Cripple

According to the book, spiritual power improved through a slow, imperceptible process. It did not immediately produce sufficiently obvious results; only after reaching a certain point would it erupt all at once. The mark of a novice wizard apprentice was enhanced five senses. Dole could feel himself becoming sharper, but the improvement was not substantial enough. He knew that was because his spiritual power was still far too weak.

He was not discouraged by this.

After work each day, he still matched wits and courage with Aoduo. Recently, however, Aoduo had grown rather brazen—he actually dared to keep watch right outside Old Ke Smithy.

Time slowly reached February, and the weather gradually warmed. The trees along the streets began to bud. In mid-February, Duomeng City held an important festival called the Spring Revelry Festival. It meant that spring had arrived, the busy farming season was about to begin, and the matters accumulated over winter needed to be set in motion, and so on. Even the smithy became busy, with many orders and repair jobs every day. Dole and the several first-rank smiths were exhausted.

After a tiring day, Dole relaxed somewhat after getting off work. Only when he reached the entrance to the slums did he suddenly snap awake. By then, Aoduo's lackeys had already surrounded him and, together with Aoduo, pounced in his direction.

Dole panicked slightly. He merely swept his gaze around, then picked out a narrow alley and charged straight into it.

At the mouth of that alley, a man rose with a sinister grin, an iron pipe in his hand. Seeing Dole approach, he swung the pipe about, looking utterly disdainful.

Just a street punk. Though Dole was somewhat flustered, his heart remained steady. He was only a petty thug. Though Dole was still young, he had not spent the past two months eating at the smithy for nothing.

He quickly reached the alley entrance, and the punk swung his pipe at him.

Dole stepped forward and bent his elbow to block the iron bar. It struck his arm with a bang. After all, the punk was not a professional; he did not have much strength.

Dole raised his leg and kicked out. The tremendous force sent the man flying more than four meters away, rolling several times across the ground. Dole turned and ran. He could handle one or two people, but if a whole group surrounded him, things would get troublesome.

The onlookers froze at once. This kid was incredibly strong. Even Aoduo in the distance was surprised. What had this brat been eating lately? Only then did he notice that Dole had grown taller. He used to look skinny and small, but now he actually looked somewhat sturdy.

His heart sank, and he hurriedly shouted coldly, "Chase him! Make sure you catch him!"

The entrance to the slums immediately descended into chaos. As several people rushed in and ran after him, mud and water splashed from the damp ground, spraying against the walls on both sides.

Aoduo was not truly stupid. After days of matching wits and courage, they had already mapped out the roads through the slums. Dole got off work from the smithy every day, and they had long since staked out the route and set up their blockade. They simply had not expected the interception to fail.

As Dole ran, he kept looking behind him, and he too felt the situation was thorny. These people might not be his match individually, but there were so many of them. He had counted just now—who knew what was going on with this guy, but he actually had twenty underlings. It was simply absurd.

Did his family own a mine or something?

Naturally, Dole did not know that this guy had promised silver coins to anyone who caught him. And that money, in truth, was coming from Dole himself.

Dole sprinted through the narrow alleys, swiftly darting through them. Yet he discovered that no matter where he went today, Aoduo's people could always block him nearby. His anger grew fiercer and fiercer.

This bastard really thinks I, Dole, am easy to bully.

He emerged from an alley but did not immediately dash out. Instead, he waited at the intersection, drawing the short sword from his waist and gripping it in his hand.

Soon, he heard several sets of footsteps approaching from the distance, accompanied by shouts as they ran.

"Not this way?"

"Third Brother, is he over there with you?"

"No."

"Then he must still be in that alley! Hurry, chase him!"

Dole judged the direction of the voices while scanning his surroundings.

Most people in the slums were unwilling to stir up trouble or get into fights. Their incomes were extremely low; once they fell ill, they faced the danger of losing their jobs, being unable to afford treatment, or even dying. The people here were all numb. Basically, no one meddled in anyone else's affairs. They had been chasing him for so long, yet there had not been the slightest ripple in the slums—not even anyone loudly cursing them.

This was a place without hope.

Soon, two sets of footsteps came from afar and rapidly reached the alley entrance. Then Aoduo's voice rang out from the distance.

"Damn it, where did he run off to? Still haven't found him?" He ran while panting, seemingly exhausted.

Dole's eyes immediately lit up. It was Aoduo himself? But at the same time, his heart tightened, because there were two of them. He did not know the other person's strength, but an ordinary street punk could at most be a little stronger than a normal person.

After reading The Legend of Naluye lately, he no longer feared ordinary people very much, because he was no longer ordinary himself.

The voices quickly drew nearer and reached the alley entrance.

Dole crouched down, short sword in hand. When the footsteps came close and reached the mouth of the alley, he shot out from below, slashing at a height thirty centimeters above the ground. Fury burned in his heart, so the instant he struck, he slashed at whoever he saw—precise and ruthless.

The iron sword swept across one man's two calves. Its sharp edge split his trousers and sliced into flesh. He felt several points of resistance arise, then swiftly vanish. The blade soon hit bone and carved deeply into it.

A scream rang out at once, and one man fell to the ground.

Dole had no time to see who it was. He raised his head and charged at the other person with his sword.

That man was stunned. The person beside him had fallen, yet he still did not know what had happened. Only when Dole rose from the ground with sword in hand did he see what was going on.

He was terrified.

But Dole was not. He had spent days on edge, and he had long had enough. He raised his sword and thrust straight forward.

Though the man was afraid, he still raised his hand into the path of Dole's blade. With a scream, Dole's sword pierced through his arm, and all his movements came to an abrupt halt.

Dole pulled out his sword, blood streaming down its blade. He now saw that this person was not Aoduo. Looking down, he realized the one on the ground had to be Aoduo.

Aoduo clutched his knees on the ground and screamed repeatedly.

"My legs! My legs!"

Dole glanced at Aoduo, walked over to him, and a vicious gleam flashed in his eyes. He swung a powerful kick at Aoduo's face.

Feeling the resistance, Dole stopped his foot. Aoduo rolled across the ground several times, and then his screams abruptly ceased. He had passed out.

After doing all this, Dole turned back and looked at the person whose arm he had pierced.

It was a youth of around eighteen or nineteen. He stood leaning against the wall, staring at Dole in terror. His arm had been pierced through by a sword, yet he did not cry out a single word. Pain and shock filled him, but he remained silent. Seeing this, Dole's face stayed expressionless as he turned and left. There were simply too many people like this in Duomeng City to count. They followed those with ability in order to survive, acting as their thugs and risking their lives for them. Their own lives were worth nothing.

His objective had been achieved. He had glimpsed Aoduo's miserable state just now. The man's legs were ruined; Dole had severed several major tendons. Unless he sought help from a wizard's advanced alchemical medicine, he would never stand again.

Feeling incomparably satisfied, Dole quickly vanished into the slums. Though resentment filled his heart, he did not have any real killing intent. After all, this was not a life-and-death feud.

This time, they had truly become enemies. Yet Dole was not afraid in the slightest. Instead, he was somewhat excited. He had crippled Aoduo, so that guy would definitely not dare provoke him again. Things could be easier from here on out.