“Ch-ch-ch-chief, wh-what sh-should we do?” Burt "Bull" Bolton stammered, his voice trembling even more than usual.
"If trouble comes, we handle it. Let's go see what kind of fuss this goofy lady hero is making!" With that, Shawn Steele swung his legs off the bed and strode outside.
Watching this, Burt "Bull" Bolton blinked in confusion. Wasn't Shawn Steele supposed to have his leg broken by Black Tiger Stronghold? How come he looks totally fine?
Clearwind Stronghold was built against the mountain. At its peak, over fifty tough fighters called it home. But after Victor Steele was killed, they all ditched him for other camps. Now, besides Burt "Bull" Bolton, only a dozen old, weak, sick, or disabled men remained.
So, the whole stronghold felt deserted and bleak.
As Shawn Steele walked out, he could feel more than a dozen pairs of eyes watching him from the shadows. The owners? All those old, weak, and disabled men—just like Burt "Bull" Bolton. Seeing him walk fine, their eyes filled with confusion.
"Hey, Old Stick, you think Shawn Steele can still protect the stronghold?"
The speaker was Sam Wu, a middle-aged bandit missing a leg. Three years ago, he followed Victor Steele down the mountain to rob a small merchant caravan, only to run into a hidden expert who chopped off his leg.
By rights, a useless cripple like him should've been kicked out, but Victor Steele was a righteous man. Instead of driving him away, he made sure Sam Wu was well fed and cared for.
One side of the heavy wooden gate swung open, and out stepped Shawn Steele, his right arm and leg wrapped in plaster casts.
Old Stick was a skinny old man in rough linen. He'd followed Victor Steele since the stronghold was founded. Now too old to fight or rob, Victor Steele still kept him around, serving him good food and drink so he could retire in peace.
With a sly grin, he turned to Lily Qi. "Alright, little miss, this is a stick-up! Hand over all your silver!"
He didn't finish, but Sam Wu understood. The old chief was only third-rate in technique, but his natural strength let him beat even second-rate experts. The young chief learned his father's skills but didn't inherit his strength. At just over twenty, he'd barely stepped into fourth-rate.
In the Blackwind Mountains, even the weakest stronghold chiefs were at least third-rate fighters.
So, a fourth-rate couldn’t possibly hold onto Clearwind Stronghold.
Of course, none of them knew their young chief had already become someone else entirely.
"Bandits inside, listen up! You’ve got ten breaths left, or this lady hero is coming in!"
Right now, a pretty red-clad girl of about seventeen or eighteen sat astride a white horse outside the stronghold’s gates, sword in hand, her face full of excitement.
Creak!
One side of the heavy wooden gate swung open, and out stepped a youth with plaster casts on his right arm and leg.
Seeing the gate open, the red-clad girl lit up. Had her reputation really scared them stiff? But when she saw only Shawn Steele come out—and he was covered in plaster—her excitement fizzled.
She scowled and demanded, "Hey, bandit! Why are you the only one out here? Don’t tell me you’re the whole crew!"
Shawn Steele looked her up and down, amused by this clueless heroine barging into a rundown bandit den. With a wicked grin, he replied, "To deal with a goofy little girl like you, who needs backup? I’m more than enough!"
"You little thief! How dare you look down on me! Watch as I show you what a real heroine can do!"
With a shout, the red-clad girl leapt from her horse and charged at Shawn Steele, her sword flashing out of its sheath, thrusting straight for his arm.
Shawn just smirked, standing perfectly still. He only dodged to the side at the last second, right as her sword was about to touch him.
"Huh? How did I miss?"
Midair, Lily Qi froze, forgetting to adjust her movement.
So, disaster struck.
With a loud "thud," Lily Qi crashed to the ground in a spectacular face-plant.
Shawn Steele nearly burst out laughing. This red-clad girl was at best mid-Postnatal, but she clearly had zero real combat experience. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been so stunned by a missed attack and ended up face-down in the dirt.
In this world, martial ranks were divided into fourth-rate, third-rate, second-rate, and first-rate—matching early, mid, late, and great-perfection Postnatal, respectively.
As for Innate experts?
Shawn Steele had grown up in the stronghold, his horizons limited. To him, a first-rate fighter was already a peerless master—he had no clue what true first-rate meant.
Seeing Lily Qi still lying there, Shawn called out, half teasing, "Hey, lady hero, you alright? Didn’t break anything, did you?"
Lily Qi sprang up, fuming. "You little thief! Did you use demonic tricks to trip me? Using cheap tricks isn’t real skill! If you’ve got guts, fight me fair and square!"
She’d obviously fallen because she couldn’t control her own movement, but she blamed him for sorcery. Shawn was speechless. "If you want to roam the land doing justice, maybe work on your martial arts first."
Shawn’s jab hit a nerve. Lily Qi planted one hand on her hip, pointed her sword at him, and huffed, "You dare look down on me? Back at my place, nobody’s ever lasted ten moves against me! Master Liu, Master Wang, Master Ma all say my martial arts could break into the top ten under heaven. If I wasn’t building up my fame, I’d be challenging the top ten experts already—instead of starting with nobodies like you!"
Hearing this, Shawn instantly got it. She was a hothouse flower, pampered at home with instructors who let her win on purpose. The idea of a third-rate fighter ranking in the top ten was pure nonsense—a cosmic joke.
Seeing Shawn stay silent, Lily Qi assumed he was scared and smirked, "Afraid, aren’t you? If you beg me with three kowtows, maybe I’ll spare your life!"
Shawn was about to shoo this goofy lady hero away when he remembered the system’s third mission—two hundred different types of robbery in three years. A rich young miss delivering herself to a bandit den? That had to count as a type.
With a wicked look, he turned to Lily Qi. "Alright, little miss, it’s robbery time! Hand over all the silver you’ve got!"