Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 101 - The Way of the Sword is Not So Convenient

"Old Mike." Cassius gently tapped the table.

"Here you go." A set of keys was tossed over.

Cassius caught them and nodded. He was about to walk down the inner passage when he noticed Old Mike reading the Baichuan Morning Post. He leaned over to take a look. Oh, it really was the paper.

Old Mike noticed Cassius's gaze and lowered the newspaper. "The world's been chaotic lately. Apparently, there was a gang fight last night and at least a dozen people were killed."

"It was the Black Fire gang, right?" Cassius remarked with a faint smile.

"Yeah, that's what it says in the paper." Old Mike shook his head. "It's for the best since the people who died were all gang members anyway. Just let them fight each other to death."

"..." Cassius fell silent for a moment and coughed twice.

"What's wrong? Are you catching a cold?"

"It's nothing, I'll go in first. See you later." Cassius picked up his shoulder bag, grabbed a towel from the wall, and walked into the passage.

Half an hour later, in the empty training room.

Seven to eight teenagers were practicing combat techniques under Cassius's guidance. After several lessons, they were starting to show some proficiency. Although they hadn't fully grasped the techniques, they were nearing the beginner level.

"Keep going. I'm going to walk around and correct your movements."

Cassius stopped demonstrating and walked around to the side, counting out loud as he studied each person's posture and movements. Tifa's movements were undoubtedly the most standard. This girl had both talent and diligence and showed promise.

As for Phil and Milo, although they weren't impressive at first, they were starting to show improvement. They were diligent students and didn't slack off. Their good constitution also caught Cassius's eye, but he was going to continue observing them for a while longer.

Over the past half month, more than a hundred people had come to learn from Cassius. Only five demonstrated some talent. Two of them were too old, and the remaining three were Phil, Milo, and Tifa. Tifa was the most talented, followed by Milo, and then Phil. But even then, Phil's constitution hovered around the middle-bottom level, while Tifa's constitution was around the middle-advanced level.

Cassius's current approach was to have them practice some simple Explosive Techniques for a while, see where their progress was by testing them, before deciding whether to teach them more advanced skills. He hoped whatever progress they made would be satisfactory. The combat training session ended at dusk.

"Goodbye, Coach."

"See you tomorrow, Coach."

"..."

The teenagers waved and left.

"Coach, I'm leaving too." Tifa waved her hand.

"See you later." Cassius nodded. He noticed Phil waving back as if Tifa was saying goodbye to him.

That kid is still in puberty, I guess...

Cassius shook his head. "Let's leave, Phil. Your brother's car should be waiting outside. Thanks for the ride, by the way."

"It's no problem, Coach. Let's go." Phil scratched his head and whispered a few words to Milo.

Cassius and Phil pushed open the door and walked out. A long black sedan with silver frame decorations was parked on the street. The car's hood had a pale gold crescent emblem, marking it as a high-end car from the Heitz Nauya series.

The window rolled down, and a young man in a tweed jacket, black bowler hat, and gold-rimmed glasses waved. "Phil, Mr. Li Wei! Over here."

The two quickly slid into the back seat.

"Phil, how's your training with Mr. Li Wei going?" Matthew asked his brother from the driver's seat. He slowly pressed down on the accelerator.

"It's going alright. I'm doing my best," Phil said. He scratched his head, feeling a bit defeated as he had lost to Tifa yesterday.

"Okay." Matthew didn't probe any further and quickly changed the topic. "Mr. Li Wei, I found a nice detached house for you. Since it's still light outside, we can drive over to check it out."

"Thanks, Matthew." Cassius nodded. "But you don't have to be so formal and call me Mr. Li Wei. We were brothers when we were drinking the other day. Calling me 'Mr.' makes us sound so distant."

Matthew laughed. "Haha, alright then...Li Wei."

The black sedan sped by.

On the other side, Milo walked home. He carried a large backpack, its zipper partially open to accommodate the light yellow wooden sword handle sticking out. Most of Milo's time had been taken up by boxing practice at the Gray Seal Martial Arts Hall with Phil, leaving him less time for the kendo club.

For instance, he had planned on skipping the martial arts gym today but was pulled back by Phil after less than an hour.

Honestly, Milo wasn't very interested in boxing; he much preferred swordsmanship. Having a weapon made him feel cooler. He imagined drawing his sword swiftly against his enemies and whipping out a couple random slashes, before sheathing the sword back elegantly. His enemies would have no choice but to flee in defeat!

Lost in thought, Milo couldn't help mimicking slashing motions with his right hand. Despite his love for the kendo club, Phil's offer had been too tempting to refuse. What boy would turn down a complete set of Captain Hongli comics, especially when you throw in a limited edition?

Milo, the "sword enthusiast," was easily bribed. After all, that complete set of Captain Hongli comics wouldn't just be for him; if the boys in his class found out, they would go crazy for it. Milo could already imagine his elevated status in class in a few days. Soon, he would be surrounded by dozens of "loyal followers."

"Heh heh." Milo chuckled to himself.

At 6:30 p.m., there were a few remnants of light in the sky as the sun gradually set. Milo walked along the gray street toward Beiluo Street. He skidded to a halt.

Two thuggish young men emerged from a dim alley ahead. One had dyed yellow hair, the other a nose ring. Their eyes met, and Milo instantly sensed danger.

He had heard stories at school about thugs lurking around Edelweiss Middle School extorting money from students, and beating them if they refused or had no money.

Milo didn't have any money on him now. He gulped, turned on his heel, and ran.

"Hey, where are you going?"

A thug blocked his path. Smoking puffing from the cigarette in his mouth, this guy wore a blue jacket with metal chains draped over his shoulders.

Milo froze. Three of them surrounded him: the one in the blue jacket, the one with yellow hair, and the one with a nose ring who was blocking the way.

"What are you waiting for? Hand over the money."

With each step they took, they closed in on him, with the guy in the blue jacket pulling out a pocketknife and spinning it in his hand.

"I..." Milo hefted his backpack. "I don't have any money."

"No money? Then you know the drill. We're gonna beat you up!" The guy with the nose ring cracked his neck, smirking as he lurched forward.

Crap! Milo cursed inwardly. He suddenly remembered the wooden sword in his backpack. Unlike the bamboo sword used in sports, that was a wooden sword used in kendo practice, capable of causing real harm.

With his skills in kendo, he might be able to take out these three thugs. Fired up, he quickly pulled the wooden sword from his bag. It was about 120 centimeters long.

“Wow, a kendo student!”

The guy with yellow hair rushed forward, and Milo brought the long wooden sword down with both hands. But with a snap, the wooden sword was kicked out of his hands.

"Pfft. What a joke."

The wooden sword hit the ground, and the three immediately pounced on Milo. Since he had dared to resist, they hit him even harder. Punches and kicks rained down on him.

Milo instinctively protected his vitals, several places on his body screaming in pain. As he blocked two punches with his forearms, he discovered he was using the defensive techniques Cassius had taught him.

I might not have a sword anymore, but I still have my fists!

Milo was struck with a realization. He charged forward, squeezing through the gaps between the three thugs. He ducked, his shoulder lowered, before whipping around and punching the guy with yellow hair square in the chest.

"Ugh." The guy grunted, clutching his chest.

"What the fuck? How dare you fight back! Damn you!"

The guy in the blue jacket charged, pocketknife unfolded and out, the blade gleaming in the sunlight. Enraged, he started stabbing recklessly.

"Knife!" Milo's eyes widened in fear, but he quickly remembered the moves Cassius had taught him.

He twisted his body, dodging to the side, and then slapped the attacker's wrist, forcing him to drop the knife on the ground.

Without him realizing it, Milo had used an Explosive Technique, a simple speed-based one Cassius had shown him. It was surprisingly effective!

Adrenaline surged through Milo. He roared and charged at the thugs, fists flying.

If Cassius had been there, he would have shaken his head. Sometimes, Milo used proper combat techniques, but he was mostly throwing punches helter-skelter. Against a more skilled opponent, he would have been beaten in the blink of an eye.

But his opponents were just a few teenage thugs, not real gang members, and far less capable than Milo. Without the knife, the three thugs were quickly overpowered.

Milo's ferocity and his flurry of punches, along with the occasional sharp combat move, completely intimidated them. Faces black and blue, they ended up running away, shouting as they went.

Milo even chased after them for over a hundred meters before stopping, out of fear that he might get hurt if he continued. He picked up his black backpack from the ground. Breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush, he held the wooden sword in his left hand as his right hand was slightly scraped. A rush of exhilaration he had never felt before rushed up from his tailbone to his brain. He shivered excitedly as he stood on the street.

Milo felt just like Captain Hongli from his comics. One punch to defeat a rascal, one kick to dispatch an enemy. Having each punch land, and hearing the satisfying thud of a kick gave him a much more exhilarating thrill than kendo sparring sessions!

Looking at the long wooden sword and his red clenched fist, he was hit with an epiphany.

"How could the way of the sword be so inconvenient? From today onward, I'm going to train hard in martial arts!"