Five days had passed since Liam Valerian first stepped onto the training grounds of the Mirror Bureau with a pockets full of silver and a body prepared for punishment.
The morning air at the Martial Arts Hall was crisp, yet the atmosphere was stiflingly tense. Nearly a hundred hulking men stood huddled at the entrance, their necks craned toward the main road like vultures waiting for a feast. To a bystander from Liam’s previous world, the scene would have looked absurdly familiar—reminiscent of elderly shoppers swarming a supermarket at dawn for discounted eggs. A few sparrows sat on the branches of a nearby tree, preening their feathers, only to be startled into the sky by a sudden, deafening roar of excitement.
"He’s here! Young Master Liam is here again!"
"Finally! I thought he’d tu
