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Chapter 24: First bucket of gold
“Damnit, I’m going to kill you!” Daniel roared explosively. He was thoroughly crazed, and began to attack Han Shuo fiercely, as if he was going to drag Han Shuo down to hell with him.
But Han Shuo was like a sturdy canoe in the middle of a furious ocean. It seemed like it would capsize at any moment, but it somehow resolutely clung on unharmed.
By now, everyone fully acknowledged Han Shuo’s evasion speed. No one thought that Han Shuo’s previous dodges had been out of luck now. Those who had been worried about him now wore carefree smiles. Even Jeff crossed his arms and was laughing merrily as he looked over.
Finally, Daniel ran out of energy and stopped automatically, panting heavily. He angrily glared at Han Shuo, with sweat dripping down like rain, roaring, “Kid, take one of my hits if you have the guts to. What’s the use in only dodging?”
Daniel had only meant to vent an angry complaint, even he didn’t think that Han Shuo would take a hit, but surprisingly, Han Shuo stopped his various bodybuilding poses and had the presence of mind to nod at Daniel, smiling, “No problem.”
Everyone revisited their opinions of Han Shuo after this response, with many displaying perplexed expressions. Han Shuo’s body was thin and small, so it was understandable that he was nimble and agile, but no one believed that the frail Han Shuo, with no fighting aura, could hold his own in terms of strength against Daniel, an obvious muscle man.
Even Daniel himself was gobsmacked by Han Shuo’s response. He swiftly recovered and laughed wildly, “Good, good. You’re the one who wants to die. You can’t blame me!”
Daniel had always been proud of his strong body and ferocious strength. This had formed the basis of his earned power. Although it rankled his pride, Danel could grudgingly accept that his speed and nimbleness didn’t measure up to Han Shuo’s. Now that a chance to display his awesome strength was in front of him, it was up to him to see if he could wipe away the previous humiliation with one blow. Daniel was naturally going to take full advantage of this opportunity.
Gathering up his strength, Daniel propelled his right first forward. The veins on his arm popped out as he increased his speed and strength to the limit, bring his fist crashing down on Han Shuo.
Han Shuo squinted his eyes a bit, a sinister coldness sparkling in their depths. They were like those of a viper, lying in wait for it’s prey, giving the feeling of poised cruelness.
As Daniel’s fist came flying towards his face, Han Shuo concentrated his magical yuan into his tightly-clenched, right fist and punched outwards in a head-on collision course with Daniel’s iron fist.
Pa!
Daniel emitted a devastating scream, like a pig being slaughtered, as a crisp sound rang out. His entire right arm drooped, and the right fist, that had being tightly clenched moments earlier, was now curled in the shape of a chicken’s claw, shaking madly with his right arm.
The severeness within Han Shuo’s eyes faded away, and a harmless smile reappeared on his face. He retracted the right fist that he’d just thrust out and shook his right arm slightly, looking at his fist in shock. He muttered to himself, “Eh? I really took the hit?”
Daniel had put all his strength into that hit despite seeing Han Shuo’s weak body. This wasn’t simply teaching Han Shuo a lesson, but wanting to give him a death sentence, but the current Han Shuo was no longer a timid coward who dumbly accepted everything that flew his way. Although he sometimes played dumb, he naturally wouldn’t be kind to someone who wanted to actually kill him.
The bizarre outcome of their two fists meeting had completely stunned the lobby full of knight students and human targets. A few of the nearby commoner human targets looked at Han Shuo now with just a trace of fear in their gazes. The people next to him automatically shied away, leaving the prime spot for him.
All the knight students were extremely excited and put their heads together in discussion. Some even suspected that Han Shuo was one of the rare barbarians on the Continent, or an orc that had taken human form.
Daniel was still wailing in pain as his right arm trembled continuously. Everyone understood what that crisp crack just now had meant: Daniel’s right arm was most likely destroyed and useless.
The old errand boy Jeff looked at Daniel regretfully and spoke soft words of comfort, “Daniel, I’m sorry that this happened, but I’m afraid that your current body condition has disqualified you from staying here.”
Daniel involuntarily looked at Han Shuo in resentment upon hearing Jeff’s words. He then brushed past Han Shuo and walked out of the lobby. Too many previous injuries had resulted from fights, thus a few rules had been laid down. Daniel understood his place and position. Add to that his clear understanding that he was no match for Han Shuo, his only option was to leave early.
When Daniel had left, Jeff gave a great yell. “Alright alright, everyone can continue your negotiations!”
Multiple knight students walked towards Han Shuo as soon as Jeff called out. All of them had fixed their gazes on him and were shouting, “One gold coin!” “Two gold coins!” “Three gold coins!”
Under normal circumstances, according to their respective strength, a commoner human target could be hired for student practice for ten to fifty silvers. Warriors with high potential could be hired for one to five gold coins depending on their level.
The two or three gold coins that these people were offering were amazingly high amounts. Although Han Shuo had displayed his power just now, he still wasn’t a warrior. A stronger warrior would have been able to use his fighting aura to deal a single, fatal blow to Daniel in the fight just now. Therefore, a price of two or three golds was an incredible price for a commoner human target.
Han Shuo had been ready to accept when the first student had called out one gold coin, but when the subsequent price of two gold coins had appeared, Han Shuo shut his mouth with an audible click and awaited higher offers.
Although he wasn’t here for money, Han Shuo fully understood that money was just as important in this world as it was on Earth. He would definitely not settle for earning only one gold coin when he could earn two.
The knight students all walked up to Han Shuo and called out increasingly higher bids. However, Han Shuo was still a commoner and not a warrior with surpassing strength. Therefore, these people mostly stopped after two or three gold coins.
“Five gold coins!”
Han Shuo’s patience had won a large sum for him. A handsome Sergeant Knight with golden curls, one who looked kind and humble, offered a price higher than the others.
Most stopped bidding as soon as his offer of five gold coins appeared. They looked at him askance, and one of them said, “Lawrence, a Sergeant Warrior is only worth five gold coins. Although this kid’s a bit strong, he’s definitely not worth five gold. Isn’t your price a bit high?”
Lawrence smiled and said placidly, “It’s a bit high, but we’ve come a bit late and all of the good warriors have been hired anyway. There aren’t many left, so we can only choose him.”
The others agreed as they pondered his words. Out of all the human targets left in the lobby, Han Shuo’s strength was most likely the highest. If the warriors who had been here earlier were still here, then perhaps Han Shuo wouldn’t have been worth this much, but now that he was the strongest here, the knight students didn’t have much choice. People were also impatient to find a sparring partner, thus further increasing Han Shuo’s worth.
“How does five gold coins sound to this amazing friend?” Lawrence smiled at Han Shuo and asked peacefully.
Han Shuo realized that no one would continue to bid higher after looking around, and then proceeded to size up Lawrence as the strongest out of those present. He nodded, “I accept!”
“My name is Lawrence and here’s five gold coins. I hope you can help me in our training later!” Lawrence walked towards Han Shuo and took five gold coins out of a colorful pouch.
Han Shuo was a bit emotional as he accepted the five gold coins. Bryan had been sold to the Babylon Academy of Magic and Force for five gold coins back in the day. These five gold coins he’d earned for sparring with a knight student were enough to buy back Bryan’s life! Five gold coins was a heavenly price for Han Shuo’s current position; it was enough for his freedom!
“I’m called Bryan, nice to meet you.” Han Shuo smiled urbanely at his fortune god Lawrence after he’d put the gold coins into his own ragged money pouch.
“Come with me and let me see if you’re worth those five gold coins!” Lawrence walked out decisively with Han Shuo following close behind.
The training fields of the school of martial arts were quite similar to those of the school of magic. However, the corners were filled with obstacles instead of magical items. There was only Han Shuo and Lawrence in the spacious training field. The ground was tiled with rough, hard rock and the surface was extremely hard to the touch.
Lawrence changed into an athletic, white training uniform after entering the venue. He disarmed his sword, placing it to the side. Only then did he look at Han Shuo with some interest, smiling, “Those five gold coins aren’t earned easily. Are you ready?”
Han Shuo inwardly thought that his body was worlds apart in toughness and strength from the original Bryan, thanks to the forging from the magical yuan. Add to that the magical yuan’s curious negating effect against fighting aura, and he wasn’t that afraid of Lawrence damaging his body with fighting aura. There wasn’t much to prepare, so he nodded at Lawrence.
“Remember, you’re sparring and thus can only dodge or block, but cannot attack!” It seemed that Lawrence could tell that Han Shuo was new at this, and issued some reminders before beginning. He only started slowly walking towards Han Shuo when he was satisfied that Han Shuo understood.
Just as Lawrence was about to reach Han Shuo’s side, his speed suddenly increased like lightning. His empty left hand was like a sharp sword being unsheathed, and it came rushing towards Han Shuo’s chest. His fingers were arranged together and pointed towards Han Shuo.
Due to training his fighting aura, a knight’s strength and speed were completely beyond the realm of an ordinary burly commoner if he activated his fighting aura. Lawrence’s onrushing hand was more than ten times the speed and strength of Claude’s from earlier.
Han Shuo’s eyes lost focus as he saw that Lawrence’s hand was already near his chest. His heart spasmed in fright as his magical yuan started churning quickly. Han Shuo abruptly twisted his body and dodged to the side.
Lawrence slashed open the front of Han Shuo’s shirt with a clear ripping sound. Han Shuo felt a cold draft on his chest and saw his shirt flying away in the breeze. He felt relieved that he had managed to dodgd in time.
However, a large amount of force surged into his lower abdomen while Han Shou was still inwardly celebrating. His body involuntarily staggered backwards as he sat down on the hard rock. His intestines and stomach felt like they’d been smashed together and it hurt quite a bit.
He lifted his head to see that Lawrence’s extended foot was still halted in midair. The student was looking at Han Shuo with a bantering look, “Bryan, I pulled my punches this time, and didn’t keep attacking. I won’t be as kind next time.”
Lawrence’s kick just now had been infused with fighting aura. However, Lawrence had only employed his fighting aura to increase his body and attack speed, and had kept it contained within his body. He hadn’t projected the fighting aura into Han Shuo’s body for further damage.
And it was because of this that the magical yuan within Han Shuo’s body hadn’t reacted. His physical body had taken the collision that had been filled with a crazy amount of strength. Even his improved body had taken damage.
He nodded with his brows drawn tightly together. Han Shuo gritted his teeth against the pain from his stomach and stood up from the ground. He looked at Lawrence coldly, “I’ll be more careful from now on. Again!”