Way of the Knights

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*Crack* *Crack*

A brittle sound echoed across Little Tiger's body. 

Spending the whole night refining the True Dragon's Blood Essence within his body was an exhausting  and painful ordeal but it was necessity if he wanted to achieve his goal. 

In the span of a single night, Little Tiger washed his marrows completely and infused it with the Blood Essence of a True Dragon. All of the old blood he expelled dyed his entire body red and became solid, forming a shell that encased him inside. As he regained consciousness, the smallest movements from Little Tiger caused the shell to crack and dissipate like ashes in the wind...

As the dried blood shell was completely removed from Little Tiger's body, it revealed his new physique. A young man sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed and a calm expression. His skin was of a healthy bronze color, all of his hair was gone, even the pieces of cloth he was wearing disappeared as well. He was buck naked as he sat down on his dirty bed but it didn't face him at all. 

Little Tiger opened his eyes and for a brief moment, his pupils were that of a dragon's before returning to it's normal appearance. This doesn't mean that his reptilian pupils were gone, it just faded, making it hard for anyone to discover. Whenever he uses his ocular techniques in the future, this pupils will appear and glow with a rainbow colored light. 

The changes on Little Tiger's physique was barely noticeable. It looks like he just gained weight, causing his previously emaciated-looking body to be filled-up just a little bit. But in reality, every cell on his body was brimming with strength. Nobody aside from himself could be any more familiar with sensation...

A grin flashed by Little Tiger's face. As he moved, he heard loud popping noises from his joints but all of this just gave him a pleasurable feeling. He felt lithe and carefree, he also feel confident due to the strength he possess. Nevertheless, he knows that this is far from enough. This transformation is nothing but a mere foundation for him, he hasn't even taken a single step to the peak just yet. 

Releasing a long sigh, Little Tiger searched for some cloth to cover-up his naked body. As soon as he was done doing so, he heard several footsteps doming closer to his...house.

"Hey, Little Tige-pfft!!"

"Eh? Why did you! Pfft!!!"

"Ahahahaha!!!!!"

His visitors were none other than Fatty and Rosa who immediately held their stomachs, laughing as they pointed at his head. 

"Oh geez, look at that shine. Pfft!" 

"Hey! That's...pfft! That's rude...pfft!!!" 

Little Tiger looked at them with a deadpanned expression as he unconsciously touched his smooth, bald head. He also felt the area just above his eyes and as expected, even his eye-brows weren't spared. 

It took them at least five minutes of non-stop laughing and rolling on the floor before they managed to calm down. If it weren't for the fact that it's getting harder for them to breathe and their stomachs were hurting, they'd probably continue laughing all day long.

"Whew! Geez! I forgot the last time since I laughed this much...ah shit, my sides hurt." Fatty said while clutching his side-belly. 

"What the hell did you this time? Don't tell me it's Young Master Jin again?" Rosa asked as she clutched her sides as well while panting. 

"It's not. Something just happened." Little Tiger replied while peering outside of the...window, if you can even call it that.

"Dude, not only did you lose all of your hair, you also lost your eyebrows hair. Seriously what happened to you? Did you burn them or something?" Fatty asked. 

"Not really...I don't really know how to explain it. Just take it for what it is..." Little Tiger replied. 

He couldn't just outright tell them that he refined the blood essence of the true dragon overnight and lost all of his hairs now could he? Ignoring the fact that they'll never believe that, it would also create a misunderstanding so he might as well just brush off the topic. 

"Well? Why did you two come here?" Little Tiger asked.

"You sound like we have an ulterior motive every time we visit you..." Rosa grumbled. 

"..." Little Tiger gave her a look that says 'Damn right, I do'. 

"Okay fine! We can't help it anyway." Rosa relented. 

Her and Fatty went closer to Little Tiger. Fatty then said: "The monthly exchange is about to occur..."

"...let me guess." Little Tiger groaned, pinching the bridge of nose as he continued: "You don't have enough materials to exchange and you want my help. Is that right?" 

"..."

Rosa and Fatty could only nod in silence. Indeed, Little Tiger's assumptions were correct. 

The Monthly Exchange is where people use materials they crafted in exchange for food and supplies. This is an offer given by the Tribe Leader. Materials like arrows, wooden spears, wooden stakes, stacks of hay and so on could be exchanged for Meat, Rice and Water. Those who are more lucky could even exchange them for clothes and such...

There is a given quota to every household. People could of course choose to not exchange their wares but they won't have any food if they don't. The tribe forbids people from encouraging laziness, so if somebody was caught given rations to those who refuses to contribute, they'll be severely punished. 

Orphans had it the worst. People here might consider each other as tribemates but in reality, selfishness and greed comes in many forms. Nobody will help them since they too are struggling, additionally Orphans are also discriminated greatly in this tribe. 

Little Tiger, Fatty and Rosa always exchanged using Arrows. Two quivers packed with arrows could be exchanged for two kilograms of meat jerky, three gallons of water and five kilograms of gruel. Little Tiger was a consistent person. He never went above or below his quota, he always surrenders them in time and the quality of his products always remains the same. 

Fatty and Rosa on the other hand, mostly fail short of their monthly quota. They aren't as good as Little Tiger when it comes to making arrows. In fact, the reason why these three became friends was because of this. 

After all, if somebody fails to meet their monthly quota, they can't exchange for anything at all. 

"Help us please? I promise, we'll give you the share if you do." Fatty placed his palms together as if pleading for Little Tiger to help them out. 

Little Tiger sighed. He then asked: "How many do you lack?" 

"I lack five." Rosa replied.

"Seven for me." Fatty added. 

Little Tiger stood up and lifted his bed. Underneath it, was a stack of nearly arranged arrows protected by a wooden box. He opened the box and took a total of 12 arrows. He then put the bed back together and handed the arrows to them. 

Rosa and Fatty's eyes lit-up once they saw this. 

"Thank you! Thank you!" They both said while hugging Little Tiger. 

Little Tiger sighed and pushed their faces away. He then said: "I'm not giving you that for free just so you know." 

"Aww..." 

The corners of Little Tiger's lips twitched when he saw this. It would seem like they were actually expecting him to give these arrows for free. How can there be free stuff in a world like this? 

"I don't need your food either. I just need you to tell me something..."

Fatty and Rosa looked at each other in confusion, they then looked at Little Tiger with a curious expression on their faces. 

"Do you know of a deserted place within the tribe?" Little Tiger asked. "I need a location that doesn't have frequent visitors. Like a hidden place or something..."

Little Tiger then saw Rosa and Fatty looking at each other once more. Confusion was visible on their faces.

"Why do you ask?" Fatty asked.

"Do you want the arrows or not?" Little Tiger countered with an impatient expression. 

"I do! I do! Wait, let me think." 

Fatty and Rosa started searching their memories of places that fit Little Tiger's description. Shortly afterwards, Rosa sighed and said:

"I can't think of any, sorry." 

"I see." Little Tiger sighed, he then looked at Fatty. 

"Hmm...I'm not sure..." 

"Not sure of what?" Little Tiger asked. 

"W-well, I do have a location that fits some of your description. But as for whether it has frequent visitors or not, I'm not so sure of that." 

"Where?" 

"It's the place behind the Graveyard." Fatty replied. "You know the hill on the eastern part of the tribe right? That's where our dead tribesmen are buried. Behind that hill, is the place that I'm talking about." 

"Ah! That place!" Rosa understood. "Yeah, that kind of fits his description. But, since the place is near the graveyard, people might actually stumble behind that place."

"Well, as far as I know, nobody enters that place. They said that the place is filled with the ghosts of the dead tribesmen. I never really see people going there personally but just like Rosa said, I would assume that people knows about that place and goes there as well." 

"...I see." Little Tiger's eyes briefly shone. "Okay, that's enough for me.. Thanks, you can go."