9 Gard

Alonn decided to go to the same hotel and paid for a room for a two-day period. If he is lucky, maybe he would get his belongings back.

One thing that Alonn found interesting about this hotel and restaurant is that most of the staff are mostly human, he wonder about the reason since he is in the dwarf kingdom.

"Dear guest, your room is the number '34'. I hope you get your belongings back," the receptionist, who is a human, said.

"Thanks," Alonn nodded and went up the stairs.

Knock Knock

"Hello, is anyone there?" Alonn asked with a loud voice in front of room number '33'.

No one answered.

After trying for a while, Alonn gave up and went to the next room, number '34'.

After entering the room, Alonn sighed and decided to take a bath.

After finishing, he then decided to use the soap and water from the bathtub to wash his clothes.

Because he had no clothes other than the one he was wearing, Alonn had to settle for training almost naked, to avoid leaving the clothes with the smell of sweat.

After taking a deep breath, Alonn sat cross-legged on the floor.

'This is really a problem. Although the manuals explain how to circulate True Qi through the body and how to advance through Realms, they do not explain how to use this to attack or defend.'

'I can only try to pioneer the path ahead of me.'

After focusing a little, Alonn focused on Dantian.

The Dantian does not have a physical location on the body, and it has been confusing Alonn. What exactly is Dantian, where is it located? He only knows that it is the spiritual center of all beings.

After getting rid of distracting thoughts, Alonn started circulating True Qi.

From Dantian to the Root Gate, from Root Gate to the whole body. At that moment, Alonn also realized that he is unable to use the Root Gate to absorb spiritual qi at the same time that he circulates True Qi.

'Maybe that will change when I open other gates,' Alonn thought.

Honestly, True Qi is not difficult to control within the body, a single thought is enough to manipulate it.

After an hour of intense circulation, smoke slowly began to emanate from Alonn's body, due to the rising temperature.

Suddenly, Alonn coughed up blood and began to breathe heavily.

'Damn, all of my True Qi was consumed just by circulating it in my body. It seems that my body can indeed absorb this in order to strengthen itself in some way.'

Alonn didn't think twice and plunged into the bathtub to cool his body.

'However, my body didn't get much stronger compared to before, despite consuming all of my True Qi.'

After thinking for a moment, Alonn decided to start producing more True Qi. The Root Gate opened and more spiritual qi entered his body.

What confused Alonn is that the conversion rate is simply slower than when he advanced to the Sacral Realm.

After several hours of effort, Alonn managed to reach the limit of True Qi in Dantian. But he realized that the limit had been expanded compared to before.

'It's just like the manual explains, strengthening my body really allows me to store more True Qi.'

"However... I'm really tired," Alonn murmured. Not only his body, but his mind was also exhausted.

Unable to resist, Alonn simply fell asleep in the bathtub.

Knock Knock

After a long time, someone knocked on Alonn's room door.

"Hello, is anyone there?" a indifferent female voice could be heard.

"I heard someone was looking for me for the belongings left in my room. Is anyone there?"

Since Alonn was sleeping, he couldn't hear it.

The woman who was knocking on the door seemed to give up after seeing that no one answered and left

After several hours, Alonn finally woke up from sleep.

"Sigh, I don't believe I wasted so much time!" Alonn spoke to himself and put on the clothes to go to the restaurant.

Fortunately for Alonn, the dwarves were unable to take the money he had. After all, a skin and bones camel is bigger than a horse.

Those small brutes were afraid to offend him too deeply and decided to just hit him a bit.

The other three were not so lucky, and lost all the money they had.

"Heh, Ugly Bull and Ugly Ox will have a hard time paying for the bills of the infirmary," Alonn thought with a smile.

'Even so, the money I have will not last long so I need to get my things back!'

After arriving at the restaurant, Alonn chose any place and ordered food after looking at the menu.

'I don't know if I will be able to hunt and kill the spiritual beast, but I think it is not bad to gain some experience on this expedition,' Alonn thought while eating some meat that the waiter put on the table.

The reality is cruel and Alonn knows that he needs time to learn how to use True Qi properly.

'While my body can absorb True Qi to slowly strengthen itself, this is just a natural and automatic mechanism. I have to learn to impose my will on it during my attacks.'

'If the spiritual qi is a embodiment of the world laws, True Qi is a embodiment of the laws with my own will imbued... so why is it so difficult? What am I missing?'

While eating distractedly, Alonn did not notice the approach of a person.

"Hello, are you Mr. Álfheimr Alonn?" the dwarf in butler's clothes asked politely.

"...It has been a while since someone said our surname, who are you?"

Álfheimr, the surname that all elves share. No one knows why, but it has been passed down since ancient times.

"This humble one is named Dvarg, no surname. My master wants to see you."

"...Sorry, I fear that I have to refuse," Alonn said while eating.

"That's a pity, for my master wants to invite you to the imminent expedition against the spiritual beast," Dvarg said as he bowed.

"..." Alonn stopped eating and looked at the humble dwarf butler.

"Can Mr. Álfheimr reconsider?" Dvarg asked.

"Who is your master? Why is he inviting me?"

"My master is the owner of this hotel and restaurant, as well as the tavern where you and your friends were beaten."

"As to why he is inviting you, I fear I have already explained."

"He is the owner, huh," Alonn murmured with a hand on his chin.

'He or someone he knows must have seen my fight against the dwarves,' Alonn thought.

"Where is your master?" Alonn asked.

"He is waiting for you at the hotel, please accompany me. You doesn't have to pay for the food," Dvarg said.

"Really, I don't need to pay?" Alonn's eyes lit up and he started ordering the most expensive dishes in the restaurant.

Dvarg could only stare at Alonn's shameless act.

'After all, the restaurant owner don't need to care about some dishes price, right?' Alonn thought to himself.

After eating until he was full, Alonn almost belched and said, "Let's go, take me to your master. It would be bad if we make him wait too much."

"Sigh" Dvarg could only sigh and wave to the waiter.

The butler took Alonn to the top floor of the hotel, in the most luxurious part of the entire building.

After entering through a door, Alonn looked right at the figure who was waiting for him.

"Master, I brought Mr. Álfheimr Alonn," Dvarg bowed.

"Thanks, Dvarg," the owner of the hotel is a middle-aged human with long, red hair with blue eyes. He was sitting on a armchair in front of a fireplace.

"I greet the owner," Alonn bowed forward slightly.

"Un. Are you the elf that caused a mess in my tavern?" the owner asked.

"Allow me to correct you, I just defended myself."

"Hah! Everyone says the same thing!" the owner sneered.

"Sir, we are both from different races and status, I have no obligation to stay here to hear your nonsense. Just tell me, why do you want to invite me to the expedition?" Alonn spoke directly, looking the owner in the eye.

If it were in the human kingdom perhaps Alonn would be more careful, but he is in the dwarf kingdom and he don't need to be afraid of any human!

"Hmph! A mere elf peasant dares to talk to me like this. It seems that the Republic doesn't really know how to educate its citizens," the owner said.

"We are free, we don't need to please anyone but ourselves," Alonn said with a mocking smile.

"You say it, but in the end you all are slaves. Elves no more have honor and only think about money," the owner said with a provocative look.

"What is honor in front of money? With money we have freedom. With freedom, we are the ones to decide what is honor," Alonn said.

"..." the owner frowned in disgust and was silent.

Alonn yawned as if this was just a pointless discussion.

The truth is that both humans and dwarves nobles are afraid of the elven ideals, they fear that people will decide to seek that same freedom.

"You know, is stupid to worry about it. We only got our freedom because our fallen royal family allowed freedom of speech, and our people have always had a culture of freedom. Humans, on the other hand... seems to be born to serve someone. What a shame," Alonn said while looking around.

"It seems that the legends are true, the lack of a religion made the elves lose all spiritual notion," the owner said with a sigh.

"Come on, we will just lose our time like this. Just go straight to the point," Alonn said with a frown.

"All right," the owner nodded and got up from the armchair.

"I heard from one of my subordinates that you fought against a dozen dwarves alone, using only your body. In addition, some of the dwarves were in armor but still couldn't completely resist your blows. Although you lost in the end, it is still incredible. Is it the truth?" the owner asked as he walked towards Alonn.

"No. All of the dwarves were in armor, and some of them even used clubs and chairs against me. I beat them up despite that and I only lost in the end because I got tired," Alonn corrected.

Cold sweat started to run down Dvarg's forehead, this is the first time he has witnessed someone talking in this way to his master.

"You are quite arrogant for someone who is just a bit strong," the owner said as he stopped in front of Alonn.

"No, I'm humble. If I were arrogant I would have said that I could have ended the fight quickly if I wanted to seriously hurt the dwarves with my blows and that I just didn't do it because I didn't want to be executed on a gallows or gilhotine. Although this might be the truth," Alonn said with a humble voice.

After twitching the corners of his mouth for a moment, the owner said, "You seem to have a strange sense of humor."

"Why would I joke with you?" Alonn asked with a doubt look.

"Cough Cough... This humble one will let the esteemed ones talk alone," Dvarg said with a strange look and left the room.

"Enough with bullshit. I want you in my team, will you accept my invitation?" the owner said with solid eyes.

"Can I ask something first? How many warriors are on your team?" Alonn asked without looking away.

"The dwarf king ordered that the expedition must have at least two hundred qualified warriors, who will be divided into five teams. I am the captain, or team leader if you wish, of one of the teams.", the owner answered.

"Hm..." Alonn pondered for a moment and asked, "What do I get for joining your team?"

The owner slapped his own thigh and laughed.

"Hah! I know it, you greedy elves only think about money! Can't you think about the glory of hunting a spiritual beast!?"

"Didn't you said that the bullshit is enough? Just say it already."

"...I can give you a hundred gold coins for entering my team, and if our team is the one to kill the spiritual beast you will receive a noble title as well, from both the kingdoms," the owner said as he put his hand on Alonn's shoulder.

'Well... It seems that these guys want to make it look like a 'noble hero killing the beast', not a commoner... What a bunch of bastards."

"Five hundred gold coins, and I want half now! My life is very precious!" Alonn said in a domineering way.

'Sure enough, this elf just wants money! Furthermore, even being precious can his life be bought with gold?' the owner thought a bit angry.

"Why should I pay you five times more than the others?" the owner asked.

"Because I am strong. Don't you want someone strong as me in your team?"

"Even so, five hundred!? I will pay two hundred at most!"

"Fine then, the others teams might want to pay this sum for me." Alonn said and started walking.

"Wait! Three hundred! This is my bottom line! Moreover, no sane captain will pay it just for you!"

"Aren't you sane?" Alonn mocked but nodded.

"Okay, I accept your proposal!"

"You greedy elf, go to the central square of the capital tomorrow at dusk."

"All right, but I want my hundred and fifty gold coins now!" Alonn said with greedy smile.

After handing a bag of coins to Alonn, the owner shouted, "Dvarg! Get rid of the damn elf!"

"Mr. Álfheimr, please follow me," Dvarg said as he opened the door.

"Wait, tell me something first," Alonn said while looking at the owner.

"Oh Lord! What is it!?"

"Can I know the name of my employer?" Alonn asked.

"...Sigh, is just it? My name is Gard, surnamed Ash," the owner replied as he sat down on the armchair.

"Leave now, I'm tired."