcome the drug so quickly. He was even better than Lin at the technique. In less than a second, he had cleansed his body.

“What are you waiting for,” Chen beckoned him forward. However the technique was not without cost, Chen’s hands shook slightly. Hopefully, whatever had happened would slow Chen down. Otherwise, he was in for one hell of a beat down.

Whatever the case may be, he knew he had to finish the fight fast. He had less than ten seconds of [Qi Enhancement] left.

Chen closed the distance and swung his blade at Shawn. Without his Qi boosting him, he was unable to fully dodge the strike. Shawn staggered backward as a cut burst open over his eyebrow.

Bright red blood flowed freely from the wound, dyeing his vision a sickly shade of red.

Chen continued his assault leaving no room for Shawn to counterattack, all he could do was dodge. However, something had changed. Shawn was no longer scared, he no longer flinched as the knife cut through the air mere inches away. The burning pain of his wound had burnt away his last vestiges of fear. All that remained was a desire to hurt the man.

Activating [Qi Enhancement] over the safe limit the skill had described, Shawn caught the man’s gangly arm with ease. Chen’s eyes widened as his knife arm was neutralized. Ignoring the burning pain in his arm, he delivered a savage flurry of blows to the man's body.

Though the punches lacked proper technique, there was enough raw power behind them to make Chen grimace in pain. Shawn’s breath came out in ragged pants as he realized he couldn’t maintain this higher level of enhancement any longer. Grudgingly he dropped his enhancement down to the system recommend level.

Somehow sensing his loss of strength, Chen dropped his knife and began to grapple with Shawn. Stuck within his grasp, Shawn was unable to dodge, as Chen’s knee slammed into his ribs, cracking them.

Spurred on by the pain, Shawn delivered a devastating headbutt, breaking Chen’s nose. The strike wasn’t enough to make Chen back down, if anything it made him more motivated. Taking advantage of Shawn’s out of balance position, Chen threw Shawn to the ground.

Shawn’s cracked ribs protested in pain as he slammed into the hard ground. Before he could get up Chen was upon him. All he could do was put his arms up to protect his face as Chen unleashed a flurry of punches. To make matters worse, he felt his body weaken as he was no longer able to maintain his [Qi Enhancement], he only had a single point of Qi left.

Chen stopped his barrage of punches as his body locked up, his muscles writhing unnaturally beneath his skin. Whatever was causing this phenomenon didn’t matter, Shawn wasn’t above taking advantage of the opportunity.

Fighting off his exhaustion, Shawn slammed his palm into Chen’s broken nose. Chen screamed in pain but was unable to move due to his spasming muscles. Just as Shawn moved to get up, Chen’s spasming stopped and he punched Shawn in the face, smacking him back down to the ground. However, Shawn gripped onto the man’s hair, unwilling to let go.

“You think you can kill my friends and get away with it,” he asked, his voice slightly muffled from behind Shawn’s palm? Using his leverage on his head, Shawn attempted to push Chen off him but failed. Without [Qi Enhancement] he simply wasn’t strong enough.

“I didn’t kill your friends, get off me.” Shawn starred up at Chen, his anger building. Time after time he had been blamed for things he hadn’t done. It was getting old.

“Liar, I saw that necklace on your shoulders. Even if you didn’t do it yourself, one of your friends did. You’re all heartless killers.“ Chen wrapped his fingers around Shawn’s neck, depriving him of air.

He frantically searched for something to help him in this trash-laden environment. A reflection caught his attention from the corner of his eyes. The knife Chen had dropped rested on the ground right next to him. As the darkness closed in, he stretched out his arm to grab the knife, but it was too far away.

Chen noticed his ploy with shocked eyes. “If your arm was a couple inches longer, I’d be dead.” He laughed. “Truly unfortunate for you. I guess the heavens are finally siding with the righteous for once.” Chen closed his eyes, confident in his victory.

Shawn’s heart beat in his chest like a war hammer, he didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to get out of this situation. But, just because he didn’t know the solution, that didn't mean Green was also clueless. For the first time in his waking life, he dove through Green’s memories searching for a way out of this situation.

Vague impressions of battles flickered through his mind at lightspeed. Most of the memories were so blurry and short that they weren’t useful. However, he found the most useful memory wasn’t one of battle, but relaxation.

The memory was so clear that he was practically teleported to the scene. Green floated through the air without moving his wings. How had he done it? He struggled to decipher the memory, it wasn’t easy, a fly brain and a human brain were quite different.

His head pounded and his lungs spasmed for air, drawing him out of the memory. He still hadn’t understood how Green had done it, but that didn’t matter, he had been Green, he had felt how to do it.

With the last dregs of his Qi, he called upon the wind itself, vague memories of the times Green had manipulated the winds flashing before his eyes. A gust of wind blew through the alley ruffling his hair like a concerned older brother. The blade slid closer to him allowing him to reach it.

Just before he passed out; he stabbed the knife into Chen’s stomach. Chen’s hands found their way to the hole in his stomach as he let out a blood-curdling scream.

Shawn stood up as he took deep breaths, trying to fight back the burning pain in his lungs. He watched dispassionately as Chen rolled on the ground in pain. The fight was over, there was no way he would be able to continue fighting.

Shawn stared at the still wet blade with his bloodshot eyes. The fight was over, but he was still angry.

He attacked me, he was going to kill me, he deserves to die. If I let him live he’ll come back for revenge.

The shadows seemed to dance upon the walls, urging Shawn to take his revenge. His hands shook as he gripped the knife.

There’s no reason not to kill him. I won’t be punished by the police, they don’t exist. No one will know it was me, so they won’t even know who to get revenge against.

A morbid curiosity swept over him, emanating from someplace beyond his comprehension.

How many stat points would I get if I used [Devourer] on a human. I could use that power to protect myself from the man in the robe. I’d finally be able to leave the Scorpion’s Gang. I wouldn’t have to take part in this stupid gang war.

Tears streamed out of his eyes, washing away the blood and clearing his vision.

I don’t want to kill anyone.

The knife clattered to the floor as he walked out of the alley.