Gideon ventured into a few of the shops and the prices he saw were a shock. Many of the items he came across cost more coin than he’d ever seen in his life. The shopping was enlightening. Gideon now understood that while Captain Daniels did his best to make life better, the reality was they lived in the slums. He was disheartened by this revelation.
He found himself drifting deeper into the city. Away from the bustle of all the crowds. As he walked along, the buildings and alleys became less opulent, then that lack of opulence became the presence of filth and grime. There were people that eyed him from the shadows.
After a few turns he realized some were no longer just watching, they were following close behind. He saw movement out front, they had flanked him. He was surrounded. He now understood Captain Daniels and his philosophy concerning slums and good people. Wealth wasn’t what made a district become a slum, it was the people that lived there and how they reacted to their environment.
“Look what we have here. A lost little puppy who wandered too far from home.” A man with a patchy beard said. The man held a knife that he spun nimbly between his fingers. “Seth, what do you think about our little puppy. This puppy came back here because he felt called to make a donation to us didn’t he?”
The man called Seth chuckled. “I do believe he did. Mighty kind of of him to help us out before he heads up to the school. We’re going to help him to, ain’t that right Hugh?” Seth emphasized this last part by pounding his bat into an open palm. The smack sound echoed in the narrow alley. Gideon smelled the rank sweat of the men now as the closed in.
“Yes sir. He is going to get a free lesson today. A lesson about not going where you don’t belong. Well, I guess it ain’t going to be free now is it. Now boy, we know you’re new and just coming to the school, so you have an alpha at best. So don’t test us and just give us your coin.” Hugh told him. His knife looked much larger now that he was up close.
“No, I don’t have the coin to give,” Gideon said. The bat struck his back shoulder and he dropped to one knee, the pain was too intense. I’ll just give them the coin, he thought. His eyes began to water and his vision blurred.
“You know Seth, I don’t think he’s learned yet. Hit him again, teach him another lesson. If he doesn’t learn from that one, then I’ll cut him. This time use your critical strike and lay into him real good. I want him broken.” Hugh said.
“Really? You think he can take a special shot? We don’t want to kill him do we? I mean we just want a few coins, right?” Seth asked hesitantly. Hugh only nodded. “Okay, it’s his funeral.” There was a slight flash of light and Gideon noticed shadows trailing behind the bat, the speed was almost imperceptible to the naked eye. The sound as it struck was deafening.
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{{Armor of the Protector Activated(Tier F)(DEM 54)
Immovable Object(Void Shield): Level 5 Activated (DEM 1,380)
Bastard Sword: (OEM 37)}}.
Gideon stood nearly six inches taller than he had a moment ago. He was covered head to toe in an ethereal suit of the finest armor Master Brom could craft. The young boy was now a titan in the alley compared to his former self. The bat the man used to attack had shattered on impact. Gideon reflexively stepped away from the blow. Then realized he hadn’t felt it at all, his armor had absorbed the full impact.
A large round shield with a small spike materialized on his left arm. Gideon struck out at Seth with the shield with all his might, hitting him square in the center of his chest. The man fell back against the wall, blood came from his mouth and nose. Gideon Continued to press the attack, driving into the man. That is when he noticed the puncture wound in the mans chest. He had forgotten about the spike on the shield when he attacked. The man crumpled to the ground when he pulled the shield away. The mans face had went blank. Gideon felt a moment of panic. Had he just killed the man? He didn’t have time to contemplate what that meant.
“What did you do!” Hugh screamed. “Brother are you okay? Seth, get up. It’s going to be okay. Get up!” He closed on Gideon with his knife. With a thought, he drew his sword from the spacial ring. It appeared in his right hand as he squared off against Hugh. The fear on the man’s face looked earnest, the smell of urine lent it credence.
“You’re some kind of monster. You’re not a student. What are you? It wasn’t supposed to go down like this,” Hugh stammered to Gideon, his eyes were large and full of fear. Gideon thought the man looked as though he was ready to flee, his brother was likely the only thing that kept him from doing so.
Hugh slowly put his knife away as he circled around Gideon. He leaned down and shook his brother, when Seth didn’t move he bent down and placed his head under Seth’s arm. He helped the unconscious man to his feet, to Gideon’s relief Seth was waking up, he was alive. The man was still bleeding from his mouth. “We’re leaving. You hear me? Leave us be and don’t follow.” Hugh helped Seth walk. They fled back down the alley as fast as they could move.
A man’s voice from the shadow startled Gideon. “Put that away before the guards show up. They’re the last people you want to talk to right now. All that racket you made, I’m surprised they aren’t already here.”
He turned to face where the voice came from and saw an older man standing with a door open to the alley, waving for him to follow. “Lets go, hurry up and get in there,” the old man demanded. Gideon released his armor ability, and on instinct, he absorbed the sword with his ability. He had stored his sword away within the void itself, rather than his storage ring.
He realized his error immediately and smiled. He had been unable to absorb weapons, regardless of the type of weapons they attempted.
While those nights didn’t result in success, the other nights training had paid dividends. The training with Captain Daniels had saved him tonight, he owed the captain yet again.
He wasn’t sure of this old man’s intentions, but anywhere was better than here if the guards showed up. As the old man had said, the guards were the last people he wanted to see. He didn’t want his license to the upper districts revoked before he even made it to the academy, so he trusted his instincts and followed the man inside. He felt he could defend himself if the man were to try anything. Out of the kettle and into the fire as they say.
{{Congratulations! Skill Level Up! Alpha Skill: Immovable Object: Void Shield is now level 6.
Congratulations! Ability Tier Up! Alpha Ability: Armor of the Protector is now Tier E.
You now have 10 Stat points to allocate.
Congratulations! Beta Ability: Long Blade Awakened.}}