Straightening my jacket so that the badly stitched symbol of a dog's head with their tongue out is visible as I squeeze past the line of frozen people below the entrance with the image of a cartoonish ferret.
I hated the name of this group, but beggars can't be choosers. After getting involved in this mess you'll do anything to stay alive.
While moving I kept an eye out for any sign of competitors, it has been some time since I last recruited someone. I kept going from person to person, from stand to stand, and relaxed while looking for competitors or any signals of danger.
My phone started to vibrate again, so I went looking for somewhere where I could have some safe rest. I ended up at a gift shop, the seller was stuck mid-delivering a unicorn hairpin to a little girl and her father.
Before getting comfortable on the ground, the roof is shaken to smithereens, its pieces are sent flying, together with the vendor.
Slowly, I lifted my head over the counter, and my heart jumped to my throat for a second before I understood what I was seeing. Something in the shape of a human was standing in the middle of the path, looking at its hands which kept vibrating and almost seemed to disappear every few seconds.
When its head started to move I threw myself to the ground. More explosions follow.
This is supposed to be the first layer, so that thing is either someone who just got a new power or someone who likes to blow things, either way, I should get a good bonus.
Concentrating, I siphon the moisture of the wood in front of me, when it looks like a raisin, I poke it, making a small hole so I can see what's happening without risking having my head blown off.
Their arms keep being blown back with each explosive wave. They have great destructive power but seem unable to deal with the recoil, and there seems to be some other side effect since they seem jittery on their feet. It could also just be them being overly cheerful.
The gift is not sound-based, since it's relatively slow, yet quick enough to blow me. It disintegrates what it touches. The side effect should be foul, After around five minutes, their body stops vibrating, regaining a human form as a man collapses to the ground. The guy looked like the average businessman, with short well-kept hair, slightly pale skin, clothes that screamed middle class, and violently coughing blood.
Large drawback, After a few more moments go by, and he still seems to be dealing with the side effects, I take that as my opportunity as I once again concentrate some water in a ball and let it float around me. This normally inspires some fear and awe in newbies. But with a rather powerful gift, I'm not sure it'll work as well.
Plastering my best car salesman smile, I jump over the counter, "Hey there. you sure made a lot of noise," As his head snaps to me I make a show of looking around at the destruction, "Do you know what you just did? You called a lot of attention to us."
The man jumps to his feet, or at least he tries, soon after standing up, he sways before falling on his ass.
"You know, you're not the only one here who can cause this amount of destruction," I tell nonchalantly, trying to prop myself in his mind as I divert my mind to make the water rotate, I lose control, sending it flying around us. I can see worry on his face as he starts to look me up and down.
Using a frozen man as support, he pulls himself to his feet, looking at me with a fearful, yet prideful gaze, "Are you threatening me?" There's a slight shakiness to his voice, "You know what I can do, can you give me a good reason to not blast you right now?"
"yeah… I certainly saw what you can do, but I also see that you're worst for wear," Subtle intimidation didn't work, so I changed my approach.
"Wha-What do you want? Money? I don't have a lot with me right now but I can give you everything that I have" I'm a little disappointed as he speaks, I expect his bluff to last a little longer. But he at least put on a decent façade, short as it was.
"I don't want anything that you have. On the contrare, I very much am looking to give you something, you must be confused about everything that is happening," He's focused on me, following what I'm laying down, "I happen to be part of an organization that can help you survive what is happening," Confusion crossed his face when I emphasized 'survive'.
Love this novel? Read it on Royal Road to ensure the author gets credit.
"You see, these special abilities are not free. You have to fight to keep them, and right now. There is no one to help you if you happen to lose the fight," I concentrate the ball of water into a needle, it's the thickness of a hand, but it should work as I make it whizz in the air, stabbing repeatedly.
He seems to finally register the water as a threat in his mind, as his eyes are now clearly terrified, even as he tries to hide it, "I'm not threatening you, just warning what could have happened if someone that is not me found you."
"You said that you can help me, what is this help?" The man seems to regain some composure.
"The simple answer is that it is easier to survive in a group. And that's what I offer," I say, hiding my disgust deep inside as I puff my chest out, showing the symbol on my jacket, "My group is the labradors, if you join us we can work together. You'll even have some degree of protection from the other groups, we do have a lot of allies."
Some content appears on his face as he sees the symbol before hiding it, "Can I have some time to think about it? I just need to organize my thoughts"
"Of course, if you look behind you you'll see a place that sells some drinks. Why don't we sit around while you think?"
Hesitatingly, the man turns around. When he finishes turning I send the water needle at him, most of the water is shed, but the needle reaches the back of his head. Piercing it and exploding, scrambling his brain as he falls to the ground twitching.
Truthfully, I could probably give him some time, but the look on his face was too similar to those of the Scythe's Group. If I can't take it out on them, at least on this nobody I should be safe letting go of some anger.
My eyes widened slightly as I pulled out his wallet, he had over two grand in hard cash. Kissing the wallet, I pull the money out before throwing it back at his pooling blood. It was so hard for people to carry money with them these days.
With everything done, I started to move far from the body. Who knew if the noise would attract more people, I also did not want to risk meeting the cleaners.
I walk through the park before deciding to look for some medicine, I still have that annoying buzzing, and all of those explosions gave me a headache, and even if I don't find anything for those. Selling them always grants some extra money.
Looking at one of the maps of the park, this time over it is a blue-furred ferret instead of the grey that was at the entrance, I see that the only place that may have anything that could be useful was near the edge of the park. It was a little dangerous but the headache at this point I couldn't ignore the headache anymore.
I had to stop multiple times on the way there, letting the headache alleviate before resuming. When I finally get close to the pharmacy, I see movement. Taking my time to circle the small pharmacy I see someone inside.
Slowly getting closer, I see an olive-skinned woman sweating profusely while bandaging herself, her clothes painted red with blood. She barely could hold the bandages while some type of small pink toy-looking thing helped.
She doesn't seem overly dangerous, and judging by how the little golem is helping her, it's probably some kind of companion, those powers were rare and always useful. After stalking for a while I decided to try getting her attention.
----------------------------------------
My whole body was weak, the world was just a non-distinct blur, with the only reason I could take a single step being Diann supporting me.
The pain already became a numb feeling, something that barely registered together with everything else, but the one clear thing that scared me the most was not knowing what was happening to Diann.
She was unresponsive to anything besides something physically touching her, and the way she killed that boy also scared me, the image of him breaking against the ground replaying in my muddled mind. I also had no way of knowing how Diann felt or even if she was hurt.
Stopping every dozen steps to catch my breath and for the pain to subside, a walk that should have taken a few minutes took almost 2 hours. It's baffling that I can even walk with the amount of blood I lost. I had no idea what would help with blood loss, the only thing I knew about being stabbed was that you're not supposed to remove the object, and that boat already sailed. Even with whatever Diann did, blood still leaked from the sides with every movement of my stomach, and I felt the pain worsening, uneven edges of that pink material cutting me further.
The pharmacy was small, the symbol of an otter with a doctor's head atop it and having only a dozen shelves. Most bottles were thrown to the ground as I kept reading through the labels until I found something that was supposed to help with coagulation.
I struggled to open the bottle, the child-proof cap being too strong for my current state. Noticing it, Diann snatched it out of my hands and opened it before giving it back to me.
Thanking her, I turn the bottle back, swallowing half a dozen pills before the bottle slips out of my shaky hands. To be sure, I take some bandages and start rolling them thickly around me with Diann's help.
When I finish, I hear a raspy voice coming from outside. Walking towards us was a tall man, he had wild short hair, a clean-shaven face, and a confident smile on his face. Oozing charlatan from every pore in his body.
"You seem to be in quite a pickle. Looking for some help?"
Diann finally noticed that I was looking at something and turned towards the man. Her screen quickly depletes as she's covered in the pink liquid, growing in size and bulk, looking very close to a gorilla, her hands dragging along the ground as she now stands taller than the man with a back wide enough to hide me.
"No need to fight. I come in peace, and with a very good proposal," I have no way of stopping Diann and I can't just believe in someone who looks so sketchy, especially not after today. Staying hidden behind Diann, I don't say anything and Diann also doesn't move.
"Staying safe, that's a smart thing to do. But I'm not here to hurt anyone, I bring the possibility of allies."
"Why should I trust you? The last person who said that stabbed me."
"I'm really sorry for your bad experience. But I'm not them, I am part of an organization," The man seems to hesitate for a moment, "I'm part of the Labradors, we have quite a few allies and can help you survive, and a good labrador doesn't let you down," The words seem to physically hurt him.
Using Diann's back, I pull myself to my feet, "How do I know you're telling the truth"
"I don't know what your experience with this place is, but I have quite a few years under my belt. I just need a minute and I can convince you."
If what he says is true, and everything that Diann said happened that day is true, that means that this will probably not be the last time this will happen.
"You just need to give us a crumb of trust, and we can make your chances of survival skyrocket"
"What do you get?" Something tells me that the man is bad news, and these instincts got me wrong just a handful of times.
"What do I get? What do you mean?" He asks, playing dumb.
"I can trust that you may be part of an organization, but I cannot trust that you get nothing by roping me in."
His face lips peel back as he bursts into laughter, "Very distrustful are we? I get some bonuses by inviting people. If you prove yourself useful I'll be paid in things no money can buy," His pose is relaxed as he takes a few steps back, "Isn't that a good reason for me to keep you alive? you just need to prove that you can offer something and will not be dead weight."
I look at Diann's back, before slowly walking away from her back, fully showing myself to the man.
His smile widens.