Chapter 016:
“Should we really be letting him go?” Arin asked worriedly as he held on to Timothy’s wobbling figure.
Shortly after spouting things about revenge, Moe swiftly ran out of the door.
“Let him go!” Timothy said groggily. “Go and get a knight. Tell him about what happened here,” he ordered as he steadied himself.
“B-but,”
“No buts, go now. The bastard is still breathing, but he won’t be for much longer; he needs healing. I’m going home to rest, you close the smithy up after the body is taken away. We’ll clean this up tomorrow,”
“B-but what should I tell the knight?”
“Tell them that he came alone intending to rob us and we just defended ourselves. He’ll probably pester you for answers so drop my name if it gets too annoying. That should fix it,”
A look of unwillingness was painted across Arin’s face, but eventually, he relented. Seeing that Timothy was stepping through the door, he took something off his waist.
“Take this!” He said, tossing a sheathed dagger through the air.
Timothy caught the weapon, surprised. He could tell from its clumsy appearance that it was Arin who made it.
“What’s this for?” He asked, “I’m just going home,”
“It’s the best one I’ve made so take care of it!” Arin replied as he ran out of the smithy in search of a patrolling Knight.
………………………………………………..
Arin Erikson’s Point Of View:
He panted as he ran with all his might. In some way, he was doing what he had always done: Running away from his problems.
‘I’m still too weak!’ He said to himself as he felt hot tears stinging his eyes.
The image of Timothy standing in front of him was slowly searing itself deeply into Arin’s brain.
‘Stupid Timothy!’ Tears were now freely flowing.
‘Don’t do anything stupid before I come back with the knight!’
………………………………………………..
Alexander stood on a roof as he watched Moe scurry through the streets in a hurry. He knew he could catch up whenever, so he wasn’t rushed.
‘The first time I used a weapon in this world and it’s against…that..’ he thought as Larry’s mug flashed across his face.
He was unsure whether it was embarrassment or disappointment in himself that made him decide to slaughter the entirety of Blue Rock tonight; but frankly, he did not care. He was too preoccupied with the feeling of disgust permeating his mind; a feeling that was partially not his. It seemed Timothy wasn’t too fond of the idea of fatally wounding another human.
‘Well, you’re not gonna like what I’m going to do,’ He thought with a laugh before refocusing.
‘Ok, time to fix this mess of a system,’ He thought as he pulled up his stats.
{- Innate Skills: None.
- System skills: Communication (Common-Below average), Charismatic Leadership (Uncommon-Below Average)
- Skill List: Evasion (Common-Advanced), Hand-to-Hand Combat (Common-Novice), Eyes of Discernment (Uncommon-Advanced), Spear-Play (Common-Master), Swordsmanship (Common-Novice)}
{User Status-Main Attributes:-Vitality: 6; -Strength: 20; -Durability: 3; -Agility: 26; -Stamina: 3;
Bonus Stat Points: 25}
‘Hmmm,’ he immediately recognized the problem. His stats were too imbalanced. With two in the twenties and three in the single digits, it made sense why Alexander felt that his body was unstable.
From previous experience, Alexander understood how important it was to properly manage one’s stats. And though unequally distributed points were common in Users who specialized in a certain category, for Alexander’s combat style, an equal distribution was where he was most comfortable.
Stats were a complicated affair, especially when one had to consider outside factors as well. Say someone had a magical artifact that boosted their attack power; said artifact owner, should he also have a system, would then be presented with the following choices:
1: He could put all of his points strength which, when paired with the artifact, would boost his power output well above his stat league.
2: He could put all of his points into a complimentary stat like speed. Strong power coupled with high agility would most definitely prove to be a lethal combination.
Back to Alexander, considering the fact that he had no skills, weapons, or titles which required specialization into a specific stat, the best choice would be to build a solid foundation through which he could plan his future path.
‘Anyways, if I want to do what I want to do tonight, balanced stats are a must,’
Having reached a decision:
{Bonus Stat Point usage registered: User Status-Main Attribute: -Vitality: 6 + 8 = 14}
{Remaining Bonus Stat points: 17}
{Bonus Stat Point usage registered: User Status-Main Attribute: -Durability: 3 + 8 = 11}
{Remaining Bonus Stat points: 9}
{Bonus Stat Point usage registered: User Status-Main Attribute: -Stamina: 3 + 8 = 11}
{Remaining Bonus Stat points: 1}
“Ok, so now,”
{User Status-Main Attributes:-Vitality: 14; -Strength: 20; -Durability: 11; -Agility: 26; -Stamina: 11;
Bonus Stat Points: 1}
“Good,”
He finally moved after having stood still for a while; he could feel his muscles awkwardly tense and his bones creak but still, he felt remarkably more stable.
“After a few days of rest, I’ll be in the best shape of Timothy’s life,” But now he was barely at a functioning level.
“Still, that should be enough. Oh right!” He suddenly recalled something as he took out a shoddy dagger from his side.
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‘Ok, let's just do a short warmup,’ he thought as he brandished the dagger in a reverse grip and slashed downward. After completing the first attack with relatively few faults, he changed his grip on the dagger and thrust it outward violently.
His moves continued as such with each attack flowing nicely into another.
At first, he was still stiff:
{New skill unlocked!}
{Assessing current skill level…}
{Assessment complete!}
{- Innate skills: None.
- System skills: Communication (Common-Below average), Charismatic Leadership (Uncommon-Below Average)
- Skill List: Evasion (Common-Advanced), Hand-to-Hand Combat (Common-Novice), Eyes of Discernment (Uncommon-Advanced), Spear-Play (Common-Master), Swordsmanship (Common-Novice), Knife-Arts (Common-Novice)}
But over time, they grew smoother and had fewer faults:
{Skill advancement detected!}
{The skill: Knife-Arts(Common-Novice), has been promoted to Knife-Arts (Common-Intermediate)}
“Ok,” Alexander abruptly sheathed the knife to his side and began punching the air while constantly moving around, and after finishing his routine with a fierce uppercut:
{Skill advancement detected!}
{The skill: Hand-to-Hand Combat(Common-Novice), has been promoted to Hand-to-Hand Combat (Common-Intermediate)}
“Nice!” Alexander cheered.
‘Like this, even though I’m injured, I should still be strong enough,’ He thought to himself as he scanned the streets below.
‘Time to set off-’ His thoughts were cut off when he noticed a couple of familiar faces in the streets.
………………………………………………..
Kiara’s Point Of View:
‘Why is this happening!’ She wondered in despair as she did all she could to hold her brother, Rafiel, back from doing something stupid.
“Hey, give that back you asshole!” He screamed.
“And here I was wondering why you two weren’t coming back to the shelter,” A tall man with glasses on said lazily as he fiddled with a coin bag. “Quite the hefty amount,”
“They probably stole it!” A woman hissed from the side.
“We did not,” Kiara said calmly in reply ‘Our boss did,’ She thought to herself with some guilt.
“Regardless, this matter does require some investigation,” Tall-Glasses said as he pocketed the bag. “I will be confiscating this momentarily. Worry not, I will be returning it should you prove yourselves innocent,”
Kiara bit her lip as she lowered her head.
“No, you won’t!” Raf said as he shook his sister off.
Slap!
A sudden slap silenced the group.
Raf reeled back as a stinging pain burned on one side of his face.
Tall Glasses withdrew his hand and lowered it nonchalantly as if he had not done a thing. “You are normally more obedient, boy,” he said as he shifted his gaze toward Kiara before refocusing on him “You could learn a thing or two from her,”
Kiara felt a metallic taste in her mouth and she knew that she had bitten a gash into her lower lip but still, she did not say a word. She wrapped her hand around Raf’s trembling fist.
“Raf,” She whispered, “Don’t, they’re not worth it,”
Raf, now with tears in his eyes, nodded despite himself.
“What are you two whispering to yourselves, thieves!” The woman standing by Tall-Glasses’ side shrieked once more.
“Enough, Beatrice,”
“Yes, sir,” She immediately acquiesced. “U-um sir, concerning my reward…” She muttered sweetly as she snaked an arm around his.
“Yes, you did well reporting to me,”
“I knew from the moment the girly over there bought a fancy dinner that they had stolen money on them again!”
“Yes, yes. Let’s discuss this more once we are inside the shelter; it’s getting late. Come along children,” Tall-Glasses said dismissively as he motioned for the siblings to follow.
Kiara began to follow along but try as she might she couldn’t move her brother.
“Raf…” She looked toward his face and was surprised to see an expression she had only ever seen once before.
Immense anger and steely resolve.
“What are you two standing around for, sir calls for you!” Said the banshee.
“No,” Raf replied.
“No?” The banshee shrieked in disbelief, “Is this how you repay sir’s kindness? If it weren’t for him, you two would be street urchins unwanted by everyone. So ungrateful! No wonder your parents did not want you!”
“Enough,” Tall-Glasses said simply as he approached the siblings. “Come,” He told Raf.
“No”
A sigh escaped the tall man’s mouth. “Such a bother,” He said as he lifted his hand once more.
Kiara flinched and closed her eyes.
Raf’s eyes widened and his arm moved despite himself. A wave of heat mysteriously began gathering around him.
But before the both of them could do much more, a figure suddenly appeared and held both hands at bay.
“That’s quite enough,” The figure said calmly.
Kiara, recognizing the voice, opened her eyes and lifted her head in surprise, ‘B-boss!?’ Both surprised and elated, she studied the figure.
A clearly high-quality shirt, it was obviously boss! The only problem was…
“Why are you wearing your shirt around your face like that?” Raf asked with genuine curiosity.
Regardless of the bizarre circumstances, Kiara did not fail to notice her brother’s switch in demeanor; he was also relieved by Boss’s presence.
Tall-Glasses took one look at Alexander and scoffed. He could tell from the figure’s frame that it was a kid as well.
“Fuck are you doing brat! Unhand him!” Beatrice screamed as she tried to pry Alexander’s hand away.
Tall-Glasses also pulled on his hand but it was then that he noticed the abnormal strength keeping it in place.
‘He’s trained in combat!’ This immediately raised some red flags, and that wasn’t even half of it.
Despite the ridiculous shirt covering his face, Tall-glasses could still feel the youth's gaze on him.
Staring back felt like staring into something that shouldn’t be. As soon as his gaze rested on where the youth’s eyes should have been, he was immediately made aware of the fact that his soul now stood on the precipice of a deep, unending abyss. At any moment he would soon be sucked into the abyss and be forced to be made one with it.
An intense bloodlust, unlike anything he had ever felt before assailed him, freezing his blood cold and stopping his heart mid-beat.
It had to be said that Tall-Glasses was no mere shelter owner. Having once been a sellsword, he had participated in war and he knew how terrible it was.
But nothing he had seen then could compare to now.
By his side, Beatrice had already fainted.
“I-I’m sor-rry-” Tall-glasses stuttered.
“Shut up,”
“...”
“Good boy. Now fuck off and take that bitch with you. Oh yeah, I’ll be taking this back,” Alexander’s Ice-like voice spoke matter of factly as he tore the coin bag out of the man’s pocket, taking some fabric with it.
Now with the shelter owner gone, his figure turned toward Raf and Kiara.
Kiara shuddered as she felt her soul nearly leave her body.
“You still haven’t answered my question,” Raf said with a calm smile on his face.
………………………………………………..
Alexander praised his negotiation skills as he answered the boy’s question.
“I forgot my hood,” He said plainly.
With the adrenaline leaving her body, Kiara had more time for idle thoughts and that was why she noticed how laughably muffled Boss’s voice was. ‘Wait, with his shirt covering his face like that, how can he see us?’
“I see,” Her brother said mildly, growing disinterested.
Meanwhile, Alexander had thoughts of his own,‘My self-control was growing better by the day,’ This thought gave him an inexplicable sense of pride.
It had to be said that if Alexander had seen such a sight a month ago in his previous life, the entirety of Iron-Wall would have been reduced to a heaping pile of charcoal before the sun rose again.
‘I grow wiser by the day,’ Alexander nodded before his eyes widened in surprise, ‘Oh shit I forgot about Moe!’
“Kiara!”
“Yes, boss!”
“Here!” He said as he tossed the coin bag toward her.
Kiara caught it as a look of gratefulness appeared on her face, but soon, that look froze in place.
“Take my money and go buy us three sets of hoodies, now!”
“H-hoodies?” Kiara asked timidly.
“Yes! Now!” Alexander replied calmly.
“Ok!” The girl dashed off with a wry expression on her face which Alexander failed to notice.
Now that the two men stood together, a brief silence descended upon them.
“So,” Alexander spoke, “Like, how are you doing?”
“I’m good, boss,”
“That’s good,”
“Um…”
“Yeah?”
“It’s not a big deal, but you can let go of my hand now. I’m not going to use my Wisker anymore,”