Returning to the Mysterious Era

Chapter 57 - Senior Brothers

"Hehe..." Moses chuckled twice, strolling quickly toward him. "No need to be so formal. Just call me Moses, or Senior Brother Moses."

"Senior Brother Moses," Cassius corrected himself.

Moses seemed to be sizing him up. His one brown eye glinted slightly. "You have quite a sturdy build, Junior Brother! Do you follow a straightforward fighting style?"

Cassius hesitated for a moment, then nodded. A student\'s fighting style was often influenced by their teacher and since Lisa had always followed the brave and aggressive path, naturally, he, too, engaged directly in combat.

He glanced at Moses, who had an even more exaggerated physique than him, and said, "You must follow a similar style then, Senior Brother."

Surprisingly, Moses shook his head. "My fighting style is a bit different from yours. I can withstand hits better and like to punch hard."

Cassius glanced at Moses\'s tire-like muscular shoulders. That sounded about right. With such muscles, he\'d certainly be resilient against other people\'s punches. Just the thought of his forceful punches was terrifying.

Noticing Cassius\'s stare, Moses deliberately flexed his arm, making his already thick biceps bulge even more. This Fourth Senior Brother seemed particularly pleased with his muscles.

"In that case, Junior Brother, both our styles should be rather manly, but the only way to see if that\'s true is through a fight! There\'s a ring behind the hall. Why don\'t I test your skills out in a sparring match?" Moses suggested. He had a friendly smile on his face.

Cassius hesitated, but this seemed like a common occurrence for senior brothers to appraise their junior brothers\' skills. Moreover, Moses seemed to be a defensive type, and Cassius had never faced this type of opponent so he was itching to try.

He was just about to agree when he heard a gentle voice coming from the staircase.

"Don\'t be fooled by that big bear, Junior Brother!"

A beautiful person, tall and slender, descended the brass spiral staircase. They had tea-green short hair, a prominent fair face, and slender, enchanting eyes. But there was a hint of sharpness in their expression.

Seeing Cassius, the beauty smiled slightly and said, "Nice to meet you, Junior Brother. I am your Third Senior Brother, Gordon Lance."

"Third...Senior Brother?" Cassius was stunned for a moment and looked closer. He immediately noticed the prominent Adam\'s apple in the center of Lance\'s swan-like neck. Upon closer inspection, besides his feminine appearance and voice, Lance\'s expressions, demeanor, and posture were all masculine.

"Hahaha! You’re surprised too! When I first met this sissy, I thought he was a woman too! I’m dying!" Moses guffawed heartily. His naive demeanor from before was completely gone.

"Hmph!" Ignoring Moses, Lance snorted coldly and sauntered to Cassius. "Did Moses try to act all innocent and try to spar with you as soon as he met you?"

Cassius nodded truthfully.

"I knew it! Don\'t be fooled by this big bear! When the three of us—me along with the First Senior Brother and Second Senior Sister—first met him, we all thought he was honest and simple, but this big bear disguised himself well. Later on, he couldn\'t hold it in anymore, it was like he was addicted or something, and came to spar with me. I never expected..."

With Lance\'s description, the image of a bear, honest but cunning as a fox, came to life. Clearly, Moses\'s guileless countenance when he met Cassius had all been an act to set up a sparring match.

Moses was twenty-four years old and bore the nickname "Big Bear." He was a martial arts fanatic who loved to fight. Actually, to be more precise, he liked getting beat up. He relished being able to hold up against hits using his tough body and steel-like muscles, often pestering his opponents to hit him harder.

Not only did he like getting hit but he also liked tearing his clothes. Oftentimes, in the middle of a fight, he would flex his muscles until his clothes ripped apart, resulting in him wearing nothing but his shorts. The purpose? To show off his muscles.

"Hey, hey, hey, Sissy! Don\'t spill people\'s secrets like that on the first meeting!" Moses stopped laughing, looking annoyed. "And what\'s this about me having a thing for showing off muscles? Are there any men in this world who don\'t like muscles?"

He cast a hopeful glance over at Li Wei as he said this. He seemed to think the two had a shared kinship over their muscles.

"Ahem...ahem..." Cassius coughed awkwardly a few times.

He didn\'t know if it was his imagination, but both senior brothers were unusually warm and friendly even though they had only just met. Was it their natural disposition? Or was it because of the Lanxin Grass?

It turned out Cassius was right. It was indeed because of the Lanxin Grass.

Imagine a scenario where the core disciples of the Wind Elephant Sect receive a monthly supply of only three bottles of medicine, which is barely enough for three days of training. One day, a message arrives, saying some lucky guy had found a Lanxin Grass site for the sect. Suddenly, their medical supply went from three bottles to thirty—a tenfold increase that completely replaced the need for ointments.

Moreover, the wild Lanxin Grass from that site was full and rich, making each bottle more effective than before.

Training their body and martial arts were of utmost importance to the core disciples so naturally, even without having met Cassius, Moses, and Lance already thought quite highly of him. Especially after seeing the difference in their martial arts progress after receiving thirty bottles of medicine.

While they didn\'t see much progress in the first half of the year, it quickly went up in the second half. The source behind all this was obvious.

In the first-floor hall, Lance and Moses suddenly started arguing with each other. One declared that a well-proportioned body was best. Plus, people with an exaggerated muscular body, who even had muscles in their faces, were hideous. The other retorted that muscles were the best and everything else was an aberration. Furthermore, only sissies who were as skinny as bean sprouts broke with a single punch.

They continued bickering as they made their way to the ring behind the hall. Cassius could only follow helplessly, a little bewildered.

Five minutes later, Cassius understood what Lance meant when he said tearing one\'s clothes until only a pair of shorts remained. Senior Brother Moses was like a muscular wall as he aborbed hit after hit without flinching.

Senior Brother Lance moved like a swallow, becoming a series of afterimages as he dodged and attacked around Moses. He also seemed to have a quirk similar to Moses, as he seemed to enjoy using his hands to strike at the kidneys...

Cassius watched from the side, his eyelids twitching and his kidneys aching in sympathy.