In small towns like Einburg, rumors spread faster than wildfire. Before nightfall, half of the younger generation in Einburg knew about Andric and Miss Erminhilt’s kiss. At some point, the rumor morphed into being Andric who kissed Miss Erminhilt. At a few hours after sunset, Audovacar and his group of friends approached the outside of Andric’s house and banged on the door.

“We want to talk to Andric right now!” Audovacar shouted at the house. His minions stood beside him, filling him with courage.

Gasto answered the door. He was taller than Audovacar and the others, and he asked them while looking down at them, “What is it?”

“Sir, we’re here to speak to Andric,” Audovacar replied, meeting Gasto’s eyes.

“Fine,” Gasto said and closed the door. He wasn’t in the mood to protect Andric from Audovacar and the others, so he turned his head to the stairs that led to the second floor of the house and yelled up, “They want to talk to Andric,” and then returned to the sitting room.

Andric reluctantly stopped practicing the Standing Tortoise Manual and stood up. He checked his clothes, then went downstairs and opened the door. His eyes widened when he saw Audovacar and his gang, and he wondered why they came to find him at night.

Audovacar said nothing and grabbed Andric’s shirt, he pulled Andric toward him and threw him to the ground beside the door. Anger exploded on Audovacar’s face, and Andric withheld a yawn as he stood up.

“What was that?” Andric asked, dusting off his clothes.

“We heard about what you did to Miss Erminhilt!” Audovacar announced.

He was loud enough to alert everyone inside Andric’s home, but Gasto and Roza held Alda back. They explained to her that it was normal for children to quarrel, and they said it would be healthy for Andric. Alda anxiously stayed seated, but her hands were shaky. She was ready to stand up at any second.

Andric hadn’t prepared himself for a fight when he came to the door, but Audovacar wasn’t polite enough to refrain from starting fights outside Andric’s house. After standing, Andric tested his spirit energy and put his eyes on Audovacar’s hands, waiting for the next attack. Audovacar brought four friends with him, including a young boy who Andric didn’t know.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Andric said. He remained still, in case Audovacar tried something against him.

“Otmar, tell him what you saw,” Audovacar opened his palm to the small child and said.

“I saw you kissing Miss Erminhilt!” the boy excitedly said. He pointed at Andric as if he was accusing him of some horrible act.

Andric sighed, but he didn’t let his guard down. It hadn’t been his choice for Miss Erminhild to kiss him, but now he was being blamed for it. It would be a lie if he said he didn’t enjoy it, but he wished she hadn’t reached for him back then. Audovacar would’ve never come after him, and his heart wouldn’t be worrying about matters that had nothing to do with increasing his power.

“Well, you saw wrong,” Andric said and looked down at the child. His eyes flashed with anger, and the young child backed up and hide behind a member of Audovacar’s gang.

“Don’t give us that! Otmar knows exactly what he saw,” Audovacar protested. He shook his fist in the air, almost coming within Andric’s reach.

Andric analyzed the situation immediately after he was thrown to the ground. Besides Audovacar, there were three other potential fighters - the young boy wouldn’t be a match to any of them, and his presence in a fight wouldn’t help. To increase his odds of winning, Andric decided to wait until someone lunged within his reach for a quick punch or kick.

“Did anyone else see it? How do you know he’s not making it up?” Andric questioned, and a slightly confused look came to Audovacar’s face. He hadn’t considered that Otmar was lying about seeing Andric kiss Miss Erminhilt. A seed of doubt spread inside him.

Audovacar’s friends glanced at Otmar, but Audovacar kept his gaze on Andric. Otmar eventually broke out of his fear of Andric and said, “I didn’t lie! I really saw it!”

Audovacar groaned, then said, “I believe Otmar.”

Andric frowned. His relationship with Audovacar was worth than the relationship between Audovacar and Otmar, so it wasn’t a surprise that Audovacar would choose to believe Otmar over him. What concerned Andric was what Audovacar would do now that his mind was set on Andric having kissed Miss Erminhilt. Furthermore, Andric also worried that if Audovacar knew what happened earlier that day, there were bound to be many more townspeople who knew.

“Berard, Ingulf, grab him and take him to our hideout,” Audovacar commanded, and two of his friends stepped forward.

Andric’s eyes circled the group, looking for an opening, but he didn’t see anything he could exploit. The boys named Berard and Ingulf approached him slowly, cautiously. They were only Human realm first stage, but Andric was Human realm second stage, and all of them knew it. Although the strength difference between first and second stage wasn’t large, the uncertainty had the two boys worried.

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As the two boys entered within Andric’s range, he kicked one of them in the knee, making him stumble backward. He helped up his leg in pain, and Andric switched targets to the next boy, who stepped out of Andric’s range soon after the kick.

“You asked for it!” Audovacar shouted and lunged, winding up his fist.

Andric entered a fighting stance and prepared to receive Audovacar’s punch. He gathered his spirit energy into his hands, then moved his hands into the path of Audovacar’s fist. The punch came down as Andric backed away, and most of the damage was negated against Andric’s hands.

Andric’s retreat only lasted a second before he was surrounded by Audovacar’s friends. The unnamed friend stood behind Andric, Audovacar stood in front, and Berard and Ingulf stood on Andric’s sides.

The unnamed boy stepped forward to punch Andric, and Andric’s head swiveled around just in time to see the boy’s fist hitting the back of his shoulder. The boy wasn’t accomplished in the martial way, but he worked as a farmer for the town, and his muscles were naturally strong. His punch turned Andric around and made his shoulder ache.

Soon after the unnamed boy attacked, the rest of Audovacar’s gang attacked. They punched and kicked toward Andric, and Andric did his best to dodge or block as many shots as he could.

Andric’s fighting style had never been one of physical confrontation, and he was totally out of his depth. His mana surged within him, desperately wanting to come out and slaughter the four boys. He held back his killing intent as he received the punches and kicks of the four boys, and he even made a few counterattacks.

After a few seconds of being attacked, Andric saw one opening. The boy named Ingulf tried kicking him, but he was too far away, and Ingulf’s leg was a little high. Andric jumped toward him and grabbed onto his leg, pulling it up. Ingulf lost balance and fell, and Andric stomped on his lower torso while stepping over his body.

Andric’s limbs hurt, but Ingulf was momentarily out of the fight. Ingulf moaned on the ground, weakly holding his stomach with his hands. Audovacar shouted at him, “Get up!” and the rest of them chased after Andric.

Andric didn’t stick around and instead choose to flee. He ran a short distance away from his home, into a field, and away from any prying eyes. Audovacar, Berard, and the unnamed boy followed closely behind Andric, and the young boy followed a bit behind. When they reached a deserted field, Andric turned around and raised his guard.

Audovacar and his two friends surrounded Andric before attacking him. They inched closer toward Andric before trying to punch him, but Andric deflected their hits. When the unnamed body punched a little further than he should’ve, Andric grabbed his arm and closed the distance between them. He punched the boy in the nose, cause blood to pour out from it. Andric quickly switched his attention to Audovacar and Berard, who wasted no time in coming up behind him.

But, while Andric looked at Audovacar and Berard, the unnamed boy recovered slightly and pulled on Andric’s leg, making him fall. Andric kicked the unnamed boy, and Audovacar and Berard kicked him back. They were both above him, and Andric couldn’t block the kicks while laying on the ground. He covered his face with his hands, protecting what little area he could.

‘I’ll slaughter you! I’ll kill your whole families!’ he shouted in his mind, but he refrained from actually doing anything. Even as he laid on the ground and received countless kicks from the three boys, he was aware that greater risks came from using magic than a few cuts and bruises. Unless Audovacar or one of the others used a lethal move against him, he wouldn’t use his magic.

A few minutes later, Ingulf caught up with Audovacar and the others, and he joined them with kicking Andric while he was down. Besides a few initial kicks, they didn’t use any spirit energy, and they were only kicking Andric to let out their frustration. After ten-or-so minutes passed, the four of them departed, shouting curses at Andric as they walked away.

Andric laid in the grass for a while longer. He resisted the urge to cast a spell on himself to heal his wounds, and he slowly stood up. He was bleeding on his arms and legs, but nothing felt broken. Because he was in the open, he couldn’t risk using magic. He decided to trudge home while injured, then heal himself after heading behind closed doors.

Andric walked slowly, limping along the way. As he walked further, his learned a less painful rhythm for his steps. There were no mirrors available to him, but he could guess how unsightly his appearance was. His hands were covered in blood, and blotches came through his shirt and pants. After walking a few dozen feet, Andric stood straight and activated the spirit energy throughout his body. He could sense the spirit energy nurturing his wounds, but there weren’t any visible effects.

He walked home, and we went past Alda and his grandparents without saying a word.

“What happened?” Alda asked him and jumped from her chair. She saw him covered in blood and rushed toward him. Even Gasto and Roza had worried looks.

“I’m fine,” Andric replied without turning around, and he entered his bedroom.

Once he was alone, Andric sat on the floor and waited. He didn’t want anyone to enter his room while he was using magic, so he waiting until Gasto, Roza, and Alda went to sleep. A few hours later, they turned in for the night, and Andric knew he could being.

Andric started by visualizing his body in perfect condition. His brain flared, releasing thought energy. Then, Andric moved mana out of his arcane core and toward his brain. The mana picked up the thought energy and combined with it. After the mana was imbued with thought energy, Andric moved the mana to his right palm. The mana made a stream, going from his arcane core, around his brain, and to his palm. After a few seconds of letting the spell build, Andric casually tossed the spell into the air.

The spell fell back down onto Andric’s palm and burst open. Mana imbued with thought energy dispersed across his hand, then absorbed into his body. The mana quickly moved throughout Andric’s entire body, checking for differences between the ideal body in the thought energy and the body that actually existed. When the mana found tissue that didn’t match the ideal, it destroyed the tissue, then created ideal tissue in its place.

After a few minutes, Andric’s body was back to perfect condition. He cast another spell to clean himself and his clothes, then went to bed. He estimated that he would need to spend at least three days in bed to prevent anyone becoming suspicious of his healing ability.