The Villain's Sword Is Sharp

A few seconds earlier...

Isaac watched as Johan stepped into the shop ahead of him. He took a crumpled talisman out of his pocket and unfurled it. Then he sent some Qi into the bit of animal hide and waited while the symbols on it all lit up. Fortunately, Johan was too preoccupied to notice the very faint glow of the talisman activating behind him.

The High Tide Talisman activated and a wall of water rose up in front of Isaac.

"Watch out!"

He shouted as the wave started rushing towards Johan, but it was already too late for him to do anything. Isaac watched as the huge wave rolled forwards, sweeping Johan away and wreaking devastation upon the shop.

There was the sound of a thousand smashes as the water destroyed countless potions. Many of the pulled-out draws of the ingredient cabinet were also caught in the wave and got swept away. Even the closed ones probably suffered water damage.

As the wave began to calm down, Isaac saw Johan's head burst to the surface. Then he called in a low voice,

"Quick, let's get out of here!"

His tone was rushed and panicked, but there was actually a relaxed smile on Isaac's lips. Of course, Johan couldn't see it though; Isaac had already turned and used his Snowshoe Anima to escape at max pace.

Meanwhile, Johan was still floundering around in the water. It was too shallow to swim through, so he tried wading through the water. As he was doing so, there were some noises from behind him. Suddenly, the door in the corner of the room burst open.

"Fuck?! Fuck!"

The first profanity was when water rushed through the open door and soaked the alchemy disciple's ankles. The second came when she saw the state of her shop.

She immediately fired 2 projectiles – it was too dark to see what they were – at Johan. Both struck him and he fell face-first into the water with a shout of pain.

The woman waded through the water towards him with a stormy scowl. It looked like Johan was done for...

*************************

Elsewhere, Isaac was gliding smoothly through the streets. He had his hands in his pockets and an easy expression as if he didn't have a worry in the world. He made it back to his house without a hitch, unlocked the window and hopped inside.

Then he settled down on his bed and started reading again.

*************************

An hour later, Isaac heard furious knocking on his window.

He put his book down and spoke in a slightly surprised tone,

"Oh, you're alright? That's good."

"That's good?! That's all you have to fucking say for yourself?!" Johan was going ballistic, "Why did you just up and leave? Didn't you know I was still in there?!"

Isaac opened the window and Johan jumped at him with a clenched fist. Of course, Isaac was far more skilled than Johan in close combat, so he grabbed the man's arm, twisted it behind his back, and pushed him to the floor.

"What help could I even have given you?" He spoke directly into Johan's ear, "Besides, when I started to escape, I thought you'd be coming right behind me. When I realised you hadn't got away, I realised it was already too late for me to help you."

Isaac released Johan's arm and helped him to his feet.

"I'm sorry I didn't do more."

His last comment helped pacify Johan, who was brushing himself down. His face was still flush with anger and his upper lip was trembling as if he wanted to spit out profanities, but he seemed to have gained some semblance of control.

He faced Isaac again. He didn't try to attack him this time, but there was almost fire spouting from his eyes.

"Well? Did you see what happened then?!"

"Something lit up next to the counter; I think it was a talisman. When I saw it, I tried to call out but it was already too late – the wave was already upon you."

"So who set up the talisman then? Tell me something useful!"

"How do you expect me to know that? It was probably some kind of extra trap set up by the alchemy disciple."

"It fucking wasn't, dumbass! Why would she set a trap which destroyed half her shop?! When she caught me, she thought I'd done it!"

"So she caught you?"

"Of course she caught me! Why else would I get back an hour late?"

"Then how are you here at all? Why would she let you go?"

Johan sighed. Some of his anger dissipated, and was replaced by a thin veil of relief,

"When I said I was from the Friberg family, she decided to let me go. I didn't want to rely on my family name, but here I am..."

His tone was dominated by a deflated, disappointed attitude. He really felt like he'd let himself down – he almost regretted not staying silent and getting punished. However, Isaac offered a few words of comfort,

"The way I see it, we need to use every little benefit or advantage we can get our hands on, otherwise somebody else will come along and snatch them from us. The world of cultivators is a competitive one – you have to use everything at your disposal to get ahead, otherwise you'll be left behind. Maybe using your family name isn't such a bad thing."

There was silence between them for nearly a minute. Isaac sat there and watched the subtle changes in Johan's expression as he thought everything through. Eventually, his visage hardened into one of determination. He looked up at Isaac and spoke in a quiet yet firm voice,

"I'll see you tomorrow."

Then he got up and left. Just like that, the incident with 'Herbal Fumes' and the alchemy disciple was over.

*************************

Or was it?

Isaac woke up late the next day and was just getting some breakfast together as there came a frenzied banging on his window. Isaac quickly queried,

"Who is it?"

"Johan. Let me in!"

Isaac did as he was asked and opened the window.

Johan was standing there with a vexed expression on his face. He didn't jump forwards and try to hit Isaac (it seemed he'd learnt his lesson from last time), but it looked like he wanted to.

"Have you heard the rumours?"

"Have I heard the rumours?"

"I said have you heard the fucking rumours?!"

"No, I haven't. Just step inside and speak calmly. You won't achieve anything acting like this."

The phrase 'won't achieve anything' really seemed to irk Johan, but he stepped through the window anyway. Isaac beckoned for Johan to sit at his table, and he begrudgingly did so.

Isaac sat opposite him and asked,

"Well?"

"There's news spreading all through the sect that Johan Friberg was caught stealing from shops in the Rank 1 district and had to be bailed out by his family!"

"Stuff like that's spread already? And all through the sect, not just in our district?!"

Isaac did his best to fake surprise. It was a little bit patchy, but Johan was too worked up to notice or care,

"Apparently the owner of that shop is an important Rank 3 alchemist who owns a chain of stores; he helped spread the rumours all over the sect using his contacts. Someone from the Friberg family came to find me just half an hour ago and told me my parents weren't happy. He said I offended an important person and that the rumours were reflecting badly on the family, so I would have to face the consequences!"

Isaac didn't know exactly what 'the consequences' were, but they sounded ominous. He observed Johan's panicked state and softly commented,

"It's just a punishment – you have to accept it and move on. If you're worried about falling in your family's estimation, then just make greater achievements in the future. As somebody who's known you for over 2 years, I can say with some measure of confidence that you can complete stunning feats – you can keep yourself in the race for family successor."

Isaac paused for a moment to let his words sink in. Then he continued,

"Still... do you know who got you into all of this? Whose talisman was it?"

Johan exhaled sharply, frustration etched across his face,

"I still don't know. I've pieced the bits together and realised that place had already been robbed before we got there; whoever robbed it must've left the talisman. Look, now the robbery's been entirely pinned on me. Whoever actually did it won't be blamed, investigated, or get targeted for revenge by the alchemist."

He blew out another breath of turbid air and gritted his teeth.

"I still don't know who it was, but if I ever get my hands on them..."

His fists clenched so hard his knuckles went white and Isaac could see the hatred in his gaze. Little did Johan know, that mysterious robber was sitting right in front of him...