The sun was just disappearing from the horizon as James left Pop's shop. He'd spent far too much time haggling with the man to the point he was forced to turn one of the gold coins he had into a hundred silver ones, all of it just satisfy the middle-aged mans hunger. Pops had no idea what the true value of the coins were, just that silver was a precious metal, and James had nearly six-pounds worth of the stuff to trade, after, of course he measured it on a meat scale. He didn't even ask where James had gotten them, just waved his hands with a smile and told him not to worry so much about.
He had to wait until he was out of sight of Henry to empty the cart Pop's had so graciously let him borrow, at the cost of two more silver coins, not wanting to let the man or his son in on anymore of his secrets. The cart rattled along, James, despite its obvious weight pulling it along with one hand until he got out of sight in an alley around the corner from Pops shop.
Looking over said cart showed it was full to the point of bulging, grabbing of items had almost been in a haze, thankfully Henry had managed to keep most of the towns population from running amok. He was focused more on shelf life and future planning than taste or luxury, words mimicking that statement were uttered as items began to disappear one by one, trying to run up a mental tally, "Five pounds of rice, bunch of one pound bags of dried beans, couple jars of peanut butter, two jugs of oil, a bunch of canned goods I am not counting, coffee, tea, some bouillon cubes, sack of flour, cornmeal, couple containers of oats, salt, pepper, spices, soy sauce, bunch of seeds.... shit forgot honey and basically anything besides food.", his hand went up to his brow, thumb and finger pinching at the ridge of his nose trying to calm himself.
"I am NOT dealing with Pop's more today, god damn greedy asshole.", a sigh shot from his lips as the cart was shoved off into the alley unceremoniously. "I just wanna go home and get some sleep." That little act of defiance done, despite the fact he had paid to use the cart in the first place, James walked back out. His destination was further down the intersection towards a metal barrier intended to alert drivers of a dead end. Unaware that someone, or rather, several someones had seen him come into the alley with a cart full of food and then leave without said cart.
They were patient, extremely so, waiting just until James stepped up to the front door of what looked more like a machine shop than a house before they made their presence known. The sound of a bat tapping off the metal guard rail getting his attention real quick, causing him to freeze and tense up, "Hey buddy! Where'd all that food go? Why don't you turn around here and tell us, we're awful hungry you see." James didn't budge, his hands were clenched into fists, his back visibly trembling, eyes shut.
Another voice, this time younger, more nasally began to mock James, "Ha ha, look at 'im Clay, you've got him shaking he's so scared! Don't piss yourself man! Just show us where you put the food and we'll leave you alone all civil like!" The long metal rod had appeared in front of James, left hand snatching it up as he turned around, seeing three people when he did. "No. Im done. Fuck you. I tried to follow the rules. A giant worg, a car wreck, some whiny daddy's girl, a homeless santa claus look alike with a shotgun, two slingblade rejects, a pack of wolves, and Pops price gouging the fuck out of me, and now you retards." The words rolled from his lips, confusing the three standing there, looking at him as if he had lost his marbles. The ring leader composed himself and began waving around what looked to be a pistol trying to bring attention back to himself.
"You lose your mind looking at us? I mean, I know we're scary and all, but we don't care about any of that shit, just give us the stuff and you wont get a few bullets for your trouble." As if emphasing the point the gun was aimed roughly at James chest, a smug self-satisfied grin popping up on Clay's face, so sure he had this in the bag. "You part of Leonards crew?" Another dumbfounded look popped up on their faces, "Yea? And?" The grin that slowly stretched across James face was malicious, getting Clay to seize up on the gun finger on the trigger, "Good when you shit stains disappear no one will care AND I'll be justified." Clay seemed to have had enough, as the trigger was pulled on the gun twice in quick succession, two bullets hitting James roughly center mass.
You have taken 5 [Blunt] damage.
You have taken 5 [Blunt] damage.
The grin Clay had spread to the other two, all three of them getting ready to walk towards James whose head was tilted down, looking over the two new holes in his shirt. They stopped part way though, as James head had tilted back up, still grinning as he looked at them, "So thats what they meant when they said the exploit had been fixed. You're fucked." Clay, confused, tried to empty the magazine into him, only this time James didn't stay still like a good target. He launched himself at Clay far faster than a human had any business moving.
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You have taken 2 [Blunt] damage.
You have taken 4 [Blunt] damage.
You have taken 2 [Blunt] damage.
Your Skill [Pain Resistance II] has leveled to [Pain Resistance III]
You have taken 2 [Blunt] damage.
Four more shots grazed his body, James did not even notice. It felt more like a friendly slug in the shoulder than something that should have sent agony through his body. Clay realizing his gun was doing nothing tried to turn to run. Tried. James had arrived, that black rod whipped to the opposite side of the arm carrying it only to come soaring back. It cracked like a whip into the hand Clay had been holding the pistol with producing a sound like meat hit with a hammer. The hand burst into a spray of gore and bone pieces, gun sent flying off to the side.
The follow up was immediate, his freehand shooting out, grabbing Clay by the throat with his fingers, using the momentum and brute strength to clamp down, push forwards, and then snap back. Hand came away rip with a hunk of flesh and part of Clays windpipe. He had showered himself in a fresh gout of blood and viscera for the umpteenth time today. No finesse, just a lack of experience and pure unadulterated brutality. Clay hit the ground gurgling, trying to scream, piss soaking the ground beneath him.
"Run! Hes a fuckin' monster! RUN! SOMEONE HELP!", the other two had not just sat around, they stumbled over one another before clumsily getting to their fight trying to sprint away from James as quickly as possible. His sight snapped onto them from Clay who was sitting, both hands wrapped around his throat, trying to stop the bleeding, tears flooding his cheeks, blood soaking his chest. He made sure they were looking as he picked his leg up as far as he could get it and then slammed his foot down onto Clays head at an angle, slamming it into his body, and then the body down into the ground. There was a sickening crunch, and then the gurgling stopped.
The show had caused the two to stare in fear as they ran, a mistake as it sent them stumbling over one another again, falling to the asphalt scraping skin and crying out in alarm. James just began to walk at them slowly, the metal rod at his side swung back and forth almost on instinct. Every step increased the sound of the begging crys of the two left, their hands and feet a jumble as they tried in vain to get their bearings and flee from him."W-wait stop", one voice stammered, another cutting into it, "It was al-all Clays idea were sorry", forcing the first to cut them off and speak up, "Y-yea C-clays idea were sorry, please please."
James just continued to let each foot fall in front of the other, completely silent, the grin gone from his face, just the sound of that rod whistling through the air as it was swung about. "M-money? We have money." still begging, they had stopped trying to get to their feet, instead crawling backwards as quickly as possible. Finally James spoke, a foot away from the two, his voice causing both to freeze apart from the trembling. "How many?"
When he didnt get an answer the rod was drawn up and slammed down, the foot of the boy that had mocked him the target. The bones were practically turned to dust. Blood soaking the flimsy sneaker through, bladder quickly following it the boys hands shot down trying their best to get the pain to stop. Even with the boy screaming like a stuck pig, James repeated himself, voice a little louder, "I said how many." He was being unreasonable, not even clarifying what he meant, which was why the second one was forced to shake out a reply, "How m-many what?"
Brown eyes fixed the other in front of him, almost staring through him like he was little more than a cockroach. "How many of you fucks are left? How many do I need to put down before I can get some peace and quiet?" The teen just stared at James, not sure what he meant, his confusion and fear covering his face, "I don't know? I mean.. i-if you mean Leonards crew two went missing today.. theres us three... ", trailing off he looked to where Clay was in a heap, "T-two I mean... and l-like four more at the hide out? W-were just small time man... P-pops wont let us in his store so-so we had to try and get stuff o-on our own."
The other had not yet stopped wailing and carrying on, causing James to turn to him after he got the information he wanted. That rod was brought up and then slammed down, bending slightly from the force exerted. It collided with the boys skull splintering it into pieces like a melon hit with a bat. Now covered in more debris a startled yelp came from the other.
Congratulations! You have reached level 11!
You gain +3 [Stat] Points
You gain +2 [Stat] Points from [Fastest Learner]
James, momentarily distracted, did not notice the remaining teen slumping to his feet begging, So I get some kind of experience for people not a part of the system then?, his thoughts were interrupted by a whiny voice, "W-wait I helped you r-right? Right?" As his focus shifted back he noticed the teens hands were clasped together in the air, body hunched up to try and appear as small as possible. Raising his foot, James pressed it to the teens shoulder then shoved back sending him sprawling. "Get up you spineless shit. You're gonna take me to your so called hideout."
Seeing no choice, the boy slowly rose to his feet shaking, not even uttering a word as he began walking back towards the other side of town. James kept pace a few feet behind just off to the side. He was still swiping that rod about like a kid playing with a new toy. The sound of it whistling, shoes on asphalt, and soft sobbing fading away from the end of the street.