The young man washed over the shore. His body was full of cuts and wounds. He had just survived an unbelievable assassination.

Still, he had lost everything. There was no hope left for him.

"Hey! Check out this guy? Is he some sort of noble?"

"Ah, sheesh. He really is! Let’s bring him back. Some rich noble is going to buy him back for sure."

Tenmaru sighed. No one was going to pay his ransom. He had no one left in this world that he could trust.

The bandits of Iwama mountain grabbed him and carried him back into their camp. They cared for him and made sure his recovery was perfect so they could sell him back to his own family.

Paying for ransom was a usual thing in Arashi and most noble family would always pay the ransom. It was relating to their honor. And honor was the greatest attribute in this land.

’I wonder how they would react if they know no one is paying.’

Tenmaru was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. Maybe he could buy enough time for him to recover and escape this place.

The leader of this bandits was Anjuro, a failed Awaken Samurai that betrayed their lord to become their own king in the mountains.

Their bandit group had been terrorizing the few nearby villages for years now. No one could do anything to them.

Anjuro really felt like he had become his own kind of king.

The man chugged down a bowl of wine and laughed loudly, "Maybe I can even call myself the Sixth King? Hahaha!"

Anjuro grabbed a girl and put her on his laps. This woman was once a prostitute in a big city. She and a few other prostitutes followed Anjuro here to live and serve these men.

They were way too old to be sold in the brothel so this was their little retirement plan.

Suddenly, the gate of the camp was blown open.

"Huh?" Anjuro pushed the prostitute away and stood up. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

At the gate, a man with silver hair slowly walked inside. He wore a weird white martial art clothes with blood on it. In each of his hand was fire burning relentlessly.

Anjuro grabbed his machete. He and his men approached the man in question.

"Who the hell are you?" Anjuro said.

"Ginro Musashi." The stranger man answered.

Tenmaru got up and looked out to the window. "Is that a Fighter?"

Anjuro titled his head and examined the man’s burning hands.

"Rin, heh?" Anjuro said.

Carter frowned. He didn’t understand what Anjuro was referring to.

"You’re not the only one that learned the Sacred Word."

"Buki! Flaming Uprising!"

The bandit boss rushed at him and swiped the blade on the ground. Flame enveloped the steel and shot out as a wide flaming fang.

Carter swirled his hand. The flame in the air stopped and circled.

"What?!" Anjuro widened his eyes.

He had seen many Rin user, but he never heard that someone was able to control another person’s fire.

"Buki..."

Carter didn’t even know what it meant. He was just making stuff up.

"Fire Beam."

The silver-haired man pointed his finger forward. The fire formed into one thin line and shot toward Anjuro. His skull was carved out a tiny hole.

Anjuro walked a few more steps forward before falling down. He was dead.

The prostitutes screamed in fear.

"Boss is dead!"

"Brothers! Grab your weapons!"

"I ain’t taking part in this!"

Some were horrified. Some were ready to avenge their leader. Some had already bolted away.

<+10 Prime Coins>

<Current Prime Coins>: 824

’There are Coins. But there is no Synchronization. Killing bandits isn’t it for this skin, huh?’

Carter was distracted for a little bit watching the system windows. Then he refocused on the matter at hand.

"No one is going anywhere."

Thick red aura wrapped around Carter. He disappeared and reappeared in front of the runners.

"Buki... Air Slash."

Carter made up even more techniques. He was just using Twin Formation and Biological Transference. But there was no rule prohibiting him from giving his attacks cool name.

The silver-haired man swiped the air. Thin wind fang cut over the runners and split them all in halves.

"Mommy!"

"Argh!"

"My legs! My legs!"

The bandits with enough common sense grouped together.

"He won’t let us go, boys. Our only chance is to fight him."

"Can we even win?"

"If you don’t fight, you die. If you fight, you may not. What is there to think?"

Carter approached the bandits slowly, "Of course there is to think. Surrender now and I shall give you a peaceful death. Resists and you shall face the most gruesome pain ever imagined."

No one gave up. They all rushed at Carter.

"Buki! Dirt Spike!"

Carter made up more techniques. He slammed his feet on the ground, solid dirt pile shot up from within the soil and smacked the groins of those bandits.

Most were hit critically and fell down. They squirmed in pain.

"You have no honor!" A bandit grunted.

Carter smacked his fist together, "Honor is unnecessary for the likes of you."

Tenmaru breathed heavily. "Who is this Master? How can he used so many different Buki?"

Tenmaru had met many masters in his life. Some were experts in ranged combat. Some focused on their defense. Some had incredible strong attack.

But each of them had the same limitation. They could only master one aspect of the art of killing. Never had Tenmaru seen someone with this variety in techniques.

’He is the Key! He can help me!’

Tenmaru already saw the vision of the future. Each nation had great warriors aiding them. That silver-haired man could easily be one of them.

"Please! Please let us go! Why did you even come after us?" A bandit screamed and cried while crawled away.

"I gave someone my word. I am here to fulfill it." Carter punched at the bandit. His skull exploded into a million pieces.

Another bandit, this one was an Awaken, jumped behind Carter and sliced the machete at his back.

Carter spun back, snapped the blade away and grabbed the bandit’s neck.

"Too slow. Too predictable. Too weak." Carter said without any emotion. It was as if he was so desensitized by battle that nothing could impress him anymore.

Carter’s other hand straightened and he thrust his hand through that bandit’s heart.