"Twenty wedges of cheese, forty linen bandages, and thirty strips of rat jerky." Barry finishes counting.

Carrie nods at the man across the counter while Simon and Kevin watch on from a few steps back. There's a huge array of goods neatly stacked up on the counter between them. Carrie's placed a full set of skill made armor on the counter for herself, a fancy skill made book that can't be easily destroyed for Simon, an immensely durable skill made baseball bat for Kevin, and a dangerously sharp skill made spear for Carrie to wield.

"You're sure you won't trade for your source..?" Barry asks.

"No." Carrie refuses sternly.

Barry holds up his hands to signal his defeat. Barry starts pulling the goods into containers on his side of the counter while the trio picks up their newly bartered for gear. Kevin hefts the baseball bat with a look of awe while Simon flips through his magic book eagerly. Carrie pulls on her new armor, and gives Barry a wide grin.

"Thanks, Barry. We'll be sure to come by again with more stuff." Carrie says amicably

"No problem, kiddo." Barry replies casually.

The two of them share a handshake while Kevin and Simon wait awkwardly by the door. Someone else enters the store, and Carrie excuses herself. Barry snaps his fingers suddenly.

"Ah! Almost forgot, you kids best be careful. This town isn't much safer than the surface." Barry warns.

"Thanks for the advice, we'll keep that in mind." Carrie replies with a nod.

The three of them push out of the shop and onto the dismal thoroughfare. Plenty of eyes follow them as they leave with shiny new items, and Kevin suspects several people are tailing their small group. He doesn't bother to confront them here in town. The surface is more suitable for the inevitable fight.

"Hey is that guy-" Carrie starts to mumble.

Kevin squeezes her arm to get her to shut up, and she gives him an offended look before realizing what he's doing. Simon is already aware of the situation, and the three of them walk in relative silence to the town's gate.

Five unpleasant looking thugs follow them not so subtly out of Subway Town. The quiet echoes of footsteps slow down as the two groups reach a wide open parking lot.

"You brats should hand your gear over before you get hurt." Threatens a bald headed man.

The imposing man is taller than any of the trio, yet none of them look afraid. The thugs gradually surround the group with malice in their eyes. Simon discreetly draws a protection rune on both Kevin and Carrie's backs before glancing at the makeshift weaponry their enemies wield.

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Kevin's knuckles whiten as he tightly grips his new weapon. Carrie pulls out her own weapon from her back, and grits her teeth. The thugs give the trio mocking smiles as they slash at the air tauntingly with their bludgeons and blades.

"Guess you're eager to die." The bald leader snickers.

The tension breaks as all five opponents rush at the trio with their weapons raised. Kevin's eyes widen as he sees the bald headed man rushing right for him alongside another thug with dirty blonde hair.

Quest Added: Against All Odds

Objective: Defeat all five attackers alongside your friends.

Reward: Passive Skill unlocked.

Carrie lets out a guttural yell as she jabs at a stout thug with her spear; The man's wrench misses the parry and he gets skewered through the chest. The sickening gush of gore causes the thugs to falter, but not for long. Kevin takes the chance to swing at the bald headed man, but his attack falls short.

"Fuck!"

Carrie pulls her spear back in the nick of time as her other assailant swings for her face. The dark haired woman snarls as Carrie kicks her in the stomach. There's a look of despair on the woman's face as Carrie plunges her spear right through her gut.

Kevin doesn't have the luxury of observing this exchange as he's busy swinging his bat at the two thugs in front of him. The leader is parrying blows effortlessly, but the blonde haired lady isn't able to keep up with the strength of Kevin's blows.

While Carrie and Kevin are fighting Simon is kicking and yelling as a lithe man comes at him with a knife. He winds up with a few cuts on his face as he tries to slap the man's hand away. The knife wielding thug grins crazily as he draws blood again and again, but doesn't go in for the kill.

"On your left!" Carrie shouts.

Kevin steps to the right as Carrie lunges toward the leader of the group with her spear ahead of her. The bald headed man clenches his jaw as he feels the tip of Carrie's weapon punch through his hip. He can't stop himself from collapsing as Carrie drops to one knee. She's panting heavily, and looks alarmingly pale.

"Drop your weapons, or I'll slit his throat." Someone threatens.

Kevin and Carrie looks mortified as they see a bloodied cut up Simon being held aloft by the lithe knife wielding thug. He's grinning madly as he holds the bloodied blade to Simon's vulnerable throat.

"Damn it... What do we do?"

The blonde woman lets out a relieved laugh as she taps her shovel against the asphalt casually. Kevin and Carrie look at one another as if searching the other for some kind of reassurance.

None of them notice the subtle glow of a rune being drawn onto the lithe man's stomach by Simon's trembling hand.

"I said drop the weapons!" The man shouts aggressively.

There's no warning when the man suddenly bursts into a mess of red and white. The knife flies off elsewhere along with several pieces of the thug's corpse, but Simon simply stumbles forward before emptying his stomach. Viscera is stuck to his back.

"W-What the fuck?!" The blonde woman shrieks.

She panics and turns to flee, but her escape is cut short when Kevin's baseball bat impacts her temple with lethal force. The woman's body falls hard onto the pavement while Kevin stares at her with a faraway look in his usually clear eyes.

Quest Complete: Against All Odds

Skill 'Minor Toughness' learned!

The unsettling scene is accompanied by the heaving and panting of three traumatized teenagers who have nobody but themselves to rely on.