The next morning presented me with a problem. Although rather than temper my excitement it served only to increase it. Someone had stolen my disciple’s robes. Every single pair.

Considering that I had sweated in yesterday’s set I was in a bit of a pickle. However, this was certainly not the cause of my increased excitement. For someone to steal something from me is profoundly impressive.

Despite the unimpressive body I currently inhabited, my perception should not have taken that big of a hit. To know that someone here could rob me right under my nose was exciting.

Wearing only a loose set of shorts which I had slept in, and my shoes which were thankfully left alone, I exited my room and knocked on Safi’s door.

“Come in,” she said. I opened the door to Safi, still in her nightdress, standing over the chest of drawers with an angry expression.

“They got you too?” I asked.

“Clearly…” she said, shooting me an exasperated look. “This sect sure likes to mess around.”

“Don’t they just,” I smiled.

“What’s there to smile about?” she asked.

“Whoever took our clothes are pretty good, I didn’t even notice them.”

“You were asleep, of course you didn’t,” she said while crossing her arms.

“There’s more to it than that, I’m usually quite aware of any presence entering my space.”

“Well, not this time.”

“Indeed.”

“Do you think we can ask for some new sets?” she asked.

“I’m sure that’s what they intend for us to do. Point and laugh as we fetch some new clothes in our underwear,” I said matter-of-factly.

“So petty,” she said angrily. “Admittedly also quite funny.”

“Unfortunately for them, no one messes with us without facing the consequences.”

“Since when?” scoffed Safi.

“Since now,” I said dramatically, she just rolled her eyes.

“Are you just going to nick them back?”

“No, that’s too subtle. We have to make a statement this time or it will keep happening. It’s about time we make a name for ourselves anyway,” I said.

“About time? It’s the first day since I finished the initiation.”

“Exactly, we have to make it a special one.”

Safi and I exited her room, walking confidently in our sleepwear. Luckily, thanks to the mountain’s cold interior Safi had slept in a rather thick and sensible nightgown so she was as unbothered as I was.

We got exactly the looks we expected as we passed all the rooms, slightly mocking and some even looked at us with pity. We confidently avoided walking in the expected direction and instead walked into the gym.

We were met with questioning gazes as I walked to one of the sparring mats and spoke. “Which one of you cowardly bastards want to represent this petty sect, I thought here housed the strongest, yet all I see are rats who can only scurry around in the dark.”

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My proclamation of a challenge startled the gym's residents. Of which there was a good number, I was banking on at least one of them being the hot-headed type. Someone instantly spoke up.

“Shitty kid, you better hope you fight as well as you talk…” he said as he entered the stage, taking his shoes off in the process.

I chose a gym brawl for a good reason, it was common practice to fight without qi. That way the fight was relatively even no matter what stage one had cultivated to. This man in particular I could feel was stronger than me.

“Usually I wouldn’t stoop this low, but you disrespected the sect. I’ve got to put you in your place,” he said, which was more of an explanation for the crowd that was judging him for stepping forward to pummel a junior.

“A rat is a rat, no matter the cultivation.”

“Hey kid, I was still going to hold back you know. I hope you’re still pretty without teeth.”

“Prettier than you,” I smirked.

We bowed to each other, this much talk was not enough to get either of us worked up, if anything it was rather customary. I could feel, however, that I had exhausted any chance of him going easy on me.

I caught his opening front kick and pulled him into a punch, his lack of balance caused his guard to drop and it hit him square in the face. I continued to pull him around the ring, punching him in the face with every opportunity I got. He tried to dislodge his leg and when that didn’t work tried defending.

It was all for nothing, eventually, I felt sorry for him and gave him a snappy hook to the jaw. He fell to the floor, unfortunately, I was still holding his leg which put him in a very embarrassing pose.

I dropped him and looked at the small crowd that had formed. “So, this is all Gutura has got?” I asked mockingly. I felt bad for bad mounting the guy but the crowd needed riling.

It worked again, the crowd rallied behind the man I’d just beaten and another stepped forward looking to put me in my place. I could feel she was about as strong as the man before.

She was silent as we bowed and fought me without hesitation. She was more disciplined and careful but her cautiousness was her downfall as I was allowed to be almost entirely offensive. She did not last long either, I kicked her in the head which sent her clattering to the floor.

During the fight a line had formed, a line to fight me. The next one up barely let me rest before bowing. I decided to start conserving energy, otherwise, their plan to exhaust me would work. My initial victories were flashy but consumed a lot of energy, the next few were efficient.

Word spread throughout the sect, eventually, some more well-known disciples joined the fight until someone approached causing the crowd to split and those in the line meekly stood aside.

“It’s hard to imagine you’re a rookie,” she said as she approached the stage.

“You think I fight in my pyjamas for fun?” I teased.

“Where’s the line?” she asked, ignoring me. Those who were in the line raised their hands nervously. The mysterious newcomer joined the back and crossed her arms. I had to respect her smarts, she wanted to see how good I was before putting her reputation on the line.

This, I could use it against her. I won the next few fights by a close margin, allowing her to draw whatever conclusions she wanted from my lacklustre performance.

She came to the stage with a confidence I had not seen since the first man. My ploy had worked, now it was time to capitalise.

I pretended to get cocky, not entirely too difficult considering my overwhelming win rate. “How about we put something on the line, since I’m going to beat you anyway I may as well get something for it.”

She huffed. “What did you have in mind?” she asked.

“You tell me who stole my clothes.”

“Fine, you have to give me your first 3 mission rewards.”

“Deal,” I agreed. We bowed and took a stance.

She attacked quickly, probably looking to wear me down. My style avoided taking hits but she managed to land a couple which I had to block. I was a little impressed but unworried. She was quite unrefined and powerful which meant her movements allowed for easy counters.

She jabbed at me twice with her left then once with her right. I almost tried the counter there before she feigned the right and moved effortlessly into a head kick.

I was startled and almost got caught, not expecting such a nimble move from her. I ducked under it, just in time. The perfect opportunity for a counter presented itself in the form of an exposed kidney and jaw. Spoilt for choice I decided to go for the body shot, after all, I wouldn’t be able to talk to her if she was knocked out.

She crumpled. I stood over her domineeringly. “You have something to tell me?” I asked mockingly. She could not speak, her ragged breathing and sharp cries of pain showed as much. For some reason, I felt compelled to keep the cocky attitude going.

I watched her crawl to the side and prop herself against a nearby wall. “Who’s next?” I finally asked.

No one replied, the line was empty.