As Leon and Jessica stepped on the street outside, he looked back at the building with a wide grin.
"Where did such a man come from?" He asked.
"The Artist?" Jessica replied, "He's been around here forever. Some say he's crazy though."
"Why?"
"He's obsessed with art. He is good at making fakes for a living but there are a lot of people who recognize his replicas instantly. As if it is some sort of…" Jessica stopped to find the right word.
"A curse?" He asked.
"Exactly."
Leon nodded in agreement. The power of negative titles such as {The Loser} and {The Fool} are seriously infuriating. Just because some people look down on someone, the System would interfere and apply a debuff on that someone based on reputation.
At least Leon's title has a condition, this man's title is a curse that will haunt him unless something is done about it.
"But you're another surprise, aren't you?" Jessica said.
"Me?"
"Yes. You beat that big guy and you caught the Artist's attention? Who are you really?" She noted.
"Me?" Leon laughed, "Just some world-class thief and one of the best killers ever lived."
"… Right."
"Also a virgin."
"I'm afraid I won't be helping with that."
***
The two went out of the poor area but this time, Jessica had her head in a different place as she almost stumbled into half of the people she walked across a few times. Leon wasn't really interested in what was making her head busy but she was thinking about the deal from last night.
If they were really serious and she managed to gain Leon's support and recruit enough Dogs, she may actually have a chance against Ruth.
But it's still risky.
Ruth has connections that she can't dream of having and a lot of alliances with the other gangs. Also, the Overboss of the district is fairly happy with Ruth.
If she was to pull the carpet from beneath that harlot, she needs to be very stealthy, fast, and don't offend the wrong people.
Eventually, she couldn't have her peace while thinking until they reached a large plaza where the traffic was the heaviest. Standing out between the rest of the buildings, there was a large guild hall with an architectural style that didn't fit the poor theme of the district as it had large Roman-like pillars and a large gate blocked by a stream of many armed men.
"The Society of Hired Fighters and Explorer Gentlemen. Amber's Hall, Karanberg's Branch." Leon read the sign above the gate, "I love the name."
"Just fancy words for Mercenary."
The Plaza outside the building was indeed filled with the sort of mercenaries making it turn into something like a weekend folk market. There were recruitment stands, monster corpses, training requests, hall clerks, and all sorts of people gathered in this hot mess yet most of them were barred from entering the building.
The lively place even had all sorts of events including a large café-like area under a big shed and a number of prostitutes walking in alone and out with someone.
"That's how you know the place?" Leon asked Jessica with disgust.
"Fuck off! I never work here." She said.
"I heard this place pays better than the saloon though?" He remembered something from his first day.
"Pay? Yes, true. But you'd be discarding all the other benefits. And mercenaries are a fucking weird bunch. You'll see." She said as she pointed towards somewhere where a gathering of people circled a certain place.
Leon noticed it too and decided to check out what goes on there. As he approached and found a way through the bystanders, he was suddenly met by a man with a bloody face flying towards him. Reflexively, Leon twisted the man's arm and turned him around pushing him back where he came from.
"Woah! The newcomer is flaming." A man shouted as he made a thumbs-up gesture for Leon.
Inspecting the situation closely, Leon discovered that these people were gathering around a street fighting pit and he just may have sent someone back to the frying pan. The man he pushed back seemed to be on the short end as he was hit badly by the large guy he was facing. On the other hand, the cheerful man from a while ago kept on the commentary.
"Yeah! Hit 'im! Hit that bugger! Ah! Flatten his face with a swing! Bah! Look at 'im stumblin' his arse like a duck!"
Leon looked at the man who was unusually short compared to the surroundings even though he stood on a wooden stool. He was a heavily bearded fellow making his beard into braids and his rough facial features indicated his alien origin to human society.
If you encounter this narrative on Amazon, note that it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
A Dwarf!
A member of a rarely seen race on the surface of the continent, the Dwarves resemble humans in most cases but their males are heavy haired folk with facial features that are considered ugly by some human supremacists. Still, Dwarves are close cousins to Humans since they all fall under the category of the Four Great Races. While the Humans are mostly dominant on the surface of the world, the Dwarves have their caves go underground to depths unknown forming kingdoms and empires some humans may never get to know. They trade a lot of mundane metals in return for products from the surface which they find hard to gather due to their sunlight sensitivity, the main reason why a very few Dwarves can venture outside their normal habitat.
This Dwarf in particular standing on a stool and commenting on the fight was so excited that he was gathering bets, doing commentary, and drinking all at the same time. As soon as the match ended, he kept cheering like a mad man.
"Hear it ye folk! Hear it ye! One last fight for the day! One last bet! Winner takes all!" He shouted with insanity pointing at the last man standing, "20 Silver Pieces! Who has enough balls to spit in the eye of this giant and step up."
Leon's eyes almost turned into coin signs as he couldn't simply ignore a chance to increase his income. He stepped into the circle and at the same time, another man stepped with him. Leon was obviously shorter so the other man seemed to be trying to intimidate him except for…
*Swoosh* *Thud*
A single swift punch sent the man on his ass with a bloody nose and dizzy eyes.
"Back off!"
"Hohoho! We got a ballzy one! A single punch guy!" The Dwarf clapped as he spoke in his rough voice.
Leon walked towards the fighter in the ring and gestured for him to come. Of course, he already read his status and measured him well before he switched his classes to Warrior and Rogue.
"Hold yer horses! Before ya fight, ya add to the bet." The Dwarf spoke to him.
"Fine." Leon didn't mind and tossed a single silver coin to the Dwarf.
"Hooray! We have a new face. Rank?" The Dwarf asked.
Leon didn't take off his shirt and started at his towering opponent.
"On my way to register!" He said.
"""Hahaha!""" The people around laughed.
"On for a bloody nose on the first day, eh? That will be the quickest lesson to date." Even the large man ahead of him had to pay him respect for his guts.
The two seemed ready to fight as Leon stretched his limbs and took his pose. Jessica managed to squeeze in between the girls standing around the Dwarf and noticed the blunder Leon brew for himself.
"And the name?" The Dwarf asked but it seemed that the two fighters were already sparring in their minds.
"His name is Leo." Jessica said.
"Leo… what?" In a strange moment of realization, the Dwarf noticed the face of the young man he thought to be familiar.
Yet the surprise didn't give him any room for breath as the fight was already on.
The large guy, named Titus, provoked Leon by walking towards him defenseless only to take a Power Attack punch into the guts that made him question his sanity.
His head was down and posture was broken for Leon to take a wide circular horse kick aiming at the man's head.
Titus reflexively evaded his head out of the kick's way and backed down but Leon carried on with his momentum and rotated his body artistically standing on one hand and kicking the man's torso by a double kick before rolling away.
"WOAH!" The crowd cheered in both excitement and surprise.
Titus was forced back badly the entire first exchange but the first punch from Leon was a true menace that made him regret showing off.
He put up his defense properly this time and took big steps towards Leon trying to force him back. One strong punch, two, three, guard, four, guard, guard. Titus found himself entering a boxing match with someone much lighter and shorter in no time. It didn't seem like Leon was losing in a steady boxing fight as well so he faked a punch to miss and held Leon from the back of his head and tried to drive his knee into Leon's guts.
It was almost successful if not for Leon lifting himself up with the knee attack, holding Titus from his torso, and pushing him backward. Titus felt he was actually being overpowered so he tried to smite Leon down with his fist on the back causing Leon to lose momentum and be forced to break the engagement.
Leon's back hurt a little as he kept his distance and moved his shoulders around to ease the pain. Killing people from cover is easy but fighting this level 15 Sentinel brute head-on was something like attrition combat.
As Titus was also trying to catch his breath, Leon attempted a low sweep attack causing Titus to take a step back then followed by another sweep which irritated Titus when he retreated again.
"I'll break your bones for this."
Titus jumped almost above Leon and with a surge of magical power beneath his feet, he descended down.
"Stomp!"
"Stomp!"
Almost instantly, Leon was standing on his hands and his legs up doing a double upward double kick.
Two stomps!
One against the ground… the other against Titus's face.
*THUD* *ARG*
The two attacks made a small shock in the air as the fighters announced the end of the fight.
Leon lying on the ground coughing from the dirt and sand as Titus was almost out. In the end, it was Leon who remained standing last… or rather conscious.
[A/N: Leon was using Capoeira moves which is a Brazailian Martial Arts that involves a whole lot of kicks!]
The people took a second before realizing what just happened and amidst the screaming for the money they lost or the cheering for the good fight, Leon stood out looking at Titus and giving him a hand.
It was a tough fight. Technically, the damage output Titus had surpassed Leon's or else if their stomps were with equal force, Titus's head would have been sent flying.
"Good game!" Leon said.
"Yeah… shit!"
Titus had it bad but he was helped away by two of his friends as Leon turned to the people and raised his arms together.
"WOOHAA!"
He cheered for himself and mixed in well amidst the mercenaries who complimented his skill and weird movements. In the end, he noticed the Dwarf who holds the bet.
"Money!" He called.
The Dwarf reacted with a bit of a daze and noticed how Leon was looking at him with money shaped eyes.
"That's a nasty habit, lad." The Dwarf said, "Ya 've to speak respectfully to yer seniors."
"Seniors can gain the respect of Juniors by giving them money." Leon laughed at the Dwarf.
"Tsk! Yeah. Ya said ye're registering, right?" The Dwarf asked.
"Yes."
"Right. No need to test ya. You learned some nice moves." He said as he jumped down from the stool and walked past Leon before turning to him and asking, "Who did ya learn from?"
"The Mistress of all Masters." Leon replied.
"??" The Dwarf furrowed his expressions.
"Life." Leon cleared it for him.
"Ah! Well-spoken. Here." The Dwarf showed him a purse of coins, "Twenty-one silver. Should be enough."
"For registration?" Leon asked.
"Just follow me, ya little bugger!" The Dwarf looked deep into Leon as he continued, "Name's Vadim."
"Wel-met." Leon nodded.
Vadim narrowed his eyes then turned away and walked off. One the other hand, Leon couldn't resist the urge of reading Vadim's status but as he tried to do so, this appeared and…
——————————
[ Vadim Igorson - Lv.??? Warden ]
[STR: ???] [END: ???] [AGI: ???] [PRC: ???] [INT: ???]
- Titles: {???} {???} {???} {???} {Society Chief} {Monster Calamity} {Demon Slayer} {Humanoid Killer}
- Skills: ???
- Proficiency: (Talent: 106%) (Affinity: Light, Fire, Earth)
——————————
A monster!
A monster appeared in the wild.