Chapter 018:

{Grace of Mai: Rapidly flowing currents of water wrap around the user, protecting them from harm. Duration: 280 seconds. Cooldown: 86400 seconds.}

Before Dominic could even register what was about to happen to him, he felt the intruder's shoulder embed itself into his abdomen with enough force to knock both of them out of the new hole in his office.

'How is he so fast?' He thought incredulously as he braced for impact. Despite his Wisker nullifying most of the damage, the sheer force of him hitting the ground would surely be jarring.

However what he didn’t expect was the utter shamelessness of his assailant; just as they were about to hit the ground, the pink hooded menace used Dominic's body as a springboard of sorts and jumped off at the perfect moment, allowing him a more graceful fall.

‘Bastard!’ Dominic cursed internally.

A loud crash sounded as the crime boss finally landed; beside him, a quiet thud was issued as his assailant did the same.

The surrounding civilians were completely surprised by the sound of a grown man crashing into the ground, and soon, eyes began to gather around the newly formed crater.

Emboldened by anger, Dominic rose to his feet with an exasperated roar; he glared angrily at his opponent.

"Still no worse for wear, what a remarkable Wisker," came the reply to the glare "Though you really should dust yourself off, you look like shit,"

"Bastard!" Dominic snarled as he lunged forward, axe held high.

It had to be said that the Blue Rock Brotherhood's boss was no slouch as he soon rapidly closed the distance while swinging his axe with enough might to chop a tree down in one swipe.

Unfortunately, he seemed to have met his match that day as the intruder easily side-stepped away before retreating just enough so as to be out of range for the follow-up.

Feeling like an open book being read, Dominic grunted before once more rushing in.

After a few more near misses, he finally sensed an opening and with his axe high above his head, he slashed downward, wanting to bisect the pink-hooded menace in two.

Alas, that would not happen as the intruder struck his palm against Dominic’s striking wrist which caused the attack’s trajectory to change slightly.

Another large crash sounded as the axe uselessly dug itself into the ground, failing to reach its mark.

“Speedy one aren-” But before Dominic could say anymore, he was interrupted by a knee to the face.

The intruder had rapidly closed the distance with his inhuman speed and deftly used Dominic’s axe as a stepping stone in order to lodge his knee into the crime boss’s face.

Blown back by the attack, Dominic took a couple of steps back and waved away a sudden bout of vertigo.

Though it did not hurt physically, his pride did take a bit of a hit.

“Cheeky brat!” Dominic screeched as he punched out.

Though it seemed reckless to abandon his axe, Dominic was actually using his brains ‘He’s too fast for me to hit with the axe, so old school we go!’

This seemed to have worked as the punch landed successfully and the intruder staggered back.

Not wanting to let this opportunity go to waste, he followed up the attack with several more. Haymakers flew wildly and the crime boss was pleased to see the intruder sway along with his punches.

“How ya’ like me now!” Dominic said accompanied by maniacal laughter as he let an uppercut as well.

The pink-hooded intruder finally seemed to have lost his firm grasp on the fight’s pace as he was forced to dodge the consecutive blows. Like a small raft riding the waves of a wilding storm, the intruder bobbed and weaved, barely staying afloat.

“Hey look, that's Dominic, the boss of Blue Rock,” In the distance, Dominic could hear a couple of bystanders talking and he was finally reminded of the fact that he was fighting out in the open. Though it was now dusk, there were still bound to be a couple of people out.

‘Witnesses,’ He thought with a grimace which then turned to a smile as he landed another clean blow.

“Shh bro he’ll hear you,” Another bystander turned witness spoke.

“Yeah, wouldn't want to be like that guy taking a beating right now,” A third voice spoke and Dominic became acutely aware of the fact that a crowd was forming.

‘Shit, better end this quick!’ He thought to himself as he ramped up the intensity.

With the increased amount of attacks headed his way, the intruder’s struggle took on a more desperate note.

“Shit, he’s really gonna kill that guy!” someone said amid the growing crowd.

“S-someone help him,” An old lady pleaded.

“Call the knights, hurry!”

“Why don’t you do it?”

“Fight back, pink guy!”

“How utterly barbaric. Those blue rock ruffians grow bolder by the day!”

“Don’t give up, little pink dude!”

Dominic was growing more and more vexed with each new remark. Somehow, he turned out to be the bad guy in this situation. And though that was true in most cases, this time it really wasn’t his fault!

“How interesting,” His intruder finally spoke again after a while of silence.

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Slightly creeped out by how calm the intruder’s voice was, Dominic couldn’t help but pay attention.

“I wonder what will happen first: Will the knights get here before your Wisker ends or will the fire completely engulf your base before either of those?”

“What are you on about?” Dominic asked as, in the corner of his eyes, he saw someone leave the crowd in a hurry; presumably to go get a knight.

‘That’s it, I’m ending this now!’

Booooom!

But before his resolve could fully solidify, an explosion caught him off guard and he was entirely thrown for a loop after seeing his building light aflame.

“What have you done!” He screamed before abandoning his attacks altogether and darting toward the building.

“275. Don’t bother, with the amount of booze that place’s got, I'm still surprised the fire’s so tame,” The intruder replied as he closely followed behind.

Dominic ignored the man as he made a mad dash toward the entrance.

“Tsk. In so much of a hurry, are you really so fond of that bar? 280!” Just as the final word left the intruder’s mouth, multiple things happened at once.

Dominic, finally realizing what was happening, quickly turned toward the intruder as his Wisker winked out.

On the other side, the intruder, now sporting a crudely made knife in one hand, had sped up considerably and was now mere inches away.

A distance away, the bar’s entrance collapsed.

In a panic, Blue Rock’s boss hastily grabbed the knife-bearing hand, fortunately, he was still slightly stronger and he managed to fully stop the blow.

‘I don’t have time for this, the base!’ Dominic thought in a panic.

Shortly after that thought, Dominic realized that the intruder was no longer placing any force behind the knife-bearing hand.

“Shit” His mouth moved before he could think.

And before another thought could cross his mind, he felt the full force of the intruder’s other hand burying itself into his jaw.

He had not experienced such a direct impact in a long time and was sufficiently rattled when he felt his brain move about in his skull. If that weren’t enough, he could also feel his teeth rattle in their place as a wet, metallic taste spread about in his mouth.

Dominic staggered for a bit before falling to his knees.

“Well, it looks like you aren’t very durable without your turtle shell,” The intruder said casually before kicking the side of Dominic’s head, further rearranging his face.

Falling flat onto his chest, the crime boss barely had enough of his consciousness left to realize that the intruder was circling him.

He stopped, standing between Dominic and his burning home; his silhouette being backlit by roaring flames and the manic grin spread across his face, the only facial feature visible beneath the hood, made the man look like some sort of sadistic demon.

“M-move!” Dominic grunted as he forced himself to his feet.

“I’m not sure that’s a very good idea,” Replied the hateful bastard, placing a hand on Dominic’s head. “You are quite injured,”

“Mov-” The brotherhood’s boss tried to speak but his head was pushed back into the ground.

“What is it about that pub, Dominic? Is it the safe behind that painting in your office? Or…don’t tell me it’s Cherry,” The intruder said quietly as he lowered himself to his victim’s height. With quick and sinister movements, the knife was suddenly at Dominic’s throat, piercing it enough to draw blood, but not deep enough to do any real damage.

“I…” Dominic said in between pants before finally raising his head. His solemn eyes stared into where the hooded man’s own set would be under the hood; his eyes felt like they were piercing the intruder’s thin veil as he stared into the man’s very soul.

“My boys need me,”

..………………………………………………

“This isn’t as bad as I thought it would be,” Nammu said with a warm smile, trying to diffuse the awkward situation.

“Mmmm,” Alexander hummed in agreement as he stoked the campfire.

“...” Meanwhile, a distance away, Earnest was lying on a fallen tree trunk as he stared longingly at the stars that dotted the dark skies above them.

The smell of barbequing meat and the sight of the warm fire holding the night’s cold at bay should have offered the group comfort, but it was sufficient to say the tension was thoroughly ruining it.

For the life of her, Nammu was still struggling to find logic in the Global Alliance’s decision to pair all three super rookies in one team.

Her and Alexander being in one team was somewhat understandable as they had come from the same village and had grown up together, but Earnest? The only other rookie to actually beat Alexander in a fight during the qualification rounds?

‘Just what were those old fogeys thinking!’ She thought to herself in despair.

Alexander turned his attention away from the cooking food and glanced toward Nammu who sat to one side with a dazed look on her face while manipulating a continuous water spell on the palm of her hand.

Most magicians her age did not even know what a continuous spell was and yet here she sat, using it as background training.

‘As scary as ever Nammu…She’s worried about something though,’ Alexander stared at the vague shape of a fish swimming about Nammu’s palm and felt a shiver crawl up his spine. He had just recently made a breakthrough, after much torment, and was able to materialize fire without the use of a barrier thanks to the system, but still, he could not hope to match up against this little freak.

‘Well, that’s Nammu for you,’ He thought with a sigh.

‘...’ Earnest’s thoughts were much more straightforward, simply teetering along the border of the campfire’s warmth, sometimes bathing in its light and sometimes fading into the shadows, he thought of how pretty the sky was. ‘Do stars always shine so brightly? Or is it simply the darkness surrounding them that highlights their brilliance?’

“Ahem, so…” Nammu spoke again after a while. As she struggled to find the words that would alleviate the awkwardness of spending the first night together as a team, the fish waddling about above her palm grew frantic in its movement. “What do you guys plan on doing after?”

Alexander looked up and his eyes met hers; from the distance, within the shadows, she could also feel Earnest looking over though she could not see it.

“After?” Alexander asked, taking the meat off the fire.

Earnest said nothing.

“A-after the apocalypse,” The moment the words left her mouth she immediately regretted them. In the months following the disruption, the word ‘Apocalypse’ had become taboo and to those who suffered untold losses, it was almost disrespectful to mention a life after.

She looked toward Alexander in worry and gritted her teeth the moment she saw his eyes grow blank.

All at once, memories she’d rather not recall resurfaced one after another; memories of her and Alexander catching up to the older kids as they ran carelessly along the creek, following a dead log they had just tossed in. Memories of them trying to tip over Betty, the eldest cow in old man Henry’s farm.

She remembered the run-down building they had for a school, she recalled the fresh smell of bread wafting off the bakery next to her house in the mornings, and she looked back through days earlier still: the days of simple joy and rustic pleasure, of farming beneath the baking sun while listening to Alexander groan on and on about being an overworked farmhand.

And then the fire came.

“I’d probably go back to what I was doing before. A teacher,” Earnest’s words snapped her out of her unwilling reverie.

“I-uh, oh. That’s nice,” Nammu said, fumbling over her words. “I’d probably want to go bac-'' She continued carelessly before immediately covering her mouth with her hands.

The wooden stick in Alexander’s hand immediately broke into two from the pressure being applied to it.

An awkward silence, whose seconds felt like years, now shrouded the group.

Earnest’s dark eyes rolled about in their sockets as he smiled in exasperation.

He cast his gaze toward the pair before remarking “You two make it seem like it’s some big secret that Alexander burned your vil-” Before Earnest’s words could reach their end, he was forced to raise a hand coated in shadows above his head. A large boom spread outward as flame met darkness and Alexander’s fire-coated spear grinded against Earnest’s bare hand.

“Both of you! Stop!” Nammu shrieked, uncapping the gourd next to her. Moments later, water rushed out of it as a magical barrier formed mid-air. The barrier seemed to drink up all the water and in return, chains of rapidly flowing liquid materialized from the other side, rushing toward both boys.

“Back off, Nammu,”

“Do not interfere,”

Both boys replied to her actions similarly while staring the other down.