“You wanna kiss my ass?” Lucas immediately said

“Bro,” Jack said.

“Sorry about that,” Brian said and shrugged.

“What do you mean team up against Fernando?” Jack said.

The stranger sighed. “My name is Steward. I’m the leader of a small group out of the Commercial District. You three boys are kind of a legend back in the plaza. May I ask for your names?” Steward said.

Jack, Lucas and Brian took a closer look at the man. He was about 40 years old. He was well dressed, in a custom tailored suit. None of them gave him their names.

“To be honest, Fernando and his… dirty people are bullying everyone here. The only ones who have any kind of equal standing to them is Eugene and his little team, but they backed off and agreed to a disadvantageous truce. You three are the three boogeymen everyone is scared of. But you are also respected for standing up against Fernando,” Steward said.

“Can you get to the fucking point? What do you want, Stewie?” Lucas said.

Jack noticed Steward’s face flash in anger for a split second at being called Stewie.

Steward sighed again. “I find out how to take out Fernando. Give you the information. You three take him out. And then as a bonus after he’s gone I’ll add some more rewards. For example–”

“How the fuck did you find us anyways?” Brian said, and everyone tensed.

“I have a special skill. It gives me information. It is not accurate and it takes a lot of work to get it to work. I’ve been trying many days now to find you three. I only found you because you did not change locations. I discovered this place yesterday,” Steward said.

“What do you mean gives you information? What’s the name of this skill?”

“That’s a good question. Which leads me back to what I wanted to say. I will be more than happy to give information like my skill’s name. And how to get more skill points. And more and more good stuff. That is, when you three have eliminated Fernando,” Steward said.

“We’ll think about it,” Brian said.

“Very well. I shall leave you three to discuss this. However, before I leave. Here are some tips. Fernando forces all his men to give him all the skill crystals they gather. This means he has gotten a lot of skills. More than anyone else right now. I know a few of the skills he has. He has Intimidation, Lie Detector, Contract Binding. I don’t know which ranks the skills are and how they work. Just the names. Oh, and here’s some cash,” Steward said and threw over 20.000 USD.

Holy shit! I can go to Miranda again tonight! Fuck yeah!

All three of them looked at each other excitedly.

“Thank you, good sir! I love you, Steward!” Jack said.

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“There is more where that came from. By the way, may I know your names?” Steward said. Nobody responded.

Steward smiled, then turned around to leave.

“Fuck yeah boys!” Lucas said.

“Maybe we should rob him now and see if he has more on him?” Brian said.

“You’re so ungrateful. Don’t kill the golden goose,” Jack said.

“So, we gonna do something about Fernando?” Lucas said.

“Fuck no! Let’s just stay the fuck out of trouble. I have a girl waiting for me back at home. I can’t be risking my life for nothing. Speaking of money, let’s go back to the girl’s bar tonight,” Jack said.

“Fuck no you idiot. Grinding time,” Brian said.

“Oh yeah, forgot about that,” Jack said.

Imma stare at the pictures I took with Miranda before sleep.

…

What a bunch of imbeciles! Steward thought.

After pretending to walk away, he hid behind a nearby tree where he could faintly see the three boys.

I had to sacrifice so much sleep and cuts and colds in exchange for just finding their damned location. At least give me your names! How much more will it cost me to ask the questions without names? A lot. Damnation.

Steward took a deep breath. Then he whispered, “I want to sacrifice a big bruise on my left bicep for a complete list of the skills the three boys I just talked to over there have,” Steward said.

Nothing happened.

He sighed.

“I want to sacrifice 3 hours of sleep and a big bruise on my left bicep for a complete list of the skills the three boys over there I just talked to have.”

Nothing happened.

“I want to sacrifice 8 hours of sleep and a big bruise on my left bicep for a list of the most essential skills the three boys over there who I just talked to have. The list will not reveal which boy has which skill,” Steward said.

He knew it worked because his bicep suddenly hurt a lot.

Mana Generation. Mana Manipulation. Mana Sense.

Well, I’ll be damned. It turns out this risk and work paid off, Steward thought, with a smug smile on his face.

…

After Steward left they switched resting places and it was now the next day. After doing some grinding, they got a skill crystal.

Lucas popped it and the yellow energy flowed into his hand.

Human Interpersonal Non-verbal Bodily Social Behaviors Enhanced Perception: Rank 1

“What the fuck?” Lucas said.

“What’d you get?” Jack said. Lucas noticed how his eyebrows were raised and eyes open in excited anticipation over the reveal.

“Oh, fuck me,” Lucas said.

After telling them what he got and hearing their stupid jokes for a few minutes, Brian said: “Okay, I have an idea, something new we can do to get closer to healing Lucas’ hand…”

//////

Jack:

Knife Fighting: Rank 1

Knife Fighting: Rank 2

Python (programming language): Rank 1

Mana Generation: Rank 1

Sand to Glass Conversion Mana Blueprint: Rank 1

Healing Mana Blueprint: Rank 1

Origami: Rank 1

Enhanced Bodily Recovery: Rank 1

Speed Counting: Rank 1

Enemy Weakness Identification: Rank 1

Poetry: Rank 2

Blueprint visualizer: Rank 1

Mana Sense: Rank 1

Brian:

Shield Defending: Rank 1

Marksmanship (pistol): Rank 1

Right Arm Increased Strength: Rank 1

Mana manipulation: Rank 1

Mana Sense: Rank 1

Enhanced Propriosense in Toes: Rank 1

Enhanced Bodily Recovery: Rank 1

Flame Shield Dispel: Rank 1

Cryptography: Rank 1

Enemy Pattern Recognition: Rank 1

Airplane Pilot: Rank 1

Mana Generation: Rank 1

Lucas:

Insect Movement Control: Rank 1

Enlarged Penis: Rank 1

Mana sense: Rank 1

Mana Manipulation: Rank 1

Surfing: Rank 1

Arithmetic: Rank 1

Chess: Rank 1

Human Interpersonal Non-verbal Bodily Social Behaviors Enhanced Perception: Rank 1