Immortality Starts With Selling Pills

Chapter 43: Chapter 43: Gained Respect

[Random Mission: Smack That Ass — Complete!]

[Reward: 50 Unranked Physical Enhancement Drugs — Claimed.]

...Oh no.

The reality of what he’d just done crashed into him a full three seconds too late, adrenaline draining out fast enough to leave him cold.

I actually did it. I actually smacked my instructor’s ass in front of a live audience.

”Hey, brother. Tell me...”

”Yes, brother.”

”Are you seeing what I am seeing?”

”If you are talking about how the boy just signed his death warrant? Yeah, I am.”

While two identical twins were whispering on the side, they heard a third voice interjecting from the side.

”How absolutely beautiful.” They whipped their head towards the source of the voice. It was a middle aged man who was staring at the ring with specs. ”What a wonderful display of battle awareness.”

The twins looked at him as if they were asking ”Are you for real?”

”This is absolute peak of Tactical advantage.”

”TACTICAL, MY ASS!” Unable to take it anymore, the twin on the left screamed.

”He lured her into a situation where she would be in advantage to take advantage of her. How is that not tactical.” The man replied while pushing the spectacles up his nose.

The others also started to get out of their stupor and exploded.

”HE DID NOT JUST—”

”BRO IS DEAD. BRO IS SO DEAD.”

”I’ve never seen her move that fast in my LIFE—”

”Somebody call an ambulance NOW, preemptively—”

”I refuse to believe she could not react to that.. that... that... attack.” Unlike the men in the gym, the women looked devastated like they had seen the person they admired for so long fall.

”Indeed she could have dodged it but that would mean using the powers beyond the limits she had set on herself and you know her. She is a headstrong woman who would rather keep her pride rather than being humiliated like this.”

Being a smart woman herself, Maki instantly understood what had happened.

She was not just a simple receptionist as she appeared. She had been personally trained my Maki herself so she knows her personality better than anyone else.

Worth it. Absolutely worth it.

Keira stalked toward him, aura flaring faintly at the edges, murder dancing behind her sharp grin. ”You’ve got guts, kid. I’ll give you that.”

”You said don’t hold back,” Derrick shot back, raising his fists again despite every nerve screaming at him to run. ”I didn’t.”

”What are you on guard for?” Suddenly the aura around her vanished and everything returned to normal. Keira cracked her neck like nothing had happened and looked down at him. ”Do you think I would go back on my word?”

”I am not a petty woman.”

’Yeah sure.’ Many in the crowd thought the same thing at the same time.

Keira stepped before him, ”Since you landed that punch on me, this is your win and as I promised you would be my student.”

Derrick smiled in relief and lowered his hands.

But just as he relaxed she continued.

”But...” Derrick’s smile froze. He slowly raised his head to see the vicious grin on Keira’s face. ”As a teacher it is my duty to teach my disciple and discipline him on how to treat a woman.”Her grin widened, she cracked her knuckles and stepped forwards.

There it is.

Then, for the next five minutes everyone saw a one sided beatdown of a boy who had won in his life but at what cost.

...

Keira’s office sat above the gym floor, it was small and cramped, walls lined with old fight posters and a few dented trophies. But there were no photos of the woman herself.

Derrick sat in the chair across from her desk. Every inch of him hurt. His ribs throbbed with each breath. One eye had already started to swell shut.

He was not one to complain since he did smack his ass knowing what the outcome would be.

Derrick opened his system and tried to buy some healing pills but he recalled there was not a single credit left in his bank. Everything was used to purchase his skill.

And somehow even the credits from his author page as well. Somehow the system had deducted money from that balance as well.

Keira leaned against the edge of her desk, arms crossed, studying him like he was a piece of meat on a scale.

”Your basics are decent,” she said. ”Better than decent for someone who’s only had a few days of real training. But decent doesn’t mean anything against a real hunter.”

”Humans and beasts are both unpredictable. They hunt with their lives on the line and all I feel from you is hesitation and doubts.”

Derrick nodded slowly.

He agreed with her assessment but that did not mean he could change it all within a second. He needed time to work on it.

”What are your ambitions?” she asked, tilting her head. ”Why do you even want strength?”

He thought about lying. Thought about giving her some grand answer she’d want to hear.

But he didn’t.

Now that he had accepted her proposal, Derrick decided to put his trust in her a little. He had to start somewhere.

”I don’t want to be a hunter,” he said, voice flat, honest. ”I just want to protect what’s mine. My family. Myself. And I want to actually use whatever power I get. Not waste it.”

Keira studied him for a long moment, dark eyes unreadable.

Then she scoffed, arms tightening across her chest, squeezing them a little. ”A man without ambition doesn’t turn me on.”

Derrick blinked. ”That wasn’t a request for your approval.”

”And that stunt you pulled earlier,” she continued, ignoring him completely, ”shit like that just annoys me. Makes me angry and when I am angry— trust me Derrick, You don’t want me angry, kid.”

Could’ve fooled me. Pretty sure I just spent five minutes finding that out the hard way. But wait... did she actually use my name.

”You have no idea how big my ambition actually is,” Derrick said instead, meeting her gaze evenly despite the swelling around his eye.

Keira raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.

”I’ll believe it when I see it.” She shrugged, already turning to grab something off her desk. ”Talk is cheap. Everyone’s got big dreams until the real work starts.”

She didn’t wait for a response.

”Tomorrow, we are going to pick a weapon for you. Now that I know what you are capable of I need a direction to point you in.” She pulled a small card from a drawer, sliding it across the desk toward him. ”This address. Five a.m. sharp. Don’t be late.”

Derrick picked up the card, turning it over between his fingers. Blank except for a string of numbers and a location he didn’t recognize.

”Five a.m.,” he repeated.

”Sharp,” she said again, tone leaving zero room for negotiation. ”You show up late, I make today look like a warm-up.”

Urghh. The only way to win someone like her is to gain her acknowledgment. Make her realize that I am not just all talk.

He tucked the card into his pocket, wincing as the motion pulled at his bruised ribs.

”Anything else?”

Keira’s grin returned, slow and sharp. ”Just don’t die on me before I’ve had my fun.”