Looking at the empty plates on the table, Mary was amazed and concerned. Although it took 6 hours, he did finish 5 meals worth. How fast could a person digest their food?
"Are you going to be okay after eating so much?"
Although such questions hardly seem to be part of their customer service, Leon didn't mind too much since she was concerned for him after all.
"Mm, the food was great. I'll be coming back often." Leon paid bill, which amounted to 25000 craws.
"That's great! Thank you for your patronage." Mary accepted the bill and thanked with a bow.
'She actually seems like a nice girl.' He thought before leaving.
"Ahh..." She still didn't know what she wanted from him, but it was just a small problem. She'll just let the matter rest.
...
Leon had made 2 consecutive breakthroughs today and was feeling full of power. He plans to drop by the Cromwell's villa and check if they have procured the herbs he was looking for, while concocting some pills in passing. It was a give and take relationship.
He powered himself up as he tests his newfound speed. His image blurred as he disappeared from his spot.
Bang* He didn't make it very far before he accidentally tripped over nothing and smashed into the pavement.
The sound of the impact was quite discerning, alerting the nearby people.
"This little brother, are you alright?" A passing businessman in his 40s asked with concern.
"I'm okay. The ground is quite slippery." Leon picked himself up off the ground and said awkwardly.
The man looked down at the rough and rigid pavement speechlessly.
'This is considered slippery?'
He was planning to warn him to be more careful next time but by the time he looked back up, Leon had already disappeared. Leon was too embarrassed to stick around any longer.
The consecutive breakthroughs had loosen his control over his strength and required time and practice to adapt. But Leon had forgotten about it and made a rookie mistake.
Swoosh* Leon darted over the wall to the Cromwell's villa.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
"Thought I heard something flew past."
"Might be your imagination." The guards conversed among themselves.
Leon opened the door and entered the villa. The front doors and gates are usually left unlocked and are only locked when the guards retire from guard duty for the day.
"Old man, are you home?" Leon called out.
"I'm over here. What happen to your forehead?" Dwight asked from the couch.
"... I rather not talk about it."
"That's fine. Did you come over to refine another batch of pills?"
"Yeah, has the herbs I mention been found yet?"
"The more common ones have arrived and stored in the vault. But the other ones you wanted are quite rare and only found in the neighboring kingdoms. It will take more time to collect them."
"That's fine. There's no rush." Leon was disappointed but he didn't show it. There herbs he requested had a whole range of purposes towards cultivation and healing. Considering it could be highly dangerous at the frontlines, it would be safe to prepare a few life saving measures.
While the All-Purpose Healing Pill was good, it didn't heal fast enough and not suitable for situations, where life and death could be decided in one moment.
It would be a tragedy if he bled to death before the pill took effect. His body was different to his foster father after all. A tier 1 pill wouldn't be as effective on him as it was on a normal person. It would take more time for the effects to show.
He plans to refine the Golden Ointment when the herbs reach spirit tier in his world space. It was effective for external wounds and stopping bleeding.
"I'll just go refi-" Leon stopped midway as his face went pale.
Grrrr** His stomach started growling.
"Old man, let me use your toilet!"
"Yeah go ahead, it's just around that corner." Startled, Dwight pointed him in the direction of the toilet.
After given the confirmation, Leon bolted as fast as possible, like as if his rear ends were on fire.
Dwight was dumbfounded at the sudden turn of events.
"Argh! Begone, you demon!!"
He widened his eyes, hearing the yells coming from the direction of the toilet.
'What is going on?'
...
Leon was regretful of his decision to run after eating. He thought that with his present cultivation, he would be immune to digestive problems, but he thought wrong.
He didn't consider the amount he had eaten, which lead to the current situation where it wants to come out, but it's compacted and difficult to come out.
...
Half an hour quickly passed before Leon exited the toilet with exhaustion written all over his face like as if he had just survived a hard-won battle.
Leon felt depressed. Nothing seemed to be going well for him. Mortal bodies were too troublesome. His medical skills could not help him there. When nature calls, he had to answer it, whether he like it or not.
"Sigh..."
Leon went to refine a batch of True Awakening Pills then left the villa. Dwight thought his mood was poor and want to stay for a chat.
It didn't take long after Leon left that Dwight exploded with outrage. Leon had clogged his toilet and the lingering smell covered his entire villa. Leon had washed his hands of the matter and didn't want to deal with the aftermath.
"Dammit, what kind of dump did you take!?"
What happened after he left the villa; Leon did not want to know.
"Sigh... I should eat with moderation in the future." Leon shook his head as he headed for the Lower District.
-
-
-
Thorpe had been roaming the Western Lower District aimlessly these few days without a single lead on Leon. It was too hard to find a single person with just him and his two brothers. The three of them were the only ones, who had seen what Leon look like at that time.
Unfortunately, none of them were talented enough to sketch his appearance, otherwise they could mobilize all the brothers in their gang to track him down.
Thorpe was frustrated but there was nothing he could do except leave it to chance. He decided to take a break by the Mirror Lake Park since he was close. The Mirror Lake Park was a popular spot for people to visit during the day to enjoy the scenery, but it becomes empty and silent at night. There was a lack of light sources to brighten the area and everyone had a natural fear of the darkness.
He thought the park would be quiet, but he didn't expect to hear sounds coming from the park. Being in his line of business and a capable fighter, he would be fearless to investigate the source. The park was a part of the Western Lower District and the Western Lower District was entirely ruled by their Black Snake Gang.
'Is there a fight going on in the park?' He thought as he draws closer to the source. The sound of the impact grew louder the closer he got and the more fearful he became. It reached a point, where his face became very ugly but since he was already close, he would just hide nearby and peek. The impact noises were caused by powerful blows and the powerful blows didn't seem like something ordinary awakeners could produce. Thorpe widened his eyes in disbelief when his eyes adjusted to the darkness and able to determine who and what was happening.
Leon was practicing some movement and martial skills in the park to help him adapt to his newfound strength faster. He was currently practicing the [9 Echo Oscillating Fist] on an ironwood tree. It was a skill that allow the user to punch with 9-fold their normal strength when mastered. The skill requires throwing 9 punches at a single point so fast that the power overlap, creating one extremely powerful impact with nine echoes. It wasn't as simple as one plus one equals two. There was world of difference. For example, 9 strikes with 100 jin force is not the same as 1 strike with 900 jin force.
Leon had not mastered the [9 Echo Oscillating Fist] and was only able to produce 2 echoes. But even with just 2 echoes at the 5th layer tempered body, he was able to produce a force of 1000 jin. His punches were able to crack and shatter parts of the ironwood trees and had to change trees every few punches. He did not want to collapse the trees as it would inevitably create a large enough commotion to attract people to investigate the source.
Thorpe was scared silly. 1000 jin force wasn't something their gang could go up against. He had to back and report the matter to his gang leader. It was best not to provoke this monster and make an enemy out of it. He had given up all thoughts of revenge. Leon would be able to slap him to death as easy as swatting a fly.
Thorpe subconsciously took a step back, but he accidentally stepped on a fallen tree branch.
Crack* The noise was small, but it was enough to alert Leon in the quiet park.
"Who!?"