Chapter 139: I Don't Need to Teach the Rest, Right?

  The people sitting in the booths were now veteran "grinders" of the Combat Strength Enhancement Arena. Their understanding of the eight classes below the stage was painfully deep.

  In the Arena, an Archer’s melee capability was roughly on par with a Mage—perhaps slightly better. Their close-quarters toolkit consisted primarily of two skills: Bow Bash and Backleap Quickfire. One was designed to repel intruders; the other to create distance.

  They were simple, practical, and in the hands of the AI, a total nightmare.

  Countless challengers had finally managed to close the gap, only to be knocked back, shot mid-air, and forced back into the Archer’s lethal kiting loop until they died of a thousand cuts. It was a hateful, soul-crushing way to fight, and they had found no answer for it.

  So, after the initial shock of Kael’s demo, the crowd settled in with a hint of schadenfreude. They were waiting for the Boss to mess up. After all, opportunities to mock the Manager were rare; they had to cherish every second.

  "Once you're close, an Archer's combat effectiveness drops to near zero," Kael said, sounding as if he couldn't even hear the murmurs of the crowd. "I assume I don't need to teach you the rest of the fight."

  While he spoke, his hands never slowed.

  In a display that left the shop in a deafening silence, Kael closed the distance and deleted the Archer in exactly three moves. Even those munching on snacks forgot to chew, their mouths hanging open.

  Parry: A casual flick of the sword to neutralize the Bow Bash.

  Interrupt: A lightning-fast thrust to cancel the Backleap Quickfire.

  Execution: A final, decisive arc that ended the match.

  The timing of those three strikes was pixel-perfect. It wasn't just a fight; it was a textbook execution of combat awareness and mechanical precision. There was nothing left to say but to marvel.

  Amidst the collective awe, Kael cleared his throat.

  "Alright," he said in a flat, business-like tone. "That concludes the tutorial on how to deal with Archers. They are likely the simplest opponents on the roster. I hope this livestream was helpful."

  Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

  The screen flickered, and the video began to loop. The crowd, however, remained frozen.

  "The simplest opponent...?"

  "Then what the hell have we been doing all this time?"

  "An Archer that can fire ten thousand arrows at once is the 'easiest' one?"

  "So... an Archer can actually be that strong," Lan Qin’er whispered.

  While the others were focused on Kael’s swordplay, she—as an Archer—saw the truth. The AI's reactions were perfect; if Kael had been even a millisecond slower, the AI would have escaped and reset the fight. It wasn't that the Archer was weak; it was that Kael was a monster.

  "If he can fight like that, so can I!" Jing Qingyun declared. He spent the next ten minutes analyzing the loop of Kael's tutorial before confidently selecting the Archer as his next opponent.

  "Shall we give it a go?" Blood Wolf and Tiger Hunt exchanged a glance and nodded in sync.

  "Why didn't he use a Mage to fight? This doesn't help me at all!" Nalan Qinqi huffed, waving her staff grumpily. Her words echoed the sentiments of every Mage in the room.

  Shuangshuang was about to stand up and cheer in agreement, but Wuji quickly pulled her back.

  Unlike the others, Wuji was looking at the bigger picture. If the rumors were true, this young manager was a Hero Rank Ice Mage. And yet, a powerful Mage possessed melee skills that were this terrifying? That kind of talent was enough to drive anyone to despair.

  It wasn't that Mages couldn't fight in melee—with the right buffs, their physical stats could rival a Warrior’s—but the technique was the issue. How could someone master high-level magic and god-tier martial arts simultaneously?

  "Ying Feng, do you think the Boss has a grudge against Mages?" Ying Xue asked, feeling helpless.

  "Probably not. Maybe he’s just saving the best for last," Ying Feng replied distractedly. He summoned a Knight’s Sword and charged toward the Arena stage, eager to test the "prediction" theory.

  Lan Zi’er peered into her potato chip bag, realized it was empty, and finally looked at the screen. "Wow, Big Brother is so cool!"

  "Zi'er, you weren't even watching..." Xia sighed, looking at the little girl with a mix of amusement and exasperation.

  As Kael pondered which class to "teach" next—thinking that one per day was a good pace to keep the customers hungry—the shop door opened.

  "Manager Kael, your shop never ceases to amaze," a familiar voice boomed.

  Gu Pingchuan had arrived.

  The Principal's first reaction was pure, unadulterated shock. His understanding of Space Folding magic far surpassed anyone else's in the shop. To him, the spatial distortion Kael used wasn't just a "renovation"—it was a feat comparable to a Forbidden Spell.

  This shop just keeps breaking the rules, the Dharma God thought. Last time it was an obsidian counter; this time it's high-level spatial manipulation.

  "Principal Gu, here for the Arena again?" Kael asked. He saw the old man as a walking "33% completion" toward his mission goal.

  "In a sense, yes," Gu Pingchuan smiled, heading straight for the snack vending machine. Spatial magic was impressive, but a delicious Fruit Flavored Jelly was more practical.

  "Hey, Manager! Old Gu says you’ve got stuff here that can refine Combat Aura and the physical body. Is that true?" Meng Xiangyu followed close behind, his eyes scanning the shop with intense curiosity.