After he spent 70 gold to buy the small scimitar, leaving him poor with only 27 gold, Ethan realized that would only be enough for ten meals per day for the next three days.
"I can't distract myself with measly activities like earning gold in the middle of my training after I start, so I should just earn off gold today that would be enough for me to last a few weeks," Ethan muttered.
After the third class, if Ethan proved his physical capabilities sufficient, he would receive the cultivation methods.
Ethan planned to train for the three whole days from the morning after classes finished and take advantage of the new adaptability talent he seemed to possess in his new body.
For training he needed a lot of food, at least ten meals a day, and each meal cost 1 gold.
A place to stay cost 10 gold per day, and he also wanted to buy a very durable, tough sword, so he needed gold for that too.
"I don't have any other choice but to work and get as much gold as possible to sustain me until I unseal the Dancing Library. Then I'll be able to enjoy all the luxuries I want without having to spend gold," Ethan muttered.
"Damn, I really miss the library."
"I guess I'll take the time until dark to earn as much gold as possible," Ethan smiled with a sadistic expression. "And I know the best way to do it."
"I should lure them to a place where I can make them puke gold."
He had already noticed the group of people following him since they started; they would have disrupted him already if they weren't in public areas where fights and conflicts were prohibited.
If they attacked Ethan in those areas, they would be punished because they would be the ones initiating the conflict, that's why they were keeping their distance.
That's why Ethan decided to lead them to a place where fights were not prohibited.
He strapped the short sword to his belt, then immediately began running without looking back.
"He's running away..."
"Quickly, catch him before he gets far!"
Panicked, the men started to run after Ethan, and they soon found where he was headed.
"Haha, that bastard is running into the sect battlegrounds. Does he not know we can thrash him as much as we want?" one of the men said, laughing aloud.
"Let's break him now so he won't grow stronger tomorrow," another said.
As they continued to run after him, Ethan led them to the same place where the second entrance exam took place.
"That bastard stopped," one of the men said as they also halted, seeing Ethan standing still.
"I don't know... it feels like he lured us here on purpose," another man said, feeling that something was off.
"What are you on about? There are five of us and he's alone. What do you think he could do to us by luring us here?" another answered.
"Are we really going to fight him?" one man asked.
"Yes. We have to damage his will, instill fear, that will hinder his growth as a cultivator so he won't get the front seats in fights between the prominent sect members, the royal families, and other powerful forces," another said.
"If we don't do it, someone else will, we're just doing it for fun," another man grinned sadistically.
Ethan turned around and looked at the men following him with a surprised expression, as if he truly had been surprised to find them trailing him.
"Oh, you guys were following me? I didn't know."
"Oh, cut the bullshit. You ran because you were scared of us following you," one of the men said, narrowing his eyes.
"Whatever... what do you want?" Ethan asked, crossing his arms.
"We just want to talk," another man said.
"Haha, now you cut the bullshit, you came looking for a fight. Why don't we get on with it and let me break your bones so your boss will get angry and send more my way, only for me to break them again?" Ethan said as if it were an obvious fact.
"You think too highly of yourself. What makes you think you can go against us when we outnumber you in both strength and numbers? Oh right, you think just because you can use Sword Intent we'll be scared. We've seen you use it, and I saw how it crippled you after you used it," the man sneered arrogantly, truly believing Ethan was bluffing.
"Actually, I don't need Sword Intent to deal with you lot. You guys are weak as pigs," Ethan said with a small, confident smile.
"Wow, aren't you an arrogant little bastard?" the man said, narrowing his expression, trying to intimidate him.
"It's not arrogance if I'm stating facts. Want me to prove it?" Ethan continued with a provocative grin.
"How about this, I'll fight all five of you. If you win, I'll do anything you say. But if I win, you give me every single gold coin you have."
"You're kidding, right? Why would we bet on it when we can simply break your bones?" the man sneered.
He was right, there was no need to place a bet.
The system would recognize their fight and any bet placed, and bets would have to be honored afterward.
They didn't believe Ethan would win; there was simply no point in risking anything.
"Hah..." Ethan sighed. "I was really hoping to do this more decently, but I guess people like you wouldn't have it any other way."
Ethan narrowed his eyes.
In the next instant he grabbed the short scimitar from his wrist strap and dashed at the five men at full speed.
"This bastard!"
"He's asking to get beaten up!"
Ethan was still mortal; his speed was that of a fast human.
The five men drew their swords with the intention of hurting Ethan, so long as it didn't kill him.
As Ethan came near, three men swung their swords in unison from both sides.
Ethan grinned and, instead of meeting their attacks head-on, he threw the handful of sand he had in his other hand at the two men standing close together.
"Rat...!"
Unlike what Ethan wanted, the sand didn't hit their eyes; they closed their eyes before being blinded.
But it was enough, using the opening, Ethan attacked the third man's sword with his speed and momentum, struck his sword, forced him back, then kicked him hard in the gut.
The man fell, doubled over in pain.
At the same time, two more men came at Ethan one after the other.
Ethan grabbed one of the men he'd thrown sand on by the hand and pushed him toward the two men coming at him, then kicked the other in the chest, making him fall.
Ethan followed with a punch to the man who had regained his momentum, striking him square in the nose with full power.
The moment he made contact, Ethan heard the flesh of the man's nose crush like a tomato and felt the hot blood spurting out.
The man screamed and fell.
"You bastard!" another cried. At that instant one man fell, screaming; he saw another trying to break his nose.
Like a talented martial artist, Ethan caught a fist coming for him and diverted it on contact.
He moved off his opponent's track, making the man run past him.
Just before the man fully passed, Ethan tightened his fist and pushed him as hard as he could into two of his ribs, cracking them.
The man felt as if his breath had stopped and fell clutching his chest; every inhale and exhale caused sharp pain.
Seeing two of their men already on the ground, the remaining three stopped in their tracks.
"You bastard, you will pay for this!" one of them shouted and dashed at Ethan.
Ethan smiled.
The moment the man came close he kicked him, caught his leg, and delivered a sucker kick to his gut.
Ethan didn't let go.
He did the same kick again and again for the third time.
The man felt the world stop spinning and then collapsed, unconscious, drooling.
"Now, what about you two? Do you still want to fight me?" Ethan asked.
"You...."
The remaining two looked at their friends' state and gritted their teeth.
"Actually, forget it. I'm still going to break your nose," Ethan said with a cold expression.
After two minutes, Ethan was still standing, breathing slightly hastened, while five men lay on the ground: two with broken noses, two with cracked ribs, and one completely unconscious, drooling.
"Now I will be taking all your money," Ethan muttered as he grabbed the pouches of copper coins they had on them.
[+50 Gold]
[+69 Gold]
[+39 Gold]
[+70 Gold]
[+35 Gold]
[Remaining Gold: 290]