The reason he had come by this stall was because there were several bows and crossbows displayed. The stall owner was a woman who wore leather clothes. The leather seemed to be sewed roughly together from a collection of animal hide. The woman had a beautiful countenance but her expression and demeanor were far from elegant.
She looked at Amon with a frown and said with a heavy voice, "What are you doing here, kid? This is no place for children."
"I'm looking for a bow or crossbow," Amon replied as he studied the ones on display.
"And what are you going to do with them? They are not a toy."
"I'm going to use it to kill things."
"What things?"
"Anything that posed a threat to me or anything that needs killing," Amon replied.
The woman bent down to take a closer look at Amon. Her crudely made clothes were full of holes, when she bent down, one of the openings revealed part of her large breasts, but she didn't seem to mind.
"You are an interesting kid. Do you know how to use a bow?" She asked.
"Enough to do the killing."
"Which one do you prefer? Bow or crossbow?"
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"Of course. Considering your small size, using the ones here will be rather unbalanced. Tell you what, if you can hit that piece of wood hanging up there from here, I will make one for your size. With a fee, of course. Here, use this."
She gave Amon one of the crossbows on the stall. Amon inspected the weapon. It was an engraved weapon, though it was only of low-tier. Having studied engraving himself, he could identify it with a single glance. The construction and craftsmanship of the crossbow itself were exquisite. Amon could see that the one who made it knew what she was doing.
"Did you make this yourself?" Amon asked.
"Of course, do you see me as a mere trader who sold someone else's wares?"
"It is nicely made," Amon gave his praise.
"It is weird getting a compliment from a kid," the woman said. "So, are you still taking the bet?"
"How many shots am I allowed?"
"Three."
Amon double-checked the crossbow again. It was already nocked and a bolt sat on its flight groove. Seeing no problem with it, he aimed it at the piece of wood mentioned by the woman. This piece was tied to a rope that was dangling by a rope from the roof of a nearby building. It probably used to be a wooden sign held by two ropes, but one had broken off and no one bothered to fix or clean away the wood and rope.
Amon got into a posture as he adjusted his aim. He slowed his breathing to a stop before he pressed the trigger. The bolt went past the side of the wood and latched itself onto the roof's overhang.
"Two more chances," the woman said as she handed Amon another bolt.
Amon pulled the bowstring back before inserting the bolt into place. He then took another aim and fired. The bolt struck the wood accurately. The wood swayed around due to the force. Every ranged weapon had its own characteristics. Amon studied them in his first shot so that he could make adjustments for a more accurate shot on his second try.
"How much is the fee for that custom-made crossbow?" Amon asked.
The woman gave him an impressed look. "You truly know what you are doing," she said, then added, "One hundred Aer stones. Fifty now, fifty when it's done."
"I give you a hundred now, you let me keep this crossbow. I will return it later when I pick up the one you make," Amon countered.
The woman seemed to give the offer some thought before replying, "all right. But if that crossbow is damaged, you have to pay for it as well."
"How much is this crossbow?"
"Thirty Aer stones."
Amon raised his brows, "You charged me more than three times the price for making a new one? Are you not taking advantage of me?"
"The one I custom made for you will be using special materials. You won't regret it."
"Fine. How long will you need to make that crossbow?"
"Give me three to four weeks. Hunting for the materials will not be easy, I only use the best materials for custom work."
Amon nodded. He stored the crossbow in his Space Ring. He then paid the woman and let her take his measurement, particularly his arms. The crossbow was to be made especially for him, after all. After it was done, Amon was about to leave when the woman asked, "what's your name, kid?"
Amon hesitated for a bit before answering. He briefly thought about giving his real name but then decided to still stick with the name he was given in this world. "Lin Mo," Amon replied.
"I am Xin Lie," the woman said.
*
A few days after, Amon went to the Clan Mission Center. It was already the time for him to do some missions to fulfill the needed quota. He strolled around the second floor searching for a suitable mission.
There were murmurs when the other young generations saw him. Although he rarely had contact with the others, almost all the other young generations of the Lin clan knew about him. He was called the bastard of Madam Lin by these kids. The fact that Amon never bothered to socialize with the others, always trained by himself, and did lone missions all this time, had alienated Amon further.
Amon's cultivation level was no secret to the others, and the other kids associated it with Madam Lin spoiling him by giving him ample resources. Jealousy arose which then bred nasty rumors, but Amon ignored all that. As long as they didn't cause trouble for him, he didn't care what those kids think about him.
Of course, there was time to time when this dissatisfaction caused some hot-headed youngsters to come with the intention of bullying him. Amon always replied by throwing them a challenge to fight in the training arena. Even if the kids he challenged had higher cultivation, Amon didn't care.
Some accepted, some laughed him off. Those that accepted, were mostly beaten to a pulp. Some, who were much higher in cultivation than Amon managed to win over Amon, but these kids always didn't win easily despite being much stronger. Relying on his experience and battle instinct, Amon made them suffer before they tasted victories. Even when they won, they didn't feel joy, as they could feel that Amon enjoyed the fight even if he was losing.
Amon's craze for fighting instead doused the enthusiasm of those who wished to bully him. Those kids ended up avoiding him instead. Amon thought it was a pity. The arena was a perfect place for him to practice the way of fighting in this world, as there was a referee that would stop the fights if any participant's life was in danger. So, it was an ideal place where he could enjoy a safe fight.
As Amon was browsing the missions on the boards, he bumped into a familiar person. It was Lin Xiaolong and his brother Lin Xiaoying.
"Hmph, the bastard," Lin Xiaolong uttered.
"How about another round in the arena?" Amon asked. Lin Xiaolong was among those who he had fought in the arena and had lost against. But in that fight, Amon also caused a small fracture in the bone of Lin Xiaolong's left arm. This wound had caused Lin Xiaolong to have to rest for a while.
Amon himself suffered a more serious wound, but he healed faster. Amon learned that his Demon Body could heal faster than normal people. Added to his ability to concoct his own recovery pills and salve, he didn't mind getting these little wounds from time to time.
"Who wants to waste time with a freak like you?" Lin Xiaolong responded.
Amon just shrugged, he then continued browsing the mission. Not long after, he found one he liked. It was an assassination mission. The reward point was 350 points, so just doing this one mission would be enough for him to fulfill his quota for the next three months already. He immediately took the approval paper for this mission to the counter.
After he left, Lin Xiaolong and Lin Xiaoying came to the board that Amon had taken the mission. They studied the mission information. After a while, Lin Xiaolong said to his brother, "Go inform brother Zuyi."
*
After receiving the approval to go ahead with the assassination mission, Amon studied the more detailed information provided by the counter. The target was an influential merchant who used to do profitable business with the Lin clan. But recently he had a change of heart and changed his business partner to the Lei clan instead. Such betrayal was a slap to the face for the Lin clan, they had to take care of this merchant, but at the same time, they could not leave evidence that they had something to do with it.
The merchant goes by the name of Man Sam. He was a weak cultivator of only the peak Mortal stage, but he was always accompanied by several bodyguards with cultivation around the Strength stage, the head of the guards was even a peak Transformation stage. Such a contingent usually warranted the mission to be put on the third floor instead of the second floor. But considering the target to be assassinated was only of the Mortal stage, the difficulty was being balanced. All the assassin needed to do, was to look for an opportunity when the target was not protected.
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