Chapter 19: Pathless Origin

A battle suit was a must-have for espers in this era, a good set could not only ensure the safety of soldiers, but also increase their immunity to powers. To Han, protection against super powers wasn’t as important because he was already immune to all powers. Instead, Han plans to find himself a fairly priced suit with great protection against physical attacks.

Soon, Han found a black leather battle suit, which looked like a big dark pile, carelessly tossed to the side by Pathless Origin. If it wasn’t because this so-called “Black Celestial Python” set had a 2.5 star ranking, probably no one would want to spend 3000GC for something like this that looked like a pile of junk.

Pathless Origin was a very strange guy. Normal sellers would have divided all 2 star equipment into high, medium or low quality and priced them differently accordingly. For Pathless Origin, all 2 star equipment were priced at 3000 GC each, and all 3 star ones were 10,000 GC each. He didn’t include any labels, and the most he gave was the name of the equipment.

Han liked the Black Celestial Python set for two reasons: among all the 2 star equipment, it was the only one labeled 2.5 stars. Why wouldn’t someone want to spend the same amount of money to buy something that was higher level? It was just that Han didn’t get the meaning behind that extra half star.

After thinking for a while, Han used the dark net chat service and called the owner Pathless Origin. It took a long time for the chat to be answered, and just when Han was about to greet him, Pathless Origin already started yelling, “If you have something to say, say it fast. If you need to fart, hurry and fart, can’t you see I’m busy?!”

Han was shocked for a bit, as the old saying goes, being nice when doing business can really help your business, but this Pathless Origin boss seems to have quite an attitude.

Han wasn’t angry at all, he had only been on the dark net for a short time so he was still a complete novice. Besides, there isn’t any downsides for him to be humble. In addition, Pathless Origin was recommended by Night Walker, and Han believes that Night Walker wouldn’t lie to him.

“Teacher, I have a question to ask, why is this set of Black Celestial Python marked as 2.5 stars? Why is there still half a level?”

Teacher was a common title in Asia, it didn’t have any special meaning other than to show respect to someone. Han saw that Pathless Origin had a bad temper, so he quickly lowered his head.

“Stupid, you don’t even know this? This suit is made from the skin of the black celestial python, and it has a huge weakness. Although its physical defense is ranked to be 3 stars, its defense against super power is complete garbage. Other people sell it as 3 star, I don’t think it deserves such ranking so I lowered it to 2.5 stars.” Pathless Origin answered.

Han was surprised, ranked 3 stars for physical damage and can’t defend against super powers, wasn’t this designed for him?! He was immune to powers anyways.

“Teacher, I have another question.” Han continued politely.

“Why are you so annoying? If it wasn’t because Night Walker specifically told me to treat you well, I wouldn’t even be replying you. Hurry, hurry!” Pathless Origin’s attitude was still the worst it can be.

Han asked, “Aside from the Black Celestial Python set, I also would like buy the heavy dagger named Tremor. I want to ask about the actual weight of Tremor.”

“How would I know if I never weighted it before? Tremor is just used for close range combat. For close range combat, if the weapon is too light it has no power. The pros all use weapons that are slightly heavier, if you can’t use it then you are too weak, it has nothing to do with the weapon.” Pathless Origin explained.

Han noticed, although Pathless Origin had a bad attitude, all his explanations were all on point. He explained complex problems using just a few sentences. Han was yelling out of excitement on the inside, this guy’s actually a pro!

He already got scolded for a while, might as well ask one more question, “Teacher, your review on power immunity was right on point. I was wondering, are there any other secrets to mastering martial arts?”

“Hey are you going to be done anytime soon? To practice martial arts, of course you have to train in the extreme cold and train to your death! Only the iciness can trigger a human’s strongest power, the natural survival instinct. In this world, tropical temperatures represent life while cold represents death. The strongest moment in someone’s life is the moment he about to die. That’s when it’s most possible to conjure surprising amounts of energy. That’s the power of will to living. To practice martial arts, you have to go practice in an extremely cold environment and look for that near-death feeling.”

Han realized that Pathless Origin was only cruel on the outside, but as long as he asks in a humble voice, Pathless Origin will still explain to you. Although the explanation isn’t very detailed, it was very memorable.

Han still wanted to ask some question about training, but he feared that if he pissed off the oddly tempered Pathless Origin, then it won’t be worth it in the long run. So, he politely said bye to Pathless Origin and checked out the items he bought.

Pathless Origin’s items were all cheaper than others, but the shipping was expensive: shipping to Earth costs 500 GC. After checking out, Han checked his wallet, he only had 11 GC left.

That’s alright, the drug index can generate for him a steady income of 400-500 GC every day, and he just had to make more money.

……

Soon, it was 5 days after.

In the 5 days, Han took out at least 8 hours every day doing physical exercises and some basic training. Now he lowered the time needed to write the index report to 1.5 hour, plus another 1.5 hour to polish up the data and the report. In total, he spends 3 hours every day, and he actually accomplishes more within these 3 hours than when he used to work 20 hours every day.

Han couldn’t thank his super power enough. After he had Void End, it’s like he changed into a new person, even his brain worked better than before now.

Aside from training and writing drug index reports, Han also checked out Pathless Origin’s website on a daily basis and asked that oddly tempered old man whenever he was stuck on a difficult concept.

Of course Pathless Origin didn’t want Han to bother him, but there was a good old saying: no one hits a smiling face. Han’s attitude was way too nice, calling him teacher every sentence. Also, Han would never annoy him, he only asked at most 3 questions every day and it never took longer than 5 minutes.

Although Pathless Origin was still as bad tempered as before, he never refused to answer Han’s questions. There was even one day when Han didn’t even open his mouth before Pathless Origin started the conversation with, “What do you want to ask again today?”

This was a good start, along with Han’s improving ability to study and Pathless Origin’s mentorship on the side, his knowledge on power, martial arts, strategy, training, started growing at an incredible speed.

Han did start very late, but his speed of improvement was unmatched.

At dawn, Han came back home from a morning run. He took a shower, got changed and left the house. The night before, Night Walker’s package finally arrived. Han delivered the package to 4th Grandpa right away at night, and he was told that the effect was promising. Li Qi had told Han to meet with him at the hospital in the afternoon. Now, Han’s going to go to the Esper Administration to continue the pressure exam.