A brave man may not live, but he cannot die

Chapter 112 Dare to Swing the Knife?

The tavern windows were curtained.

The breeze blew the curtains, and the house was filled with the aroma of apple pie and white wine. In front of Quinn was a cup of black tea, which was brewed for him by old lady Selvy.

After the pub closed, Gu took the mop and started mopping the floor. The one-armed old man did not feel any inconvenience at all, and his posture of mopping the floor had a sense of sharpness, like a dancer in ice skates drawing circles on the ice.

Xia Dai'er had been picked up by her brother. When Elon left, he didn't say much except tearing down the campaign posters on the wall.

He also thanked Quinn for taking care of his sister, but his expression was not very friendly when he expressed his gratitude.

No matter how well-educated or cunning he was, he was still a young man. Seeing his sister being drunk by a man and being carried upstairs, no one would be happy about it.

But Quinn didn't care. He was a gentleman and said he didn't do anything.

He told Ankuya everything that happened after he met Jack.

The boss listened as the wine was served, and smiled from time to time.

When Quinn finished speaking, the boss took a sip of white wine and then slowly said:

"Actually, many Sequence Nine Transcendents can live their lives safely. As long as you avoid things that could drive you insane, you can even live longer than a normal person. This is why many powerful people choose Transcendent potions. You're lucky. A thief's fate at Sequence Nine is less likely to go out of control. Just stay alive and well."

Quinn blinked. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that you are not suitable to be a superhuman, nor are you suitable to be involved in these things. Just stay in the academy and earn a salary, hahahahahaha——"

The boss suddenly burst into laughter.

Mr. Gu, who was mopping the floor nearby, also nodded in agreement.

Quinn was full of black lines on his face, laughing at the Bull Demon.

"I know I shouldn't have taken his coin first, and I'm already reflecting on it."

"No, no, no -"

The boss held an apple pie in his hand and ate it while saying, "This is incredibly stupid. You survived not because you are smart, but because you are lucky. In this battle, you made three mistakes."

Quinn was very servile and poured him more wine, listening attentively.

"First of all, if you capture him with a certain understanding and confidence, there is no problem. But as an arcanist..."

The boss suddenly remembered that Quinn once said that he only "knows a little" about the arcane.

"Wait, how did you, a Muggle with no known origins and no arcane skills, sneak into Grindelwald? Is that crappy academy so easy to get into now?"

Quinn laughed awkwardly and said, "What do you mean by unknown origin? I'm a native of the Western Continent."

How to enter the academy? The general has a clever plan.

The boss shook his head helplessly, thinking to himself, what a fucking brat.

"Didn't anyone at the academy tell you that if you wanted to break the fate of greed, you had to pay for the goods first?"

".I know."

Amamiya Ningning told him, but Quinn took it for granted.

"You still dare to take money knowing this?"

"In my hometown, there's something called an unconditional refund. You don't even have to return the goods."

"That's great for consumers," the boss said with a chuckle. "You're lucky you met a low-sequence one. If you'd met one of those high-sequence abyssal lunatics, you'd have lost half your soul if you'd dared to accept the money."

"Those extraordinary powers in the abyss seem to be different from the combat and priest positions. They are rule-based." Quinn agreed deeply.

After failing twice in a row, he had a new understanding of "supernormal".

There is not only the extraordinary effect of physical amplification, there are also clergy who are more inclined to the spiritual system, and abyss extraordinary people who use some strange and bizarre rules.

"The fate of the abyss is the seven deadly sins in the Gospel of Genesis," the boss said calmly. "The merchant you met represents 'greed' among the seven deadly sins."

Quinn, who had memorized the entire Gospel of Genesis, blurted out:

"Pride, envy, wrath, laziness, greed, gluttony, lust?"

The boss munched on his apple pie and nodded.

Quinn frowned. These were known as the seven deadly sins on Earth, and were the original sins of mankind listed by the Catholic Church.

When he read this part, he was very confused. Could it be a coincidence?
"Technically, there are only four Abyssal Fates left. Sloth, Wrath, and Envy have been destroyed by the Cult of God over the past 1,400 years."

".destroy?"

Pepe's diary repeatedly warned against using the Level 0 Sealed Artifact [Heaven's Gate] to write. If there were more than four characters, the fate of Envy would return.
"Do you know how to make the Abyss Potion?" asked the boss.

"You know, using the abyssal relics brought out from the abyss?"

"Yes. But Abyssal potions are different from transcendental potions. There's no fixed formula. The properties of the relic you brought with you will determine the properties of the potion you can mix. The three sequences of destruction will not appear in the new potion."

"How was it destroyed?" Quinn was curious.

"Go to college and take history classes. I don't remember these trivial things." The boss said angrily.

"You only need to know that one of the reasons the Cult hunts down the Abyss Transcendents is to completely eliminate these seven sequences. This is the only way to close the Abyss."

Closing the Abyss Quinn seemed to understand something. No wonder Jack would surely die if he fell into his hands.

"The advancement of Abyssal Transcendents is very special. Clerics advance through faith, combatants advance through fusion role-playing, and Abyssal Transcendents... can be described as completing tasks. For example, those with the Fate of Greed go into business, those with the Fate of Gluttony go into eating, and those with the Fate of Lust go into sex."

"?" Quinn was shocked. Where could he get the lust potion?

"Of course, it's not that simple."

The boss took a sip of wine. He only took small sips of white wine like this, enjoying the refreshing taste that hit his head.

"Let me take businessmen as an example. Their goal is to 'make money.' Within the business framework that abides by the rules of the Abyss, the more they make, the faster they will be promoted."

A fierce look flashed in Quinn's eyes. There is always a gain and a loss. Ten gold pounds bought the fate of a scapegoat. No wonder he said that he had advanced not long ago.

"Can you tell me the rules of the Abyss?" Quinn suddenly had an idea: "If the Abyss Transcendents must act according to the rules, then can we use the rules against them?"

The boss glanced at him and said, "Why, are you going to catch the Abyss Transcendent?"

"That's not the case. I'm just afraid of meeting him again next time."

"The rules of the Abyss. I can't explain it to you. Doesn't the academy have a Forbidden Forest? You'll understand next time you go into the Abyss. Abyssal Transcendents have an advantage: they won't lose control. But the price is that if they resist the desires brought on by sin or violate the rules of the Abyss, their souls will be sucked away by the Abyss and become the nourishment of that place."

Is this why Jack would rather be beaten than reveal who the robber is?

Are the rules of businessmen what they must abide by in transactions?

"Can you tell me the sequence names of the various abyssal destinies?" Quinn thought to himself, perhaps he could deduce the rules they must abide by from the names.

The boss is willing to talk.

"You should know what greed is. Sequence Nine is a businessman, and Sequence Eight is a traveling merchant."

"Arrogant Fate Sequence Nine is called [Genius], Sequence Eight is called [Craftsman]."

"Gluttony's Fate Sequence Nine is called [Public Servant], Sequence Eight doesn't know."

"Sequence nine of the Lustful Fate is called [Public Relations], and sequence eight is called [Cowherd]."

The boss winced at the alcohol, and when he had recovered, he continued, "As for the three destroyed destinies, I'm not sure. It happened too long ago. Wrath was destroyed during the era of Brave Link, and the battle against Sloth was almost a thousand years old. Jealousy was eliminated over two hundred years ago. I heard from the Imperials that Sequence Eight was called something like 'Gray Hat.'"

Quinn digested this information and asked in surprise, "Is there a sequence you don't know about?"

He thought his boss was an encyclopedia.

"Nonsense." The boss glared at him. "Do you think the Abyssal Transcendents are just walking mushrooms in the forest? I've never met many in my life. They're bound by rules and keep their identities secret. Unless the cult takes action, they won't reveal any information even if they die."

"I don't know all about the Clergy. After all, high-sequence Clergy are treasures of various cults and don't come out easily."

The boss lifted his feet to make it easier for Lao Gu to mop the floor.

"We've gotten off track. Where were we just now?"

"You said I shouldn't have accepted the ten pounds."

"Yes, that was the least of your mistakes—the second mistake was that you shouldn't have chased him after you were tied up in the trade."

"Why? What if he runs away?" Quinn was puzzled.

"Answer me first, what's your reason for pursuing him?"

"I have this." Quinn took out Mista, hesitated for a moment, and did not choose to take out the dean's snake scales but said: "I have other cards."

"Does he know you have these cards?"

"do not know."

"Then do you know what his trump card is?"

Quinn froze.

"You're pushing him into a desperate situation," the boss said slowly. "Even a lion will fight a rabbit with all its might. He already knows he's no match for you, and once all other strategies have run out, he'll go all out. Merchants can not only buy other people's goods, but also sell their own. If he's not afraid of being exposed, and sells his soul to summon the Abyss to interfere with reality, do you have the means to resist its creations?"

Quinn broke out in a cold sweat, remembering Jack's forbearing expression when he was scolded by him.
It's not that he isn't angry.

But be ready to fight for your life.

"Since you have a gun, why don't you fire a few more shots? With his limbs broken and his eyes gouged out, he can't get far even if he runs. What kind of threat can he pose? Unless you have the confidence to crush him, such as using a fourth-order sequence to suppress a large sequence against a fifth-order sequence, otherwise this leisurely approach will only give the enemy an opportunity."

The boss kicked his feet, sat up straight and looked at him with complicated eyes.

"I don't know what kind of environment you live in that allows you to have such a humane attitude towards your enemies and an inexplicable sense of security. But in our world, you can die easily."

Quinn lowered his head and remained silent for a long time.

".I see. If I'm bound by this kind of deal again, is there any way to resist?"

"Yes and no."

The boss poured him more tea, and white steam rose up.

"The rules related to mystery cannot be broken by sheer force. Only a mystery of a higher order can overwhelm mystery. For example, his transaction cannot restrain Lao Gu, no matter how much money he offers, because the gap between their existences is too great. As for what constitutes a mystery of a higher order, you can remember one principle—"

"Any mystical entity shares three common characteristics: mass, size, and age. When mass and size are similar, the older the item, the higher its priority. When age and mass are similar, the larger the item, the higher its priority. Of course, there are many exceptions, such as the influence of environment, restraint, and species. You can consult the professors in the Modern Arcane Department of the academy; they have conducted much more thorough research than I do."

Quinn nodded gratefully.

"Boss, if I want to restrict you through a trade, what sequence do I need to have?"

The boss grinned with his big white teeth and just drank without answering.

But Lao Gu, who was washing the mop nearby, suddenly interjected, "Maybe we can try dragging him into the abyss."

The implication is that it is impossible in reality.

Quinn thought, pretending to be an expert.

Teacher Ma, Teacher Ma, how many British strongmen does it take to bend one of your fingers?

"As for your third and most serious mistake—"

The boss's voice grew serious, his eyes chastising, "Quinn, you shouldn't have opened that door."

"Door?"

Quinn was stunned. "Are you talking about the room where the Holy Tree Priest is hidden?" "Before opening it, do you know who is inside?"

".I just know that I can kill Jack after I open the door."

Quinn was even a little proud of his sudden inspiration.

"What if there's an out-of-control transcendent hidden within? Or an extremely dangerous cursed weapon? A group of cultists performing a ritual? A monster? An out-of-control sealed object? A ghost? A natural spirit with malicious intent towards humanity?"

The boss casually cited a few examples, then calmly said, "There are countless things capable of killing a Sequence Eight. The key isn't what's inside, but rather, it's unknown."

"As a transcendent, unless you are desperate, you must absolutely, absolutely not, under any circumstances, test the dangerous unknown, whether it's a door, an object, or anything happening in your spiritual world. If you want to survive, you must abide by this iron rule."

Quinn seemed to understand.

"You mean to be cautious?"

"No," the boss said, his words contradicting each other. "On the contrary, if extraordinary people want to grow, they have to face the unknown and madness. What you need to do is judge its danger—weigh whether you can bear the possible costs of this unknown, instead of just opening the door without thinking. That's not smart, it's gambling with your life."

Quinn knew that his boss was teaching him the real thing.

This is the warning from an old surviving transcendent.

Ankua might have said something to the boss, or maybe for some reason, he talked a lot more this time. Quinn could feel that the old man treated him as his own.

He bowed sincerely: “I remember it.”

The boss moved the empty plate aside and gave it to Lao Gu to wash. He burped and said, "Do you really understand?"

"I will keep your teachings in mind." Quinn didn't say much thanks, but decided to bring some wine for the old man next time he came.

"Then let me test you."

The boss asked in a fatherly tone, "Suppose you were the director of a museum. Your museum houses a mysterious, famous painting, and you also have a cat that escaped from the painting. You generate revenue from ticket sales. One day, the museum inexplicably catches fire. As a transcendent, would you save the painting or the cat first?"

Quinn pondered for a moment and smiled:
"Admire the burning masterpieces, listen to the screams of kittens, and blame the guests who didn't save them."

Lao Gu, who was listening in, laughed, and the boss tutted, "Not too stupid."

Quinn pulled a piece of paper from his clothes and pushed it to his boss.

"Can you help me look at this?"

"What's the matter?"

The boss took the paper and took a look at it. It was the size of a sticky note and had two lines of words written on it in Tamil Nadu.

The first line is a number, followed by a short paragraph of incoherent text.

The second line is purely numbers.

"I stole this from Jack."

Quinn gave a simple and honest smile.

"When I touched his clothes, I felt that the most valuable thing on him was this piece of paper, so I picked it up."

Jack has turned to ashes, and this piece of paper is his only legacy.

"Ankua checked it. It's just ordinary paper, torn from a newspaper. The only thing of value is the words on it, but it's not a spell or anything like that. Do you know what this means?"

The boss looked at it carefully for a while, then handed it to Lao Gu beside him. Half a minute later, Lao Gu shook his head and handed the paper back.

"It might be related to the abyss, I'm not sure, but it's definitely just an ordinary piece of paper." The boss thought for a moment, then said, holding the paper, "Leave it here for now. I'll send it to a friend to take a look. If he doesn't know either, then it probably isn't anything useful."

Quinn nodded. It wasn't impossible for a thief's intuition to be wrong.

"Boss, I want to learn how to fight." Quinn said eagerly like Mitsui Shou, "Coach, I want to play basketball."

The boss has no obligation to teach him, and he can't just wait for the teacher to feed him like in class. While he's in a good mood and not drunk, he should learn more.

The boss raised an eyebrow. Having been asked several times by Ankua, he didn't refuse. He just said, "I can't teach you any theory. Experience comes from actual combat. If you can survive, you will naturally learn it. But..."

He glanced at Quinn's pistol.

"This junky iron sword is okay for shooting birds, but it's useless against a ruthless person. I might as well pick a weapon I'm good at practicing with. Mom—Mom!!"

The boss yelled, "Where are my weapons? Where did you put them?!"

No one answered upstairs.

Lao Gu said helplessly: "She just went to church to attend the service. Let me find her for you. She should be in the wine cellar."

"Tsk." The boss glared. "Is she attending church? She's playing with the little boy in church. Bullshit."

Quinn didn't understand why his boss was suddenly so resentful.

"Do extraordinary people also need weapons?" he asked at the right time.

"The others are optional, or perhaps inherently so, but thieves are essential." The boss rested his chin on his hand and said, "You almost lost just by encountering an Abyssal Transcendent. What if you encountered a combat class? Don't you think you're lacking offensive means?"

Quinn thought about it and realized that it was true.

"But weapons take time to learn. You're already this age, so don't expect to become very skilled. Just make do with what you have."

The boss drank the wine sip by sip, and the frequency was obviously increasing, which was a prelude to getting drunk.

"Set a goal, and practice according to it, so it will be easier to plan your training."

"Target?" Quinn wondered if the boss's tavern dojo could also send out free messages?

"It's like picking an imaginary enemy. That's how I started practicing swordsmanship. At first, I just wanted to pass the knight test, then I wanted to kill a wizard, then I wanted to kill many wizards, and then I wanted to slay a dragon." The boss waved his wine glass as if it were a sword, saying comfortably, "Only when you have a goal can you know what to do every day."

"."

Quinn thought for a moment and then jokingly said, "What about the hero?"

"Puff——" the boss spat out a mouthful of wine.

"Why are you reacting so strongly?" Quinn asked, puzzled. "Don't heroes also practice bit by bit?"

They are all time travelers, so who is stronger than who?

If it’s Jackie Chan who comes through, just ignore what I said.

The boss seemed to be lost in painful memories, his eyes filled with resentment. After a while, he finally said, "You're quite humorous. Let's change to another one. It's impossible to train a brave warrior like that."

"That"

Quinn asked tentatively, "What about Mr. Gu? I feel like he should be a master."

"Change again."

Quinn really had no one to compare him to, so he said helplessly, "What about the Fighter with Sequence 8 of the Warrior Fate? I've seen one, and he seems pretty fierce."

The boss thought for a while and glanced at him again.

"Have the opportunity."

At this time, Lao Gu also brought a large box, which contained dozens of weapons scattered inside. They looked much more powerful than the knight sword and fire stick that the boss liked to use. They were all well-maintained weapons.

There were mostly swords, of all kinds, from wooden training swords to mithril ceremonial swords. There were also spears, bows and arrows, scimitars, brass knuckles, and daggers.
Quinn had seen many cold weapons in the game, but this was the first time he had seen so many sharpened ones in real life, so he couldn't help but feel excited.

The boss walked out slowly and squatted on the ground to pick and choose.

He simply ignored the sword.

"When it comes to weapons, the most important thing is to be comfortable with them. You were swinging your sword like a circus the other day. Why not try something simpler? How about a dagger?"

He picked out a three-inch dagger.

"It's quite suitable for thieves. It's easy to carry around."

Quinn took it, weighed it in his hand, but felt that there should be a better choice.

That strange instinct made him ask, "Can I choose another weapon?"

"It's up to you, as long as you can understand it."

Quinn thought the dagger wouldn't work.

This kind of short knife-like weapon should be more curved to suit you, such as a small sickle. But there is no small sickle in the box.

Quinn picked them up one by one, while the boss prepared to lie down again. As he walked, he casually said, "Don't say I didn't warn you, different weapons have different difficulty levels. There are no difficult weapons, only people who don't know how to use them. A month of sticks, a year of swords, a lifetime of guns, usually the longer you practice, the harder it is to practice—"

"How about this one?"

The boss turned around when he heard the sound and saw Quinn holding a long knife that was nearly one and a half meters long.

The blade is like a crescent moon, and the handle alone is as long as a forearm.

".Tachi?" The boss shook his head after looking at it. "Put it back. It's a picky thing. It takes five to ten years of practice to master it. Even wielding it would be difficult."

Lao Gu, however, became interested. He asked with a rare hint of curiosity, "Why did you choose the katana?"

Quinn was silent for a moment. He couldn't explain why, but his intuition told him to choose this.

".Maybe it's because I have good taste?"

Lao Gu nodded, agreeing that "Youpin" was correct.

“There are chicken feather products.”

The boss laughed in anger and said unhappily, "With your talent for swordsmanship, you'd be thankful if you could control the katana at such a distance after a lifetime of practice. This thing is a pure burden if you don't use it properly. A swing of the katana leaves a wide gap, and agility can't fill it. Put it back."

"Hmm..." Quinn frowned slightly: "How about letting me try practicing? I think I can do it."

"You feel?"

The boss had nothing to say.

"Then come and chop me."

"Cut you?"

"I'll stand still here. If you can hit me, then practice with the sword."

"Are you sure?" Quinn hesitated, "What if I get hurt?"

"You're still trying to get away after I chopped you off? You should know that today there was a bastard who couldn't even pull out a sword in front of me. You dare to swing your knife at me?" The boss said nonchalantly, but his voice suddenly stopped and his eyes stared straight ahead.

Quinn held the scabbard in his right hand, as if he was still looking for the fulcrum of the handle a second ago, and couldn't figure out how to pull it out.

The next second, the sword was unsheathed.

It was a simple Iai move, and the speed was not fast, but in a flash, the knife light fell on the boss's neck.

Perfect distance control, there was even a one-meter gap between the two of them, enough for Quinn to move forward or backward, but the boss had to carry the blade forward to touch him. A beginner actually used the length of the katana to the extreme.

Those dark eyes were as calm as water, as if a wind was rushing towards him, goosebumps appeared on his skin, and he subconsciously threw a punch -

boom! ! !
Looking at Quinn being knocked out of the door, the boss was stunned for a long time and almost couldn't stop himself.

"What's wrong with you?" Lao Gu asked in confusion.

The boss muttered as if he had seen a ghost: "Damn it, can this kid kill me?"

(End of this chapter)