Maybe he should have added a job to his backstory, and before anyone could wonder, no, he did not end up working as plumber, no, he ended up as tavern owner.

As to why that was a problem, he was socially clueless, even the system had said so, and now he was supposed to be a tavern owner, someone whose job it was to talk to people.

But not just any people, no, drunk people. That should already be enough to bring the point across, but in case it didn’t, imagine this.

A man drinks too much, the man is an angry drunk, the man gets even angrier, he hits someone with a bottle on the head, now there is a barfight.

But luckily not everything was bad, the tavern was running well, and he, as the owner, therefore made decent money. The tavern was also located in a rather important city, so there were guards positioned to keep the peace and arrest troublemakers. Something invaluable for a mortal such as Nylarthog, the Lord of Unholy Entropy and Languor.

According to his backstory, his parents had been rather intoxicated when they named him, the next morning they were so embarrassed that they only ever said that his name was Nylarthog, still strange, but by far not as cringy.

But back to the present, despite his original struggle at the first day, he had slowly developed a simple routine, he would go to sleep in the morning when the last patrons left, wake up a few hours later, sit down for a breathing session, clean up the mess from the last night and then open again.

Now, normally he wouldn’t have the motivation to keep that up- while this world was modern in some aspects, praise be flushing toilets, it was quite old-fashioned in other aspects such as taxes –the visible progression kept him motivated, at the end of each day, he had a bit more money, even if he had to restock, since he did not need to pay for someone to transport his wares he was able to save up quite some coin. Enough that he would be able to buy a few Wind Stones soon.

If you were wondering what wind stones were, think of Spirit Stones in xianxia novels and you would basically know what wind stones are. And what a surprise, they were helpful in accelerating your cultivation.

But this was where most of the similarities with your run-of-the-mill xianxia novel stopped.

The first level of cultivation wasn’t Qi-Gathering or Qi-Condensation, no, it was Breath Cultivation. Instead of simply gathering and refining qi, practitioners of this system focused on cultivating their breath. By regulating and controlling one’s breathing, one can refine one’s internal energy and improve one's physical and spiritual health.

Breath Cultivation was then further broken down into three stages, Body of Wind, where practitioners learned to regulate their breathing and cultivate their internal energy. Gale Form, where practitioners refined their breathing techniques and gained greater control over their internal energy. And lastly Tempest Soul, where practitioners developed the ability to store and release their internal energy at will and could use it to enhance their physical and mental abilities.

But contrary to what you have in regular cultivation systems, one could move from one stage to the next and back as one pleased, so long as one had some talent for cultivation, everyone could theoretically start out with storing and releasing internal energy, the only problem was that you would probably die or simply fail because of a lack of energy.

On the other end of the spectrum, you had people in the Tempest Soul realm who went back to regulating their breathing to cultivate internal energy because they realized they didn’t have enough, and this didn’t change if one broke through to the next major realm, Elemental Attunement, if one so desired, one could theoretically start with that, it was only way more difficult and one would be weaker than others at the same level.

This was also why Nylarthog did not try to advance faster, he was still young, so it was easier to cultivate internal energy than it would be later in his life while also slowing down aging.

So far, he was still focusing on Body of Wind, the previous owner of his body had not cultivated far, as he was lazy and cultivation wasn’t the mystical thing it was for Nylarthog now. He would be able to do fucking magic if he could advance far enough, not to mention that he could cultivate while lying in bed.

He may not be talented enough for a sect, but he didn’t need to be, so long as he cultivated enough internal energy he could always prolong his life further, if others got to the second major realm within ten years, or maybe even only a year, and he took a hundred, then so be it, at least he wouldn’t be running around chasing after artifacts or whatever and risking his life.

But enough of the reminiscing, it was time for Nylarthog to open the tavern.

The day started as slow as always, the sun was still high in the sky, so most people hadn’t yet even come from work, but there was the occasional early arrival, and there was no need to pass up on some easy money.

Enjoying the story? Show your support by reading it on the official site.

“Same as always?”

As tavern owner he sadly had to talk to customers, but that was fine. So long as the other party wasn’t yet drunk, or just stupid, the standard for intelligence seemed to be even lower in this world than it had been in his old one. Probably related to the lack of available schooling.

But it wasn’t all bad, there were way fewer commoners that were self-righteous assholes, no, that was reserved for young masters, luckily he hadn’t yet had to deal with one.

“No, give me a pint of your strongest ale.” The customer was a middle-aged man, dressed in simple clothes, with a tired look on his face.

“What ales you this time?” Nylarthog asked, pouring the man a mug of Firefly Liquor. The man chuckled at the pun. It was crude, but without easy access to entertainment, the standards were much lower.

"Just a long day at work, my friend," he said, taking a sip of the ale. "It's good to be able to come here and forget about all the troubles for a little while."

Nylarthog nodded sympathetically, "Well, you're always welcome here, just be sure to take it easy on the ale, or you might forget where you're going when you leave."

Not that he cared much about that, but if a customer was robbed on the way home, they wouldn’t have as much money to give him.

The man laughed and raised his mug in a toast. "To forgetting our troubles, even if it's only for a little while."

Nylarthog smiled and raised his own mug, clinking it against the man's. "To forgetting our troubles," he echoed, taking a sip of his water, he wouldn’t be able to work if he was drunk, and this wouldn’t be the last time he toasted to something with someone.

As Nylarthog tended to the bar, he observed the early customers with disinterest. It was still quite empty, as usual, but he didn't mind. At least he had time to focus on cultivating his internal energy. Suddenly, the door opened, and a group of young men walked in, chatting and laughing loudly. Nylarthog couldn't help but roll his eyes as he braced himself for another long and tiring night.

The group of men sat down at the bar and ordered drinks. Nylarthog served them with a blank expression, trying to ignore their behavior. However, as they drank more, their behavior became increasingly obnoxious. They started hitting on the female customers, making lewd comments and harassing them.

This wouldn’t have been a problem in itself, had they just picked out one girl, but they just had to pick on the daughter of a local merchant, who happened to be in the tavern at the time.

And if she had a bad impression of the tavern, then her father would probably talk bad about it, which would be bad for business. Fucking adventurers, always causing problems because they wouldn’t stay long anyway.

Nylarthog sighed, knowing that he had to step in before things got out of hand. He approached the group of men, his expression stern. "Gentlemen, I'm going to have to ask you to stop harassing the customers. This is a place of business, not a brothel."

One of the men scoffed and turned to face Nylarthog. "Who the hell are you to tell us what to do? We're just having some fun."

Nylarthog didn't back down. "I'm the owner of this establishment, and I won't tolerate this kind of behavior. Either you stop harassing the customers or you leave."

The men exchanged glances and then burst out laughing. "You're the owner? That's rich," one of them said, smirking.

Nylarthog's jaw tightened. He didn't appreciate being mocked, especially not in his own tavern. "I assure you, I am the owner. And if you don't stop your behavior, I'll have to ask you to leave."

The men continued to laugh and make crude comments, ignoring Nylarthog's warning. One of them even threw a glass at a nearby wall, shattering it into pieces. The other customers in the tavern began to murmur and shuffle nervously, clearly uncomfortable with the escalating situation.

Nylarthog gritted his teeth, feeling his anger rising. These adventurers were causing chaos and endangering his livelihood. He had to take action before things got even worse. "I'm going to give you one last chance to leave peacefully," he said, his voice low and threatening. "Otherwise, I'll be forced to call the guards."

Well, nobody could say he hadn’t tried to solve it peacefully, as such, he opened a latch on the bar, below it was a small mechanism, that if activated, would result in a wooden sign being raised outside, which would tell the guards that there was someone causing a ruckus inside, while at the same time also raising one on the bar, telling the customers that guards were on the way.

Nylarthog didn't hesitate to activate the mechanism, and within seconds, a wooden sign raised outside, signaling for the guards. “The guards will be here any minute now.”

The group of adventurers finally seemed to realize that Nylarthog meant business, and they quickly got up from their seats and headed for the door.

"Fine, we'll leave," one of them said, sneering at Nylarthog as they walked out. "But don't think you've seen the last of us."

Nylarthog didn't respond, instead watching as the group of men left the tavern, their loud and obnoxious laughter fading into the distance. He let out a sigh of relief, feeling the tension in the room dissipate as the other customers relaxed.

It didn’t take long for the guards to arrive. He was sure they normally may have not come at all, but he made sure to always give them a tip when he called them, it was a small price to pay for not having to deal with such idiots.

The guards arrived at the tavern and saw that the group of adventurers had already left. They turned to Nylarthog and asked him what had happened.

Nylarthog explained the situation and showed the guards the broken glass and the wooden sign he had raised. The guards nodded and said they would keep an eye out for the group of adventurers in case they caused trouble elsewhere in the city.

Nylarthog thanked the guards and then turned to the other customers in the tavern. "I apologize for the disturbance," he said. "As a gesture of goodwill, I’d like to offer everyone present a free drink to make up for the inconvenience caused by these adventurers."

The customers broke out into smiles and cheers, grateful for Nylarthog's generosity. Short-term he may have made a loss with that, but it made sure that everyone would come back.

After the group of adventurers left, Nylarthog breathed a sigh of relief. He was glad that he had been able to defuse the situation before it got any worse. However, he knew that this wouldn't be the last time he had to deal with rowdy customers.

The rest of the night was relatively calm, there were some that drank a bit too much, but nobody caused serious trouble.