"This is what you did," Sir Guo said, pointing towards the pile of destroyed dummies.
"Come on, it's not that bad," Apollo sighed, shaking his head.
"Not that bad?!" Sir Guo was livid. "You cut them in half! Some of them are unrecognizable! And look at the ground! And the stage!"
The training ground guardian pointed to the damage before glaring at the beggar.
Apollo whistled nonchalantly, though his eyes glanced over the destruction. The ground had a clean cut, several meters deep, and the stage was in a similar state.
"How much?" he asked casually, crossing his arms and staring at Sir Guo.
"Each training dummy costs a thousand gold coins, and the stage..." Sir Guo trailed off, glancing at Apollo with a sneer. "I had someone check the repairs—two thousand five hundred gold coins for the stage, and a thousand gold coins for the damaged ground."
Apollo nodded, counting the dummies. "So, eighteen thousand five hundred gold coins?"
"Yes," Sir Guo smiled, relieved that Apollo wasn't protesting. Maybe being annoying is part of his act as a Wanderer. "It's a small amount for a Wanderer, actually. Back when I was a Wanderer, I had so much money that I c—"
Sir Guo couldn't finish. The moment he blinked, the beggar in front of him was gone!
He turned towards the entrance, spotting a vague figure almost reaching it.
"Stop escaping!" Sir Guo shouted in frustration, his body sparking with electricity as he instantly appeared in front of the fleeing beggar. "The same trick won't work!"
Just like before, he grabbed the collar of his target, but the moment he applied force, the figure dissolved into a humanoid shape of water!
"A decoy!" Sir Guo realized. He quickly spread his senses, immediately locating Apollo.
In the distance, Apollo was already running vertically up a wall, trying to escape.
"I told you, it's no use!" Sir Guo shouted confidently. Lightning flashed around him, forming into a spear of electricity. With a wave of his hand, the spear blurred and struck Apollo in an instant.
A loud zapping sound echoed, followed by a thud and a small dust cloud.
Sir Guo transformed into lightning, reappearing beside the unconscious beggar.
"Haha, you're really annoying!" Sir Guo laughed angrily at the sleeping kid. "You just got hit by my lightning spear. You won't be able to move for thirty minutes or so."
Although Apollo couldn't hear him, Sir Guo still felt the need to brag.
He began dragging the beggar like a sack of garbage back to their previous spot, deciding to wake him there.
However, as Sir Guo was about to slap him awake, Apollo's eyes fluttered open, full of confusion.
"What happened?" Apollo muttered, his vision blurry, but he could still make out the light blue sky and the silhouette of a person.
As his memories returned, he suddenly stood up, fully alert.
Without acknowledging Sir Guo, Apollo took off running again. Eighteen thousand five hundred gold coins?! Where the hell am I supposed to get that kind of money?! And even if I had it, there's no way I'm paying for those damages!
But after taking a couple of steps, something struck Apollo's back. It was hot, and his body started shaking before he blacked out.
Sir Guo stared at the unconscious beggar with a heavy expression. This guy… the way he behaves… he really doesn't want to pay for the damages. Has he just started being a Wanderer? But what caught Sir Guo's attention more was something else. The issue of the destroyed training ground and dummies was put aside for now, as there was something else he needed to confirm first.
Apollo woke up after a while, confusion on his face, but his memories quickly returned.
Shit! I have to get out of here! I don't want to pay!
But this time, he didn't even get the chance to take a step before another lightning spear hit him in the back.
Sir Guo started counting. Each time the beggar woke up, he fired another lightning spear, knocking Apollo out again. He repeated the process several times, and each time… "It became less."
Apollo would pass out from the lightning spear but only needed a few seconds to wake up compared to the initial two to three minutes.
"He's adapting," Sir Guo muttered, his eyes gleaming with excitement. He sent another lightning spear, causing the beggar to collapse, but this time, Apollo immediately sprang back to life.
"Hey! You sadistic bastard! Fuck you!" Apollo shouted angrily at Sir Guo. "Is this fun for you?! Can't you stop already?! I said I'll pay!
I just need some time!"
In the end, the 'torture' forced Apollo to give in. He realized that no matter what he did, the difference in strength between them was like heaven and earth—something he couldn't bridge at the moment.
Sir Guo clearly had a higher Cultivation and techniques Apollo couldn't counter.
But what the hell just happened? Apollo frowned, not because of Sir Guo's silence, but because his back still ached. He couldn't help but recall the strange sensation. His body would shake, then he'd black out.
It's like… his eyes suddenly widened. Lightning?! Come to think of it, that pervert had used something like appearing in front of him in a blue blur with a zapping sound.
Yeah, that's definitely lightning!
He hurriedly checked his body and realized there were remnants of lightning inside him. They bounced around his organs before settling in his heart.
What the hell did I just witness? Apollo raised an eyebrow, then smiled.
He could feel the lightning inside his heart. Is this because of the Lightning Attribute? Apollo wondered. He wanted to figure out how to use his attribute, but decided to focus on other matters first. However, it seemed he had just confirmed what he needed to do from now on with his attribute.
"Hey!" Apollo called out to the still-silent Sir Guo. "I'm going to escape! Try hitting me with that again!"
But he was met with silence.
"Yoo-hoo! I said I'm going to escape! Hit me with your lightning!" Apollo repeated, but the training ground guardian didn't move. "What's wrong with you, dude? Did you suddenly turn into a coward?"
This time, Sir Guo moved. He slowly walked toward the beggar, a smile forming on his lips. "Don't run away. I have a proposal for you."
Apollo took a few steps back, but when he heard the word 'proposal,' he stopped in his tracks and tilted his head.