Leaving the mixture of dead, wounded and overall terrified people behind, Johan bypassed the large square marble they had been using as a table and reached the other end of the room. There, a very large door made of smooth marble barred the way.

On its surface, an age-worn gigantic crest was carved. Squinting in the low light of the torches arrayed on the rocky walls, Johan could tell that the crest would once have depicted a pyramid with a circle-like object on its top and another on its bottom.

This should be the real entrance to whatever this place was. Johan thought. He found ancient relics fascinating. It was a shame his current knowledge was just a bundle of survival skills.

Johan looked carefully at the door, a bit hesitant to randomly smash historical remains. `Always respect heritage from the past.' grandmaster Kenji had said.

The door had no hinges; judging by the previous entrance he had smashed, it was possible that a series of levers would shift its weight. However, that would simply be extra lost time. He placed his palm outside the main carvings of the crest and pushed forward with all his might.

As expected, he managed to move the heavy slab of marble enough to create a small opening. Curiously, after that point, the door refused to budge further. Johan didn't ponder the mystery too deeply and quickly slipped through the narrow opening. Once he did, the massive slab soundlessly slid in place again. He paid it no more heed as he examined the place he had arrived at.

It was a circular room, at least a hundred strides wide. A small white flame hovered in its very center, illuminating the smooth marble floor, walls and ceiling. Its light was weak and it gave off no heat, but for some reason Johan got a very uncomfortable feeling from it. Coupled with the stale air, Johan found the setting very suspicious. However, exploration wasn't currently his top focus. Making a mental note that the mysteriousness, he shrugged his shoulders and looked for more practical details.

It was difficult to spot at first, but three dim lines of flickering light dancing on the floor grabbed his attention. He cautiously moved to the left -towards their source- and soon was close enough to spot three entrances cleanly cut in the smooth walls. They were barred with blackish wooden doors, similar to the one he had smashed before. The reddish glow outlining the doors meant that they were probably habituated.

Johan approached the doors. He could spot some worn-out triangles arrayed on regular intervals on the wall; probably an indication of more similar entrances that hadn't been broken into yet.

Damn, stop getting sidetracked! Johan resisted the urge to explore the unmarred piece of history, and focused back to the doors. Carefully, he gathered martial aura to his ears.

He could make out the sound of many regular breaths coming from the second and third doors. But, to his disappointment, no talk or action was taking place.

Is everyone here sleeping? he thought puzzled. Switching his approach, he released the martial aura from his ears and focused on his nose instead.

After enhancing the sensitivity of his nerves responsible for smell -were they called olfactory?- Johan could detect traces of cheap perfume coming from behind the third door. From the second door he could make out the stench of overdue alcohol, which wasn't very puzzling considering the previous drunken people. Finally, through the first door he caught a whiff of a very fine fragrance. Johan wasn't very sure, but he thought that is should be some kind of tea. Probably the boss of this group resided there.

Gotcha!

Careful not to make a sound, Johan drew his black katana. He spent a half dozen breaths covering its edge with a very fine thread of sharpened martial aura. After being formed, he could maintain it with a steady flow that required little attention.

When he finished, he gathered a large amount of aura on his right leg, concentrated for another breath or so and kicked the first wooden door.

Craaash!

Johan jumped through the torn door fragments ... and encountered just an empty corridor with more torches hanging from the smooth marble walls. Another wooden door lay at its end, fifty more strides away.

What the...? Am I playing a door-crashing game? Also, why in the name of all that is right can I estimate the exact amount of aura I must kick doors with to crush them?

After pondering for another couple of breaths, Johan decided he had been needlessly wasting time again. In his mind, he hurled a half dozen curses for his stupid habit of getting sidetracked before he realized that cursing itself was a form of doing nothing too. In the end, he could only shake his strange state of mind off, before moving down the lengthy corridor, vigilant against possible traps.

On the other side of the wooden door lying at the end of the corridor, in a wide room, a man's half-closed eyelids snapped open.

He was extremely fat with long black hair and braided beard covering both his bulging cheeks and his even more bulging belly.

With a bit of effort but still rather quickly, the man raised his head's weight from the comfortable thighs he had been resting on. He looked around the room covered with heavy carpets and adorned with fine paintings of nature. Their details were brightly revealed under the pure bright light of a white orb embedded on the ceiling.

"Number three and number five, an intruder will enter shortly, forget about preparing the morning tea - it will spoil with all the commotion. Protect me at all costs. If needed, kill without much blood, or I'll have you wash the stains yourselves!" the fat man commanded in a very business-like tone.

"Yes, master!" two attractive women in black maid uniforms wearing white aprons bowed. One was holding a kettle and the other had six cups floating around her. Their similarly wavy brown hair moved down and up in accordance to the gesture.

The fat man used his elbows to prop himself up from the soft mattress he had been laying on and turned to face the maid on whose lap he had been resting.

"Number one, you must be tired, but if push comes to shove ensure that I can go back through the door at any cost. Afterwards, take the day off. We can't have your beautiful figure look tired now, can we?"

"Un!" the maid replied stiffly.

With surprising dexterity, the fat man rolled from the bed to the carpet, his braided beard swaying over his round figure. He frowned, considering something.

"Also, all of you are to protect your neck at all costs. Be silent and be ready for an ambush."

The man sat on a comfy-looking chair with silk armpads that was placed behind a heavy wooden desk. Without anything to do, he let his gaze rest on the door made of the same expensive wood directly in front of him. The first two maids placed themselves at his sides, while the last one stood behind him.

Craaaash

The door seemed to explode inwards.

Fragments flew towards the fat man, but the maid with the six teacup floating around her waved her hands once and they stopped in midair. This was it – the push was here. Would there be a shove?

"Oh, that's interesting." Johan entered the room and examined the floating wood fragments. "Were you expecting me? Nah, you're still in a nightgown. Did I trigger an alarm on the corridor?"

"Who are you?" the fat man asked sternly.

"Why should I tell you? Won't you rather ask why I'm here?" Johan smiled. He slowly lifted his black katana pointing its tip to the ground.

The fat man knotted his bushy eyebrows.

"Forget it, answer this instead: are you the one master Skullsong has been chasing and disrupting our business in the process? You fit the description rather well, even if you are a bit less ... poetic." the last word had a sarcastic tone.

"And if so?" Johan asked calmly.

"Heh!" the fat man let out a short chuckle, more to himself. "It makes sense - no regular thug can randomly go through my people or former number two... even if they are drinking their brains out. Then, I'm pleased to say I'll get your head to master Skullsong. Perhaps I can get some additional permits to make up for the losses of the lockdown." his beady eyes became a bit distant while he pondered.

Johan was utterly unimpressed.

"Ok. So, hear my proposal too. Give me all your keys and the deeds to any marked slaves and you can survive with just a very hard beating." He suggested. His heavy killing intent burst forth in intimidation and the three maids' faces became even whiter as they flinched.

However, the fat man's skin did not lose the healthy dark color most natives of the black land boasted.

"Pfff...." the fat man scoffed. "Can you even imagine how much killing intent I've come across in this business? Very well, number three and number five. I changed my mind. You needn't worry about damages. Just make sure his face is recognizable afterwards - we do need to show it to master Skullsong."

"Yes, master!" the two maids performed short bows.

As they did, Johan felt a restraining force starting to limit his movements. Simultaneously, the wooden door fragments still hovering in the air picked up speed back towards him. And the temperature around his body rose rapidly.

"Interesting combination!" Johan exclaimed. He pushed with brute strength to break free of the restraining force and dived forwards.

In harmony with the movement, he raised the downwards-tipped katana in a half-arc, using the thin martial aura on its edge to slash in front of him. Having prepared a space-severing technique beforehand, the drain would be minimal as long as his concentration didn't waver too much.

"Ghh! Strong!"

"My magic!"

The two maids shouted almost simultaneously in shock, even as space behind Johan burst into flames that failed to reach him. Without pausing, he grabbed a broken plank with his left hand. Ignoring its opposite momentum, he proceeded to swat down the other wooden fragments. This ended with him throwing the plank towards the maid with the six teacups floating around her.

Without pausing to watch the result, Johan jumped to the right, towards the maid carrying the kettle.

"Why meee!" she shrieked and threw the kettle.

Johan sensed danger. So he dodged to the left again, switching targets to the fat man on the armchair. As he did, the maid behind the chair used it as a pivot to jump on the desk. Her uniform fluttered around her body, revealing her lean leg muscles, and she threw a high kick. However, she could contest Johan in neither strength nor mass and he blocked it with his left arm. He didn’t even need martial aura, given that his body had been enhanced by its steady flow over the years.

Instead, Johan raised his black katana diagonally over his slanted posture, aiming to slash her chest and incapacitate her for the fight.

BAANG!

At that moment, the kettle he had dodged exploded on his right, filling his eyes with a blinding flame-y light. Almost immediately afterwards, Johan felt a push of air moving towards his lower ribcage from the left and the leg he was blocking retreated, which meant that another kick should be coming from the front.

Blinking to clear his eyesight, Johan gathered large amounts of martial aura on his left side to protect against whatever was coming from there and swung his katana downwards in full speed to deal with the front.

Crumble!

Slash!

Three of the six cups previously hovering around one of the maids smashed onto Johan's ribcage and were pulverized by his martial aura without doing any damage. Johan's katana also cut the maid in front, leaving a thin red line from the top left of her face to her right shoulder.

Before jumping back to dodge another abrupt increase in temperature around his body, Johan noticed that the maid he had just slashed had raised her hand to protect her neck.

They’re all under control! Johan realized as the flow of battle carried him to the side.

Stopping his movement in front of the leftmost maid, he stabbed her in the same spot he had pierced the woman in the entrance, exerting some savagery as he did so. Instinctively, the maid grabbed her neck to protect it, but Johan had no time to care and pushed his black katana through her jade-like hand too.

The maid uttered a soft grunt and struggled violently as the blade pierced through her hand and teared the side of her neck. Then she screamed once, a high-pitched sound filled with pain, and slid to the floor unconscious, blood flowing from her wounds. Three dull thuds reverberated through the room when the remaining cups floating around her fell on the expensive carpet.

Damn! Johan cursed. He hoped he hadn’t accidentally killed her.

"What the...? Number five!" only now did the fat man on the armchair shout in confusion.

Meanwhile, Johan leapt backwards to avoid a downwards kick aimed at his right temple. The kick-focused maid landed in front of him and launched her body forwards in a tackle. As she did, she raised her right hand, waving the white apron she tore from her uniform to obstruct Johan's eyesight and prevent him from reading her trajectory. When she left the apron, he caught a glimpse of her using the same hand to cover her neck.

"Master! Run!" she shouted.

Damn!

Johan was forced to sidestep further left and the fat man took the opportunity to leap from his armchair towards the doorway.

Ignoring the maid entangling him, Johan prepared to follow after the man. However, at the last moment he sensed an incredible concentration of heat in the doorway.

Kaboom!

A hot shockwave rocked the spacious room, charring the paintings on the wall. It caused both the fat man and the maid in front of Johan to fall backwards. Johan reflexively lowered his center of gravity to resist the shock and covered his body with martial aura for good measure.

What was that? Johan redoubled his concentration, searching for potentially new enemies. But his worry was unfounded.

The maid who had previously thrown the teacup collapsed on the floor, her face deathly pale. Johan was pretty sure she was suffering from magic deficiency.

"ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND NUMBER THREEEEE !!??" the fat man bellowed as he wobbled unsteadily, trying to regain his sense of balance through the shock.

But how could Johan overlook such an opening? He took advantage of the confusion to hastily pierce the maid in front of him at the correct place on her neck, exerting a bit of savagery to destroy whatever magic bound her against her will. Then, without the time to assert the outcome of his action, gathered martial aura at his feet and performed a very powerful jump towards the stumbling man.

The fat man's face distorted in anger and he tried to roll sideways. But his speed couldn't compare to Johan, who slammed into him with considerable force. During the collision, Johan also extended his elbow to maximize the damage.

Crack

"Grumph!"

Johan felt the fat man's ribs breaking, before the latter was thrown a couple of steps backwards from the collision. He rolled on the floor grunting in pain.

"Pant. He. Said. Pant. We needn't worry about damages" the collapsed maid, the one called number three, was clearly suffering. But she had a defiant and triumphant look and tried to stand up. She repeatedly gasped for breath from overexertion.

"You did very well!" Johan praised her. "Can you handle it if I free you now?"

She nodded once, her wavy hair bobbling a bit and instinctively raised her hand to cover her neck.

Without pausing, Johan yanked her trembling hand away and stabbed at her neck with the -now- familiar maneuver. Since she had no strength left to resist, the process went smoothly this time.

She whimpered when the blade slid out from the side of her neck and immediately clutched the wound. Johan stared at her with admiration. Only willpower seemed to prevent her from losing consciousness.

She clutched the wound as she slowly crawled towards the unconscious maid surrounded by broken teacups, whose blood had been pooling on the charred carpet.

"Keep it together sister, I'll bandage you right now" she murmured.

Johan raised an eyebrow. That's some will, alright!

Convinced that they would be alright. He focused on the fat man laying belly up on the floor. His broken ribs seemed to prevent him from moving in a meaningful speed.

"So much for capturing me!" Johan told him. The man disbelievingly stared back.

"Ho-how? My maids can even hold their own against Beor..." Unable to continue, the man coughed once a small mouthful of blood. His black hair fell all over his plump face.

"Any reason why you shouldn't die?" Johan asked calmly.

As he breathed with difficulty, the man's incredulous gaze gradually turned to a steely one.

"None!" he drily replied.

"Oho!" Johan rubbed his chin with his left hand. He had to admit he was impressed.

"Although you're a lowlife, you're at least aware of that. So, give me your name! I'll remember these last dregs of your conscience."

Johan crouched on his right knee next to the man and placed his black katana over the other's heart, waiting for a reply. He was vaguely aware that the two maids currently conscious were watching, but paid them no heed. The fat man coughed another mouthful of blood and prepared to open his mouth.

Woosh

Suddenly, the kicking maid launched herself forward from the place she had collapsed.

Her motion was so unexpected, Johan almost failed to react in time.

But one-on-one against a non-disciple was almost trivial, however formidable the latter was. Without moving from his position, Johan used his left elbow to parry aside the maid's weakened kick and grabbed her from the front of her bloody neck. To avoid the blood from making his grip slip he tightened his hand perhaps a bit more than necessary.

Johan slammed the maid onto the charred carpet.

"What are you doing?" he growled at her.

The maid opened her mouth but, puzzlingly, no sound came out.

Johan waited for a couple of breaths, until he realized that her soot-covered face was turning purple from lack of oxygen. Embarrassed, her relaxed his grip to let her tired breath through.

"Please don't kill this man!" tears filled the maid's almond-shaped eyes and she stared pitifully at Johan.

"WHAT THE pant HELL ARE YOU pant SAYING? " the maid tending to the unconscious one yelled at the top of her lungs. Realizing that this wore her down, however, she somewhat calmed down. "That's the scummest scum of all scums!" her gaze had an unmistakable killing intent as it pinned the fat man.

"I... I know! But he's also the first person ever not to hit me whenever displeased. He- he even gave days off! And got angry for my behalf!" fresh tears flowed from the maid's eyes when she pleaded her case.

"Ok, ok, sorry to bother you ladies, but I'm quite busy!" Johan released his grip on the floored maid and withdrew his Katana from the fat man's chest. He raised himself from the crouching position and gathered a bit of martial aura on his hand, which he flicked once to shake off the blood. Likewise, he moved his katana in a circular motion to clear it before sheathing it back in its scabbard.

"This is getting too complicated for me. Even if injured, you're both stronger than this person anyway. Kill him, maim him, let him go; you, who know better than me, should decide."

Also, for some reason, I don't feel that this person should definitely die. Johan trusted his intuition above all else; even above his own feelings or immediate judgement. Only, sometimes he just couldn't understand it.

Both maids stared.

"Well, seems you're a lucky guy. Even if you die, there's at least one person who will grieve you." Johan addressed the fat man, who had a disbelieving look. "Ah, don't worry, I'll free all your slaves, alright. So it's definitely not your fault. So long…”

Johan waved his right hand behind his back as he exited the half-destroyed room into the corridor he came from. He left behind the blackened walls and a stunned silence.

However, it was short-lived.

Johan paused and turned around. He leaned his body forward using the charred doorframe for support. His head entered the room again. “Almost slipped my mind. I still need those deeds to do this correctly. Would somebody mind telling me where they are?”