The Innkeeper

Chapter 2254: Cliff

River was stunned by the strange mans words. As if that was not enough, by the time he recovered from his shock, he discovered that the strange man had disappeared, and that everything had returned to normal.

He looked around, wondering if he’d been suffering from some kind of exhaustion induced delusion. He had taken the oath, and talked to the man, yet he’d felt no different. Nothing had changed - his body still hurt, he was still weak, and there was no indication that he would ever recover from the destruction of his meridians.

He looked down at his hands. To be specific, he looked at the ring finger and tip of his middle finger. What if it was a dream? Could he really mutilate himself over a dream? That thought arose in his mind as he looked at the fingers that had accompanied him his whole life.

But what if it was real?

The look in River’s eyes slowly turned solemn as he made a decision. Even if he was mistaken, even if it was an illusion, so long as there is even the slightest chance that it could be real, River would grasp at it.

He looked around and saw that he was in a public place. This was not an ideal location, so he turned around and headed back towards the clinic where they were supposed to work. He quickly returned to his room and ensured that Pearl was asleep before entering the restroom. This would be a lot easier if he had a knife, but he had no money and he didn’t want to risk stealing one, thus...

The resolve in his eyes strengthened and, without any hesitation, River bit his fingers. A sharp pain shot through his body, but he didn’t hesitate at all, making sure he removed them thoroughly!

This was far from the best solution. He could have just asked someone sufficiently strong to remove the Qi, but that would raise questions, waste time, and risk exposing them.

Blood covered his hands, face and clothes, but a throbbing pain rocked his already weak body, but River didn’t care for that. He just looked at his hands before throwing his cut off finger and finger tip in the toilet and flushing it away.

Once he was done, he exited to head to the clinic to get his wounds treated, but Pearl was already standing outside the door. She looked at his hands, and then at the blood on his face. For a moment, there was silence, but then she led him into the bathroom to wash his wounds before she could address them.

Her numb eyes finally showed a hint of emotion, but what hurt River the most was the fact that the emotion was of sorrow.

As the cool water washed over his hands, and the Qi from Pearl flowed into his body, the pain began to ebb, finally. River almost felt an illusion that as his pain reduced, the strength of his body increased. But surely that was a mistake? How could self mutilation make him stronger? If cultivation were that easy, he would have reached the legendary Foundation realm already simply based on how he ran across the fields with cracked bones and bleeding feet.

"They won’t find us anymore," River whispered to her with feeble strength. Pearl paused, but only nodded. He wasn’t sure if she believed him, or was simply humoring him out of pity.

"Stay here. I’ll go fetch some bandages for your hand," she said, before stepping out of the bathroom.

River sighed, and looked up in the mirror to see his state, but instead of his own reflection, he saw the face of the strange man from earlier.

"I have witnessed your resolve, child," the man said, his voice suddenly booming in River’s ear as if it were a voice traveling to him from prehistoric times! "Although it is merely the first step, it is a step nonetheless. I have witnessed your resolve, and your oath. Now, I will witness your journey."

Lex himself did not fully understand the source of the Paladin’s power, but it was obvious to him that the oath played a strong role in it. At the same time, the presence of a senior paladin could make it much easier for a junior paladin to step onto this path. Thus, by acknowledging River’s oath, he kickstarted his journey on the paladin path.

On his own, something like this would not have been enough to transition River into a paladin. With Lex’s support, though, the universe seemed to acknowledge that River had upheld his oath, and began to grant him some power.

River gasped, as this time he was certain that his body was growing stronger, and that weakness was leaving him.

"Thank you, senior! Thank you so mu-"

The figure held out his hand, stopping River’s words.

"I have done nothing but show you a path," the man said. "The path is yours to walk. If you want my help, you must first complete certain tasks I give you. But before that, you need to raise your strength. You can help no one if you’re about to keel over and die."

River felt a hint of apprehension when he heard about the tasks the strange man required from him. He couldn’t imagine what he could possibly offer to someone like him. But without him, River knew that he couldn’t recover either. It was a gamble, and a desperate one at that, but it wasn’t like River had any choice.

"Senior, I will do my best to complete your quests. If I can continue to grow stronger like this, I will do whatever you ask."

The man shook his head.

"Well first, stop calling me senior. I’m barely 25 years old, if even that at all," the man said, which confused River a lot. How could someone 25 be so strong and so enigmatic? River himself was 21, and could not imagine gaining so much strength in only a few years.

Lex thought for a moment about what name to take up, since he couldn’t use his own. He didn’t want to show even the slightest connection to his main body, though that thought made him somewhat angry.

"My name is Cliff. Yeah, it’s Cliff H. Anger."