Immortal Freeloader 28 (Patreon)

I didn’t immediately stop to think. Instead, I pulled a set of clothes from my Inventory and changed my looks — making some temporary hair dye was even easier with my new looks. 

Once I avoided the kidnappers, I wanted to go back to the house I rented. I walked at a leisurely pace, even stopping by a few stalls to purchase some knick-knacks. I didn’t need anything, but a desperately running man was far more memorable than a lazy shopper. 

I was glad for it, as a mere five minutes after I got away from the carriage, a bell suddenly started to ring, and armored city guards appeared on the streets. “Everyone, go back to your houses and wait for inspection. From this moment, the city is under martial law!” the guards shouted, declaring a sudden change. 

Not for a moment, I thought that it was actually about me. I wasn’t important enough. It was much easier to believe I was a target of opportunity; which unfortunately created other unfortunate questions, like how Lord Eirto knew that there would be a declaration of curfew.  

Regardless of the political machinations, I was glad that I didn’t try to escape the city immediately. A man without a valid identity, trying to leave the city in a hurry just as the city gates were about to close … yeah, that was not the mess I needed. 

I would return to the house I rented, which was my best hope to stay under the radar. But, before, I stepped by several stores, purchasing as many herbs as I could, even though I had to pay quite a premium. Luckily, with everyone in a hurry to follow the emergency orders, I wasn’t the only one who was frantically making some purchases, so it didn’t look suspicious. 

Twenty minutes later, I was at my house. I went to the door, knocking it in the agreed pattern. The door opened, revealing Pearyin, who wore both a cloak and a veil. “Young master?” she asked, unable to recognize me in my disguise. 

“Yes, sweetie. It’s me,” I said as I stepped in and closed the door behind me. 

“What’s going on?” she asked, looking out in worry. 

“I have no idea, but nothing good. Follow me,” I said. She followed obediently. “Give me your hand,” I said, and when she did so, I put my hand on her pulse, assessing the situation of her body. “You’re already a Peak Initiate, very good,” I said. 

“It’s only thanks to the essence pills you have left me with, young master,” she said demurely, my touch enough to make her blush. 

It was not entirely true. Even with the pills, reaching the Peak Initiate stage in a week was still a decent achievement, showing that her martial aptitude was not poor. Nowhere near to being called amazing, but still decent enough to be rapidly improved if I piled her with pills. 

“Sit down,” I said seriously, and she followed. “We’re in trouble, and there’s some high-ranking people gunning for me. I’m going to give you a chance. You can hide in the house until the curfew is lifted, and then leave. You’re already a Peak Initiate, and it should be enough for you to find a decent job anywhere you want.” 

Her help would be useful, but I didn’t want to force her to do it. It was a dangerous situation. To be honest, I would have acted far more manipulative if it was a life-or-death situation, but I was confident to stay concealed even without her help. 

At worst, I would just use the essence pills I had in my Inventory and push for the Skin Refinement realm and try to escape. Return multipliers were nice, but being alive was better. 

“A-are you chasing me away, Master?” she asked, which answered my question. 

“No, I’m not chasing you away. I’m just giving you a choice—” I started, ready to explain the other option. 

“I chose to stay,” she said, her gaze determined. “You gave me everything. I’m ready to die for you,” she started. 

“No dying,” I said, but didn’t bother to explain. “But, it’ll probably hurt a bit, and there’s a chance it’ll ruin your future as a martial artist,” I said. 

“Whatever you need,” she said, her beautiful face far more determined than I expected, showing that, even now, I was underestimating the importance of martial arts. Just because I had taught her, she was ready to die to for me. 

“If that’s what you wish,” I said and displayed her the full set of Muscle Refinement moves, along with their mantras. “Go to the training room, and start practicing them. I’ll be there in a couple of hours.”

“I won’t disappoint you, Master,” she said decisively and walked away. 

 I went to the medicine lab I had set up. “Let’s put what I learned to practice,” I said as I pulled several things from my inventory. A new cauldron of higher quality, a set of needles, and a beautiful knife, were all improved versions of Elsana’s gifts when I asked her to teach me how to refine medicine. 

Unfortunately, she only intended to teach ordinary medicine, which meant I only had a few herbs in my inventory. 

Still, the white and glistening cauldron was not only beautiful, but also very high quality. The quality of the equipment was important. I was skilled enough to work with subpar equipment and still got amazing results when refining Muscle Reinforcement pills, but trying to refine Skin Refinement Grade pills was a different challenge. 

Even with all my acquired skills, I needed the assistance of the equipment … and the Snow Essence I had in my inventory. Every time I shared Elsana’s bed, some of her Snow Essence invaded my body, which the System treated as a reward rather than an unwelcome side effect, and multiplied the effect. 

And, now, I used more than half of that stored essence to forge the pills, the sudden burst of power proving useful. The higher the rank of the pill, the more energy it required. The stored essence allowed me to skip the step of eating and absorbing the energy, which was a significant benefit. 

Two hours later, I was looking for a number of Muscle Reinforcement and Skin Refinement pills that could be auctioned for hundreds of thousands of gold easily, but I ignored that value as I first went to the bathroom, prepared a bath, and threw some of the pills I had prepared.

It will be required soon.  

Pearyin was in the middle of the room, carefully trying to practice the Muscle Refinement moves, but failed to pull them. “Get rid of your dress and lay down,” I ordered. She blushed as she pulled her dress down. “Keep the underwear,” I said when I noticed she was ready to get rid of them as well. 

No need to invite any temptation to what would be a very complicated process. 

“Now, eat the first pill,” I said even as I pulled several acupuncture needles from the case. The moment she consumed the pill, I started blocking several of her acupuncture points and gates, making sure the essence would gather only in certain parts of her body. 

“Tell me if the pain gets unbearable, and we’ll stop,” I said as she groaned. Unfortunately, there was no avoiding the hurt during the process, but considering it took less than a minute for her to step into the Muscle Reinforcement realm, it was hard to argue that it was a bad deal. 

She managed not to shout, which was impressive. Forceful breakthroughs were hardly the smoothest experience. 

“Now, the second pill,” I said, as I fed her another pill, my hands still on her back as I channeled her essence based as required by the Forest Dance. Five minutes, and she reached the Intermediate Stage, fifteen minutes, she was at the Advanced Stage, and an hour later, she reached the Peak Muscle Reinforcement stage. 

Bringing her to the same level with the most valuable disciples of the martial arts schools. Naturally, she couldn’t actually win anything close to a fair fight, as she lacked the experience, but it didn’t make the achievement any less impressive. 

Yet, I wanted to push more. 

I doubted anyone else could replicate what I was doing. Helping someone break through a minor stage was difficult enough, but two major stages … it was nothing less than a miracle, possible only because of my unique combination of skills, channeled by my enhanced martial aptitude. Not to mention, it was supposed to exhaust my Essence completely, but that was resolved by the Snow Essence in my inventory. 

“We can stop if you can’t handle it, but it’ll be better if we continue,” I said. 

“I can handle it,” she said, pushing through the pain, impressing me with her resilience. 

“Very good,” I said I fed her first of the Skin Refinement pills, allowing her to break through once more. It was already evening when we stopped, and I was feeling utterly exhausted. Worse, I failed to control my own essence fully, and had two breakthroughs, bringing me to the Peak Muscle Reinforcement realm. 

Admittedly, it wasn’t too bad. It represented a further drop in the potential returns, but with the city under martial law, a little extra power wouldn’t be amiss. 

Even better, I got a maid at the Peak of Skin Refinement Realm, so that effort was certainly worth it.

 She fell unconscious after her breakthrough, so I carried her to the bath, positioning so that she wouldn’t accidentally drown while the medicinal bath I prepared earlier soothed her body and dealt with some of the worst side effects of her forced breakthrough. 

I wanted to sleep, but with the number of soldiers moving around, I didn’t have the luxury. So, I popped an essence pill to renew my energy, changed my clothes, and prepared for a scouting mission.