Martial Online.

'During the training, I discovered alongside my soul a neat trick.' Ambrose activated his Self-Possession, and turned his hand transparent.

'Well, calling it neat isn't the correct wording. Instead, it's a very diabolic skill, and I hate even thinking about using it.

'However, a small pinch shouldn't hurt too much, but it'll show what I am capable of.'

Rach sneered, laughing inwardly at the black-haired figure. He would never give away the dojo key, no matter what. As long as he had it, the dojo was still his, and it was impossible to take it away from him.

Except if he died and accidentally dropped it.

That's why the safety of the dojo master was always a priority.

Ambrose stabbed his transparent hand through Rach's chest. It didn't feel like anything as the hand simply phased through.

However, Ambrose wrapped his transparent hand around Rach's heart.

At that moment, Rach's slumbering soul appeared for a split second, and Ambrose immediately pinched its transparent skin.

Within an instant, a burning sensation shot throughout Rach's body, making him scream in utter agony.

"Aaaaaargh!" Rach's eyes shot to the back of his skull, and it looked like he was about to pass out.

Ken, hearing that, felt a cold chill run down his back. He looked at Rach, seeing him scream with foam pouring out of his mouth, and he could only imagine the pain he was going through.

Ambrose frowned and immediately stopped pinching.

'I know getting hurt in the soul is painful, but isn't this too much?' Ambrose thought to himself.

"P-please stop!" Rach screamed and grabbed Ambrose by his arm. "H-how are you doing t-this?"

Ambrose looked at his bloodshot eyes and felt quite bad, as it looked like he mistook Rach's pain resistance. 

'This wasn't a proper soul injury. This will heal without treatment, but the pain will last for at least an hour. That's why I thought the pain wasn't that immense.

'Is his resistance to pain just poor?'

"Y-you're getting b-banned for this..." Rach said painfully, looking like he was resisting crying.

"If this wasn't allowed, why did the game developers make this possible, hmm?" Ambrose asked, and he removed his transparent hand from Rach's body.

He then deactivated his Self-Possession.

Rach's bloodshot eyes widened in surprise. It made sense.

'I thought feeling pain was impossible!' He thought fearfully. 'H-how did he do this?'

"You can now see what I am capable of." Ambrose said. "I can make you feel much worse. Worst pain imaginable. Your second option is to give me the key right now."

"F-fine!" Rach reached out to his inventory and tossed the brass key to the floor with a clang. "T-take it, p-please, no more..."

Ambrose grabbed the key, checked its description, and nodded.

"Thank you." He then swung his wooden sword, ending Rach's life with one swift strike. He then pocketed the key and turned around to leave. "Ken, time to go."

"Yes, master." Ken followed right behind, and they soon departed from the dojo.

As they walked down the street, Ambrose checked Alice's message. This morning, she sent a message saying that she accepted the proposal to relocate their dojo.

Ambrose quickly wrote a message to her, saying that he had acquired a dojo for her, and then pressed send.

"What if they'll come back, master?" Ken asked while walking ahead of Ambrose, clearing the path for him.

Ambrose rummaged through his pockets, took out the brass key, and said.

"They won't."

"Are you sure, master?" Ken asked, as he couldn't understand where his master's optimist came from.

"You heard his screams." Ambrose pocketed the key and shrugged his shoulders. "If I were in his shoes, I wouldn't come back."

"That, uuh, makes sense." Ken nodded, and he counted his lucky stars that his new master went easy on him during their fight.

He was certain that those screams would hunt him in his dreams.

After a short while, they arrived back at the dojo, and as they were about to walk through the gate, a horse-drawn carriage rushed through the street very recklessly.

The pedestrians screamed and rushed out of the way.

The carriage driver pulled the reins, but the horse was mad in rage and didn't listen to any commands. Its eyes were red like a fiery inferno, and its neighs sounded demonic.

"Master, look out!" Ken stood in front of Ambrose, his arms raised in a defensive position, as if he planned to stop the horse and the carriage with his body alone.

"Don't kill yourself, now." Ambrose leaped over Ken, whispered to him, and lunged towards the enraged-looking horse.

He smashed his hand into the horse's head, stopping it in its tracks.

"Neeeeigh!" The horse neighed loudly and lifted its front legs towards the sky, causing the carriage behind it to almost tip over.

"Ah, shit!" The carriage driver shouted and grabbed the reins hard; otherwise, he would have been thrown off.

'What is wrong with it?' Ambrose wondered as he looked at the horse's blood-red eyes.

It looked like it was in immense pain.

'Do you know, soul?' Ambrose temporarily entered the world of souls so he could converse with it.

The soul couldn't see anything happening outside the world of souls, so it had no idea what was happening.

'Hmm...' The soul received only a small amount of Ambrose's memories, only the ones that he was allowed to share.

'It does look like Rach when he was in pain, does it not?' The soul said, 'My guess is that it's soul is injured.'

'That was my thought as well. My connection with other souls has increased, and I had a small hunch, but now it's confirmed.' Ambrose nodded and left the world of souls.

He looked at the horse's painful-looking eyes and knew it was in immense pain. However, he lacked the ability to cure it. 

'A merciful death.' Ambrose drew his wooden sword and stabbed quickly through the horse's heart. It was a swift and painless death.

The horse fell sideways to the ground, the pain in its eyes disappearing as it entered a deep slumber.

Ambrose closed his eyes and slipped the wooden sword inside his scabbard, which was Black Sword's old sheath.

'I need to learn to cure the soul injuries, for my sake and for others as well. If Bella or Emma get their souls injured... I need to go visit the Honorable Temple soon. They'll teach me.'

"Y-you killed my horse!" The angry-looking carriage driver stood up from the fallen carriage and angrily pointed at him. "It cost a lot of money, y'know!"

"Quiet down!" Ken stepped forward and frightened the carriage driver with the size of his body. "Do you have any idea who you are speaking to? Lower your head, peasant!"

"Enough, Ken." Ambrose lifted his arm, grabbed a handful of coins that were around 100 silvers worth, and tossed them to the carriage driver. "This should be enough and some extra for your troubles."

The carriage driver, who was still terrified of Ken, caught the silvers but nodded gratefully. He thought he had to leave empty-handed, but thankfully the black-haired man seemed a decent person.

"Master, you are too kind." Ken approached Ambrose and whispered to him. "You didn't need to pay him. The enraged horse was his fault and could have killed many people!"

"I'm not sure it was his fault." Ambrose said to him, because when looking at the carriage driver, he didn't seem like a person who had the ability to cause soul injuries.

'However, why did someone give a soul injury to some innocent horse?' Ambrose frowned and felt like there was something sinister going on behind the scenes.