The Innkeeper

Marlo’s Self Defense for beginners

At a specific penthouse in New York, a small child had dozed off in the living room in front of the TV. Drool flowed down the side of his face and the various colors of the cartoon that were flashing on his innocent face made him look very adorable. His mother, who was standing over him, was smiling at her child – but her smile was tinged with sadness and anxiety.

After a short while she picked him up and took him to bed, before tucking herself in beside him. She noticed he had some kind of golden toy key in his hand, but he was holding onto it too tightly so she didn’t try to force it from him.

It was just the two of them living there, and it was the last of her inheritance she had received from her family. For the past few weeks she had been trying to find a job, but she’d never worked anywhere in her life. Although she’d graduated from a prestigious college, that was over a decade ago. Without any relevant experience no one was willing to take a chance on her. She could ask someone she knew for a favor and try to get a job that way, however up until now she had been too proud to do so. Maybe it was time to put away her pride soon. She closed her eyes and tried to go to sleep, tears streaming down her face.

******

Next morning Lex stretched and as he tried to rouse his drowsy self. It was 11 am so he couldn’t even say he was waking up early. In fact he wasn’t waking up at all. Last night he’d turned on his PC to play a few games and blow off some steam, but he was enthralled when he discovered his reaction speed and accuracy had improved immensely. Game after game he broke all his previous records, and he was on the longest win streak of his life. His excitement had gripped him and regardless of what game he played, his performance had improved readily. Briefly he even considered starting a career as a video game streamer, though tragically he had to force himself away from that thought as his focus had to remain the Midnight Inn. Still, he played until right now when he could no longer ignore his rumbling stomach.

Forcefully tearing himself away from the computer he washed his face before finding himself in front of the TV again, with various Chinese leftovers in front of him. Truly it had been a while since he had been so decadent. After enjoying himself by enveloping himself in laziness for a couple more hours he changed into a track suit and went out. There was no progress on the Inn but he couldn’t really let things rest without putting in any work at all. Jessica told him he was using too much strength in his handshake, and in fact last night he ended up breaking a keyboard completely in his excitement while gaming. There was an assortment of other things in his apartment that had suffered some damage due to his carelessness such as furniture, door knobs, walls and even his shower during a slipping incident.

He had to learn how to better control his strength, and currently through exercise was the only thing he could think of. Tomorrow he would have his first self-defense lesson for new cultivators and he would use that opportunity to ask about it, but until then he would have to make do.

He started with a light jog, focusing completely on his legs and the strength he used. He controlled his stride as best as he could and did his best to control how much force he was using. Unfortunately after around half an hour a careless misstep caused him to completely tear his joggers.

He bought himself several new pairs and spent the day utilizing his time focusing on trying to control his strength. He wouldn’t admit it, but secretly he felt very giddy every time he ‘accidentally’ tore a shirt while flexing too much.

The next day he woke up bright and early and got ready for his first class. He wasn’t sure what to expect, however he dressed up in a new tracksuit he purchased yesterday. At 7:50am he found himself in front of a private auditorium with a security guard at the entrance. He flashed his Bluebird token to the man who promptly moved out of the way and let Lex in.

Inside he discovered that there were only a few people, two girls and five guys who were chatting softly with one another. In the center of the auditorium was a large arena with padded floors and a large man, sitting on a folding chair with his eyes closed. When he entered the group of 7 who were chatting turned to look at him, and after a moment one of the guys waved him over.

“Hey man, name’s Larry. You a new member too?”

“Yeah, name’s Lex” he replied, observing the rather frail looking man. He noticed that none of the 7 people looked very fit or muscular, though he was sure they were at least cultivators since that was the minimum requirement to attend this class. It was a little strange, as though he couldn’t consider himself very muscular, his body was in much better shape than before. He used to think that cultivating naturally made one look more fit but that might not be the case it seemed.

“Welcome, welcome. We’re all new as well, it’s only been a few weeks myself since I became a cultivator. More people should be coming soon I guess, since the first class is free. This is a great chance to make a few connections, if you know what I mean.” Larry winked at Lex before subtly hinting towards the two women in the group.

Lex smiled weakly. Even as a cultivator, this guy’s focus was only on girls. The others from the group introduced themselves, and it seemed all the people here were rogue cultivators who had either inherited cultivation from their families or found cultivation manuals somewhere by accident. It seemed that was a more common occurrence than Lex had imagined.

What surprised Lex the most however, was that all five guys planned on joining the military once after today’s free self defense lesson. Apparently the army offered the best benefits to lone cultivators and helped them further their cultivation. The two girls were friends and didn’t share any details on their plans, however Lex got the sense that they also were either going to join or already had joined some organization.

Another thing he learnt was that almost all of them took a few weeks to stabilize their cultivation before they felt confident enough in their control over their strength. Apparently it was very common for new cultivators to be unable to control themselves, even worse than he was it seemed.

A few more people came as time went by, and at 8:30 the large man finally opened his eyes and got up from his chair. Although he made no noise, he grabbed everyone’s attention. Aware of the effect he had on the crowd he grinned slyly and spoke, “Welcome to Marlo’s Self Defense for new cultivators. Everyone here has entered a new world of cultivation. Some of you may be familiar with this world already, and some of you may be new. Either way, let me be the one to help you take your first steps as you begin your new life.”

His words were welcoming, but the manic excitement in his eyes, his wild hair, patchy stubble and his muscle bulging,towering figure told a different story. Lex gulped. Were all cultivators a little crazy?