Chapter 69 - 069: Ribs and Heads

Chapter 69: Chapter 069: Ribs and Heads

"Oi, lad! Get out of the fucking way."

The massive figure behind Mikael grunted, albeit with a bit of care. The pure white hair meant that he could be the son of a powerful family, and he did not wish to incur the wrath of any!

Yet Mikael seemed to have not heard him. He simply dragged himself along the narrow alley, completely unaware of who or what was around. And for days, he had been in this state.

After he had met the fragment at the human academy, one realization hit him, and it hit him hard.

The Celestial Realm still had their eyes on him. He was always bare before them, his actions, his plans, all visible to them. And he felt he wasn’t even back in the Forgotten Realm simply because they wanted to amuse themselves with his struggles. Because the Goddess simply wanted him to despair in the powerlessness and fragility of mortal life.

And so Mikael had begun thinking about how exactly he could escape the literal gaze of Heaven itself.

And so, lost in thought as he walked, stopping only when the mortal frame greatly needed rest. The sun rose and fell, and despite the cold winds of the coming autumn, he continued walking until he had left the Capital city.

Now, as the sun set, he ended up in a town just miles away from the capital. His body ached from the unstoppable journey, and his stomach rumbled. So Mikael sauntered into the city to refresh and replenish his body.

"Oi, damn brat. Get out—"

The massive figure was cut off by the sound of bones cracking and breaking.

The pain came much later, and he screamed.

Mikael, now back to the present, crouched.

"The place you call a tavern... Where is it?"

The man was still groaning, clutching his leg, but pointed straight ahead in reply. Another kick from the staggering lad knocked him out entirely.

The two-storey building had a wooden sign at its entrance, which Mikael understood to mean ’Tavern’. So he went in.

Massive chandeliers lit up the room, and the stench of meat, beer, and debauchery hung heavily in the air. His entrance also caused many heads to look up and gaze at the white-haired lad.

A few high rankers... The rest are trash.

Done with his assessment, Mikael headed to where he saw the food being dispatched from.

By now, the murmurs were a bit loud as everyone’s attention was drawn to the ’child of noble’ clad in black, and what said noble might be doing on this side of the town. However, the child seemed not to care about their opinion.

When Mikael got to the counter, a plump woman sized him up before going to attend to him.

"Whatcha gonna get you, boy?"

"Something light. I need to regain my strength."

"Coming right up!"

Mikael sat at the counter until a serving of roasted meat and some kind of thin liquid, which humans called sauce, was served to him.

"You drink, lad? Ye look old enough," the plump lady chuckled.

"Surprise me," Mikael replied in a laissez-faire voice.

Moments later, the plump lady pulled up with a cup of booze that foamed quite heavily.

"Here ya go, lad."

"Very much appreciated."

So, the woman continued the conversation. "What brings ye noble blood to this side?"

"I am no noble, Miss. I am a god."

This really was shocking, surprising, and funny.

"Ay, lad. Be you your own god." And with it, the woman went on to attend to other customers.

Even while eating, Mikael kept thinking of ways to remedy his situation, so much so that he didn’t even know when he had finished his meal.

When he came to himself, he stood up to leave, but the woman from earlier called out to him.

"Hey, boy. You haven’t paid me for your meal!"

So humans paid for their food? That was surprising.

Alas, Mikael had left the academy without a single coin, all in his rage and frustration.

"I am sorry, human. But I have no coin with me, and I have to leave. You will have to let me leave."

Saying so, he continued towards the exit, believing that the one meal wasn’t exactly worth anything.

"Stop that brat!" The woman’s command instantly brought some scantily clad warriors whom Mikael had noticed marking him since he entered.

"Damn brat, Bertha says you gotta pay for your supper. So hand over them coins, or we’ll make it hard to walk outta here!"

By now, the tavern had gone almost quiet, and all eyes were on the about-to-unfold altercation.

"Like I told the kind lady, I have no coins..."

"Bleh, she ain’t running charity here now, lad, is she?"

"And how should I know?" Mikael retorted.

One of the three, in a fit of drunken stupor, placed a hand on Mikael’s shoulder. And the regret was instant.

The arm was ripped off clean from the shoulder, blood jutting out in spurts, and the man screamed.

The shock on the faces of his comrades turned to rage as they now drew out weapons and charged. Some others in the tavern, also enraged by the lad’s act, jumped up to teach the boy a lesson.

But Mikael wasn’t bothered, not in the slightest. He had faced only top-tier people ever since he arrived on the mortal plane weeks ago.

That had helped him carefully assess his limits and top strength.

The baseline was that the ’trash’ charging at him were nowhere near enough to cause him major concerns.

A punch from him sent one lady hurtling across the hall, probably with a few broken ribs. Meanwhile, a kick turned a head to an impossible angle, sending the unlucky warrior off with an agonized look.

Those two casualties caused the others to approach with extreme caution. The noble lad they had undermined was clearly stronger than they had anticipated.

Some even slowly slipped away, believing him to be a Grandmaster!

However, in the midst of the trepidation, a thick, huffing laughter bellowed and took over the room.

"Interesting, kid."

The very next second, the owner of the voice was inches before Mikael, causing the latter to instinctively dodge with a look of surprise!

"Who was that?"