Asserting dominance

Early in the day after Shui entered the residence, a group of three men entered. The three inner sect disciples wore smug faces and strutted with arrogance in their bones. They were only at late Soul Realm, but thanks to their connections they feared no one in the inner sect. They came home in good moods and quickly noticed that there was a presence in the empty room. They furrowed their brows and walked towards it, but the door flung open before they reached it.

Shui glanced at three and then slightly nodded his head.

"My name's Shui. I'll be living here for now."

For a moment, the three were shocked by the appearance of this fresh face. If it wasn't for his aura, they would have wondered if this was really a guy, but even knowing that he was just a very handsome man, the three grimaced. They felt embarrassed for being charmed for even a moment.

The tallest among them, Ryan, grabbed Shui's shoulder.

"Wait, right there."

Shui looked up at him with a slight frown.

"My name's Ryan. The two behind me are Tyrone and Campbell."

Ryan pointed behind him with his thumb, at the two who nodded their heads. Shui also nodded in response before focusing on Ryan. He didn't want any trouble but he wasn't afraid of it either. However, Ryan took his attitude as a show of weakness.

"Since you're polite and all, I won't be too mean. Just know that you'll have to do all of our chores from now on."

"And help us pick up chicks too." added Campbell.

Now that he could look at Shui's appearance objectively, Campbell believed that they could use him to bait the pretty girls in the sect who they couldn't force into bed. Ryan and Tyrone nodded their heads in approval of this idea while Shui only sighed.

"Why do I always get involved with idiots?"

"Huh? What was- Ahhh!"

After hearing Shui, Ryan started increasing the strength he used to grab his shoulder, but then Shui took his hand and flung him away. Watching as Ryan was thrown to a wall caused Tyrone and Campbell to be shocked for moment before Tyrone charged at him.

"Haahhh!!!"

His charge shook the floor and blew away the nearby furniture but Shui stopped him with one hand. Furthermore while Tyrone was using a spell to enhance his strength and speed, Shui was using nothing but his bare hand.

"This is impossible!"

Tyrone fiercely resisted but with a shake of his hand, Shui knocked him to the wall. Now only Campbell was left standing.

"Stay back!"

Campbell hastily fired a fireball spell at him, but Shui raised his palm at it.

"Barrier."

Suddenly, a translucent green wall took the fireball and reflected it back at Campbell, knocking him to the same position as Tyrone before disappearing. To do this, what Shui used wasn't a normal barrier, but a reflective barrier. Unlike a normal barrier which would only block attacks, a reflective barrier had to match the energy of the incoming spell and interact with the spell without damaging it and then return it to the caster. It had the same learning difficult as a normal barrier, but was much harder to use in battle so few did so.

"I got you!"

Right after Shui used a reflective barrier on Campbell's spell, Ryan got up and slammed down on his head with a longsword. Whether or not this would kill him didn't matter, it was fine as long as he could take Shui down. However, the sword was easily blocked by Shui's normal barrier. Ryan was stunned for a moment before he tried to escape, but Shui's hand was already around his neck.

"S-s-s-stop! If you kill m-"

Before he could spout some nonsense about why it was okay for him to kill Shui but not the other way around, Shui tightened his grip. With his power he didn't need to threaten him, just looking into his eyes would allow him to total control over his soul. In only three seconds, Shui took the power to decide Ryan's life and death. He then released him from the grip and watched as he dropped to the ground coughing.

Shui waited for him to finish coughing before asking a question, "So, do you have anything more to say to me?"

Tyrone and Campbell who had struggled back to their feet thought that Ryan would be reckless so they prepared to go help him, but his response was completely outside of their expectations.

"My greatest apologies. Please, I don't care what you do to me but please spare my life!"

Ryan bowed to Shui and begged for mercy. Tyrone and Campbell were flabbergasted by this disgraceful display, but Shui only nodded with a calm expression. He then looked at the two behind him. For him, this distance was no obstacle so with just a glance they assumed the same posture as Ryan and trembled in fear. None of them could understand why, but Shui became incredibly scary and indomitable in their minds. Even if they gathered the full power of their families they didn't think they could beat him, so they could only submit.

Once he was sure they learned their place, he walked towards the exit. Right as he opened the door, he looked back at the three.

"Make sure you have dinner ready by the time I get back. And it better taste good."

None of them responded, they only bit their lower lips and held their heads down as he left. A couple seconds after they heard the door close, the three slowly got up and awkwardly looked at each other.

"..."

"..."

"..."

All three of them shared a shameful experience but they couldn't find it in themselves to simply laugh it off. Eventually, Ryan scratched his head and said, "Uh, should we get started?"

They had impressive backgrounds, but they all knew how to cook in case of emergencies. They couldn't feel proud about having to cook for another guy who was younger than them, but for some reason they couldn't even consider rebelling. Tyrone and Campbell meekly nodded and followed him to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Shui was taking a casual stroll to his destination. The inner sect disciple that lead him to his residence told him that if he entered his spiritual sense into his coat, an incomplete map of the manor would appear in his head, but he didn't need it. As if this was his own backyard, he took confident steps towards the library. Even though this was his second day as a disciple of Storm Sky Manor, he was still allowed to enter the first floor of the library that held normal books and tier 0 spells.

Along the way, Shui noticed a group of men and women beating up a fat man who was curled up on the ground. One particular man with his arm wrapped around the waist of a woman with nothing but a short dress under her silk coat, snickered at the fatty's miserable form. The story behind this was quite simple. The fatty was a new disciple who wanted to take a walk around the manor but came upon an attractive woman. Right as he worked up enough courage to go up and talk to her, her muscular boyfriend came back and she accused him of flirting with her.

'Damn that slut! Damn it!'

The fat man was indeed going to flirt with her, but since he didn't even get the chance he was burning with rage and indignation. Due to his physique, these kicks weren't doing much damage but it still hurt.

'Damn it! I should have known not to trust a girl showing off her big boobs! I'll definitely get back at these guys! One day I'll- huh?'

Suddenly, he noticed a pause in his beating and the change in focus of the group surrounding him.