Chapter 35: The Ghost in the Canyon
Greed is a predictable beast. It follows the scent of money like a starving dog.
It was 5:00 AM in District 9. The three suns of the Middle World hadn't risen yet, but the damp air of the slums was already illuminated by a massive, crimson holographic projection floating above my villa.
[WANTED: RUDRA YE]
[Crime: Theft of Royal Property. Disrespect to the Crown.]
[Reward: 1,000,000 Middle-Grade Spirit Stones.]
[Condition: Bring me his Right Arm. Dead or Alive.]
— Prince Aethelred.
"One million," Prince Valerian whispered, staring out the grimy window. His face was pale. "Rudra, that is enough to buy a small sect. Every student in the Academy is polishing their swords right now."
"I know," I said, calmly sipping my tea. I wasn't surprised. Inside the Ouroboros Ring, my clone, Chronos, had processed this probability path hours ago. I had watched the projection appear before it actually did.
Seraphina was pacing, violet sparks sizzling on the floorboards. "He put a price on my husband's arm. Shall I go up there and turn his golden palace into a crater?"
"Sit down, Lilith," I said. "It's just business. And business requires preparation."
I stood up. "Valerian, grab your armor. Ria, bring the cash box. Anya, bring your sign-painting kit. We're going to work."
"Work? Where?" Valerian stammered.
"The Freshman Ranking War starts at noon in the Myriad Beast Domain," I explained. "It's a free-fire zone. Aethelred has bribed the Elders to look the other way. The entire freshman class will be there to hunt beasts... and me."
I smirked, my eyes momentarily flashing with the gears of Chronos.
"They expect me to hide. I intend to open a shop."
The Canyon Entrance.
The entrance to the dungeon was a narrow pass flanked by high cliff walls. A swirling blue portal stood at the far end.
We arrived two hours early. The area was deserted.
"How did you know this spot would be unguarded?" Valerian asked, looking around nervously. "Usually there are dozens of enforcers here."
"I got a tip," I lied. (The tip was seeing the future where Aethelred pulled the guards).
"Ria, construction mode."
We went to work. Using massive boulders I "found" (by knowing exactly where a recent landslide had occurred), we blocked the pass, leaving only a narrow lane. We built a sturdy wooden booth.
Anya sat on the roof, holding a sign she had painted:
[TOLL BOOTH]
[ENTRY FEE: 500 STONES]
[HUNTING RUDRA FEE: 10,000 STONES]
"They won't pay," Valerian said, wearing a 'SECURITY' sash I forced onto him. "They will just kill us and walk through."
"They will try," I sat in the booth, placing a teacup on the counter. "And they will fail. Because I know exactly how they are going to attack."
I closed my eyes for a second, syncing with Chronos.
'Incoming in 3 minutes. Iron-Fist Clan. Fifty members. Leader is brute force, right hook dominant. Flankers are nervous.'
I opened my eyes. "They're here. Anya, warning shot. Three meters in front of the lead guy's toes."
Anya aimed her Fire Hammer.
FWOOSH.
A line of Phoenix fire erupted from the ground just as the mob rounded the corner. The leader, a burly man with iron gauntlets, skidded to a halt inches from the flames, singeing his boots.
"How did she know?" the leader gasped. "She fired before I even stepped there!"
"Who are you?!" the leader roared, looking at the booth. "Move this junk! We are here for the bounty!"
"Toll is 500 stones," I said calmly. "Pay up, or get out."
"Boys! Smash them!"
The fifty members of the Iron-Fist Clan charged. They were Early to Mid-Core Formation experts. A stampede of muscle and Qi.
Valerian yelped and hid behind the booth. Ria stepped forward to engage.
"Ria, stand down," I ordered.
"Master?" Ria paused. "Hostile numbers are 50 to 1. Engaging without support is statistically unwise."
"Statistics are for people who live linearly," I stepped out of the booth.
I didn't draw a sword. I didn't raise my fists. I just walked toward them.
The leader swung a massive iron-clad fist at my face.
'He aims for the nose. He overcommits his weight.'
I didn't dodge back. I stepped forward and to the left, inches past his fist.
He stumbled, off-balance.
I stuck my foot out. Not where he was, but where his foot would be in half a second.
TRIP.
He face-planted into the dirt with a crunch.
Two flankers attacked from the sides.
'Left guy goes low with a sweep. Right guy tries a high kick.'
I jumped.
The sweep missed my feet.
While in the air, I grabbed the ankle of the high-kicker. I used his momentum to throw him into the sweeping guy.
CRASH. They knocked each other out.
It was a massacre. But it wasn't violent. It was surgical.
I walked through the mob like water flowing around stones. I moved my head a centimeter to avoid a punch. I stepped sideways to let a charging bull-headed student run into a wall. I caught a thrown dagger without looking and tossed it back, pinning the thrower's sleeve to a wooden post.
I wasn't fast. I was just... already there.
In one minute, fifty students were groaning on the ground. I hadn't broken a sweat. I hadn't even spilled my tea, which I was still holding in my left hand.
The mob behind them froze.
"He... he's reading our minds!" someone screamed.
I walked back to the booth and sat down.
"Anyone else want to try the free sample? Or are you ready to pay the toll?"
A terrified student stepped up and dropped 500 stones into the bucket.
"Go ahead," I waved him through.
The floodgates opened. Students rushed to pay, terrified of the boy who fought like a ghost.
The Ice Prince.
Business was good for an hour. Then, the air froze.
A young man in blue robes walked through the crowd. The ground frosted under his boots. He carried a spear made of Deep-Sea Ice.
Gareth. Rank 5 Freshman. Peak Core Formation.
He stopped at the booth.
'Gareth. Arrogant. Relies on the speed of his Glacial Piercer technique. He will feign a chest thrust, then aim for the throat.'
"Toll? For me?" Gareth sneered, pointing his spear at my face. "I am here for your arm."
"Then you owe me 10,000 stones for the Hunting Fee," I said.
"Die!"
Gareth thrust. It was incredibly fast—a beam of freezing light aiming for my throat.
I didn't move.
I lifted my right hand.
'Seal 1: War God. Gravity Seal Release: Right Arm.'
I caught the spear tip.
Not after it was thrust. I started closing my hand before he thrust, so that his spear tip flew right into my palm.
CLACK.
The ice energy exploded in my hand. My Supreme Yang Body flared, turning the ice to steam instantly.
Gareth's eyes bulged. He tried to pull back. The spear wouldn't move.
"How..."
"You were going to feign low and strike high," I said, looking bored. "You put too much weight on your back foot. It tells me everything."
I squeezed.
CRACK.
The High-Grade Spirit Spear shattered.
Gareth stared at his broken weapon. "You... you saw it before I did it?"
I yanked him forward by his collar.
"Next time, try being unpredictable."
I headbutted him.
THWACK.
Gareth collapsed, unconscious.
I dropped him. "Next!"
The Blind Seer.
The crowd was dead silent. A Rank 5 expert was taken out in seconds.
A bag landed heavily on the counter. 10,000 stones.
I looked up. It was a girl in black, veiled robes. Her aura was strange—it felt dusty, like old scrolls.
"I'm paying the Hunting Fee," she whispered. Her voice trembled.
"Who are you hunting?" I asked, counting the money.
"You," she said. "But not to kill you. To test something."
She pulled back her veil. Her eyes were pure white, with no pupils.
Kassandra. Outcast Princess of the Oracle Clan.
"My clan sees the future," Kassandra whispered, looking at me with pure terror in her blind eyes. "I see the paths of everyone here. I saw the Iron-Fist clan fall. I saw Gareth lose."
She pointed a shaking finger at me.
"But when I look at you... I see nothing."
The crowd gasped. An Oracle who couldn't see someone's future?
"You are a blank spot," Kassandra hissed. "A hole in the timeline. You don't exist in the river of fate. What are you?"
I leaned forward, smirking. My eyes flashed with the gears of Chronos just for her to see.
"I'm the guy who edits the script," I whispered.
Kassandra reeled back as if struck. "Acausal... You are an Acausal Being."
She bowed deeply. "Forgive my offense, Lord. I withdraw my hunt."
She turned and fled into the portal, terrified of the anomaly she had found.
I looked up at the cliff overlooking the canyon.
I knew Aethelred was up there, watching with a telescope. I could feel his rage.
I waved at the cliff.
"Thanks for the customers, Pinky!" I shouted.
Up on the cliff, Aethelred smashed his telescope.
"He saw me? How could he see me from down there?"
He looked down at the canyon, where I was casually getting rich off his bounty.
Aethelred felt a chill that had nothing to do with Gareth's ice. He was fighting someone who seemed to know the rules of the game better than the people who wrote them.
"Everyone inside!" I announced to my team, kicking over the booth. "We've got money. Now let's go get some points."
We walked into the swirling blue portal, leaving a pile of defeated students and a very confused prince in our wake.