"wha- what it is that you guys want?"
"No need to be nervous, just give us all of ya' coin as usual"
"Bu-"
Before I could even spoke a word, a huge hand came into my view.
'This...' I bit my lip to contain my anger.
'I didn't even got a chance to speak...'
The man they called leader, who goes by the name Ben, had hit my face once again. I stumbled back due to the sheer force behind his slap.
'He's still at the starting ranks... I can win.'
"Don't try to reason with us."
"Do you badly want to be beaten up again?"
After he finished talking, he suddenly punched me in the gut.
'I can't breathe... My body still recovering from the beating I received from them, a few days earlier.' Gasping for air, Adrian knelt down and held his stomach with both of his hands.
'Taking on these bastards with these stats will be hard.'
'But of course, I didn't approach them without having a plan in mind. We guys still have a debt to settle...'
Scanning my surroundings, I tried to find something useful, but all I could see in this alley were drops of blood and dried ones.
'She passed out... I guess that's good. This will make things even easier.' my eyes paused on the girl that had been beaten up.
"Hey! Don't just stand there... are you deaf? The boss wants your coins."
Adrian put his hand into his pocket seemingly trying to get his coins to offer it to the thugs.
But as he inserted it, He covered his hand with Mana, using the pocket as a cover.
Pleased by Adrian's action, the thugs slowly burst into laughter.
"This weakling bastard is just like that old man of his, they both are weak and cowardly.
I held up my trembling hands in front of him and said, "Sir, this is all that I have."
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"Hey bastard! there's nothing in there, are you fu-"
But before he could finish what he was saying, I pierced his chest with my hands that is coated with mana, Then grabbed his heart and dragged it out.
Taking advantage of the momentary confusion and panic of the other two, I grabbed the dagger from the corpse and charged at the other thug.
I pierced his neck and abdomen using the dagger. And his lifeless body slowly fell into the ground.
As the corpse fell into the ground, I saw the leader rushing towards me.
'He recovered much faster than I thought.'
Adrian dodged sideways to avoid the charging leader of the thugs.
'he's much more stronger that those two. I need to create an opening.'
Adrian stooped to pick up the thug's heart and asked the leader, "Hey, Mr. leader. I was just wondering if you have an extra heart as it seems like your friend's heart was stolen." Adrian smiled as he toyed with the heart.
taking advantage of his stunned appearance, Adrian threw the heart to him and charged with his right arm clutching the blade to stab it into his neck.
The leader instantly stopped his right arm, which was holding the dagger, But Adrian quickly used his other arm coated with mana to penetrate the leader's chest.
A gaping hole appeared at the chest of the leader as stumbled back down and fall on his knees.
'fuck, It feels like I have broken my fingers.'
[NOTICE]
[A NEW TITLE HAS BEEN ACQUIRED]
-------SYSTEM-------
[Name]: Adrian von sinclair
[Age]: 17
[Titles:] Regressor, Cold blooded killer.
[Killing someone without emotions and feeling any remorse, you're definitely deserving of this title.]
[Title Reward: Agility +2]
[Profession]: None
[--Stats--]
[Strength]: 10
[Agility]: 15
[Endurance]: 7
[Intelligence]: 18
[Stamina]: 10
[Mana]: 10 [Quality]: F
[Luck]: C
[talent]: (???)
[Rank]: F
[---Skills---]
[One with shadows] (C rank)
blends with the shadow making the host harder to detect (Mana consumption: 20 per minute)
[Jade flow] (S - E rank) [reduced to E-rank due to the low rank of host.]
-A Mana channelling technique created by Adrian Von Sinclair pouring his years of knowledge and hard work into a single technique.
- A technique that helps the host in converting Mana from the host's surroundings, into the body by using jade stone as a catalyst.
[Embrace the shadows] (?Rank)
[Devour]
Consume the shadow of the dead, taking one random stat point from it.
(Note: This ability can only be used three times per day, Stats that are gained are random and based on the creatures rank.)
-???
-???
-???
-???
[Congratulations on unlocking the first seal]
[---passive skills---]
[Mana Control] (S-rank) [Reduced to E-rank due to the low rank of host.]
- A mana technique that helps the host on manipulating Mana
[Just because you've dealt with a few lowlifes; It doesn't imply you're already strong. This is only the beginning of your path.]
'A new title... and it looks like some of the stats have risen too. A bit of push, and I can rank myself up. I wonder what profession I will get if I rank up to E.'
'Wait... What is this? What happened to my talent? It became a bunch of question marks.'
Slowly scrolling down the panel, my eyes paused on one particular skill, "[Devour.]"
'Holy... This is an unbelievable skill, and this is just the first seal of [Embrace the darkness].'
'That explains why my talent is on question marks, My talent is basically limitless. Using the devour skill, I can just absorb their stats and Mana.'
'I really want to try it now... should I try it on the leader of the thugs.'
'Based on our fight earlier his two lackeys are F+ rank and the leader is probably E- or E rank and has no profession.'
"[Devour]"
As I put my hands on the corpse, A cool feeling surged towards me.
I saw a dark mist coming from the dead being absorbed by my hand.
[Agility + 3]
[Due to the target's higher level, you gain a bonus of +2 Agility]
-------SYSTEM-------
[Name]: Adrian von Sinclair
[Age]: 17
[Titles:] Regressor, Cold-blooded killer.
[--Stats--]
[Strength]: 10
[Agility]: 20
[Endurance]: 7
[Intelligence]: 7
[Stamina]: 10
[Mana]: 10 [Quality]: E-
[Luck]: C
[talent]: (???)
[Rank]: F
'This is just unbelievable...'
Amidst my bewildered expression, I noticed the battered girl trembling in the corner.
As I turned to exit the alley, I indicated that she should refrain from talking about what happened today by putting my index finger in my lips. "please, keep what happened here today to yourself... You owe me one."
...
'How much has she witnessed? Do I need to kill her?'
killing an innocent defenseless civilian, what in the abyss am I thinking... I just hope that she'll keep her mouth shut.'
'She's just like me, a victim of those thugs.'
'...'
I have a lot of luck today.
'If I had engaged them in a fair fight and hadn't caught them off guard, I might have lost. I can probably defeat the 2 lackeys but If the boss was on his right state of mind, I might be dead or running frantically.'
'In order to benefit from the future and provide my Old man a better life, I definitely should increase my strength more quickly.
'I guess that I'll just enjoy this week with him first, and then join the adventurer's association next week.'
As I walked out of the alley, My adrenaline rush passed, and I was starting to feel the injuries that I got from the fight earlier.
'Shit, My fingers hurt.'