A few days ago, in a quiet market square near the New City docks, a young beastman was exercising. Specifically, he was lifting barrels as part of the training regime a certain irresponsible master had proscribed before disappearing once more. The drunk had seemed a bit irritated that his student had acquired the new skill so easily, and had gotten sulky before his sudden departure.
"You've got talent, lad. Just keep practicing like I showed you, and you'll be stronger before you know it." The old man had said dismissively while walking away. Since then, the young beastman had been working tirelessly to enhance his new skill, which currently involved lifting barrels.
Brenden had recently graduated from ones filled with water, and was now attempting to lift one filled with scrap iron, finding the process a bit more challenging, but doable nonetheless. "102…103…104…"
[This is a little difficult with one hand. I'm not looking forward to switching to fingers.]
Through a rather intense bout of training, he'd picked up the Minor Power Enhancement skill. It was an unusual one that required him to surpass the mortal limitations of the body in order to even unlock it. In exchange, it allowed him to perform superhuman feats, even at the first rank.
After reaching two hundred repetitions, he finally took a break, wiping the sweat from his forehead. He'd already taken his shirt off, but it had done little to combat the oppressiveness of the late summer heat.
[What I wouldn't give for some of Mike's resistance skills right about now…] He was thinking to himself, when a strange group burst into the square, dragging their troubles behind them.
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"Run! They're right behind us!" Jorn yelled from his position at the rear of the group. The sturdy dog beastman was the closest thing they had to a real fighter, but even he was outmatched by the adults that were chasing them.
"Yuni fell behind! We have to go back for her!" Pearl cried, a look of absolute misery on the young lizard beastman's face as she looked askance at their leader.
Gritting her teeth, Lara shouldered the barely conscious George once more. "We can't. If we go back now, they'll get all of us. We need to make for Sounding's Square. If we can lose them there, then we'll have a chance."
Taking the lead, she started hustling as best she could while supporting the rat beastman. It was awkward going, but if they could just make it…
They rounded the corner and came face to face with a shirtless dog beastman, glistening with sweat. For a moment, Lara's mind went blank at the sheer unexpectedness of it. He looked a little older than her, probably around 17, but had the rippling and muscular physique of a warrior. A mop of shaggy dark nearly obscured his curious, but unworried gaze.
Once her brain was working again, Lara quickly dismissed the hunky male as a bystander, and proceeded to focus on the more immediate problems.
"Come on everyone, we need to move!" She urged her comrades onto greater efforts despite her own flagging stamina.
[If we can just make it across…]
They had nearly succeed in crossing the square when the other group of pursuers cut them off. They had broken off early in the chase, and Lara hadn't had the time to think on where they might have gone. Evidently, she'd led her friend's right into their trap. In moments, they were surrounded by over twenty adult humans.
Karl, the leader of Yonbliss, smiled. "Well, well. Looks like it's the end of the line for you, pups. Why don't you be good little kids and surrender? I would hate to hurt you more than necessary."
"Damn you!" Lara growled. "You won't get away with this."
The man laughed maliciously. "Ah, but you already know I will. After all, who is going to-"
A fist drove into Karl's face, sending him flying. After nearly ten meters of traveling through the air he crashed into an empty fruit stand, breaking it into pieces.
"Hm, looks like I don't know my own strength, anymore." The bystander from earlier muttered to himself while examining his clenched fist in an almost disinterested manner. "Luckily, a good chance to practice has fallen into my lap."
With that, he launched himself at the surrounding gang members, and began to effortlessly overwhelm them.
[How cool…..I'm mean, this isn't good. I need to warn him!]
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Brenden lazily dodged another punch from the thug, before delivering an elbow to his jaw. He didn't even bother to watch as the man collapsed into a boneless heap.
[I wonder why they're fighting without weapons. They're pretty good at hand to hand, but it's hardly sufficient to warrant this level of confidence.]
Grabbing one of the attackers by the wrist, he whipped the man horizontally at two others, sending all three of them sprawling. Brenden couldn't help but marvel at the ease of it. The man had felt lighter than a pillow.
He'd always been pretty strong, especially once he picked up the Strength Enhancement passive skill as a child, but it paled in comparison to now.
[If this is what Rank 1 can do…]
Delivering a knee to another gang member's gut, Brenden felt his blood boiling. He was beginning to see the path forward.
"Wait, you don't-" The female rabbit beastman who seemed to be the leader of the group started, before being cut off by a much louder yell.
"What's the meaning of this?! Who are you, and why are you interfering?" A walking boulder yelled as it pushed its way through the increasingly timid thugs.
Brenden blinked, before realizing that the boulder was actually a man, just an unusually shaped one. He stood nearly 2m tall, and was about as wide. The massive muscles of his limbs were coated with a solid layer of fat, while his torso appeared to be almost spherical. A proportionately tiny head, with beady eyes glaring at him, gave the impression that he had been simply inflated through some bizarre process.
Brenden returned the glare, "I saw something I didn't like, so I decided to get involved. Simple as that."
The boulder frowned, "You weren't part of the original team. Adding another member in the middle of a match is grounds for disqualification. As such the Hunter's Paw forfeits this round by default."
[...…What?]
"He's our reserve fighter!" The rabbit beastman exclaimed, stepping out in front of him. "Since we started with fewer than the allotted amount, we have the right to allocate reserve fighters to make up the difference."
[...…What?]
"Hmph, you expect me to believe you were keeping an expert in reserve, when you can barely field a full team? Is that true, young man?" The spherical man asked.
"Uhh…"
"Just say yes!" The rabbit beastman hissed after ducking behind him again.
"Yes?" Brenden asked, still quite confused.
Sighing the boulder shook his head. "Whatever. As Mediator I declare this individual a member of the Hunter's Paw. As such, his participation is valid. Continue the match." He wandered back to where he came from.
For a moment everyone in the square just looked at each other, but then, as if by some shared message, the thugs charged him simultaneously, war cries on their lips. Resigning himself to figuring this all out later, he stepped forward and began the process of systematically beating them into submission.
It didn't take long.
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"So let me get this straight. You guys are members of a gang called Hunter's Paw, and you were fighting in something called Arbitration? Which is some kind of formal street fight that gangs use to settle disputes in this city?" Brenden asked, wanting to make sure he was understanding this correctly.
"That's right." Lara, the female rabbit beastman responded cheerfully.
"You know there's an actual war going on, right?" He asked, wondering if there was something wrong with their heads.
"Yeah, but that really only affects the richer folks. Us gutter rats will keep living the same regardless of who rules the city." She said smugly while nodding. Her long, white rabbit ears bobbed in the process. "These matches are much more important."
He wanted to refute her, but didn't quite know where to start.
"And we won this one because of you! Really, we can't thank you enough for the help. If you weren't already a member, we would offer you a spot in our premier organization."
"Hm...What do you mean I'm already a member?" He asked, eyeing the girl suspiciously.
"Well, now that's over, why don't we head back to the hideout and celebrate our first real victory!" She changed the subject and started trying to get away.
He grabbed her by the head, holding her in place with ease. In a low, threatening voice he uttered, "Explain."
"Ha ha....." Lara chuckled nervously, "Well, you kinda agreed to be part of our gang in front of the Mediator, which means the rest of the gangs will treat you as part of us, even if you don't want them to."
Letting her go, Brenden shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me what they think. Its not like I owe them, or you, anything." He started wandering back over to his shirt.
She started following him. "Well, the thing is, our gang is pretty weak right now. In fact, we don't really have any strong fighters, so when we get into Arbitration, there's not much we can do but lose."
"I fail to see how that's my problem." He shot back, while pulling on his shirt and grabbing his sword. It took a few moments to buckle it back in place.
"Wait, wait, wait!" The girl yelled while running in front of him. "It'll be really troublesome for us if you leave now. Can you really abandon a bunch of cute kids like us to the mercy of those scary adults." She tried to give him the puppy dog eyes.
Looking back at the other three, Brenden saw a similar expression on their faces. While he was doing so, he also noted their appearances. They looked a little too thin, a little too malnourished. Life had evidently not been kind to them. Especially since it seemed that there were only kids in this gang. Ones who had to fend for themselves in the cruel streets.
An image flashed through his mind, vibrant and detailed despite the passage of years. It was the moment where her smile had faltered. The moment she finally realized that he wasn't going to be able to save her. The moment when hope had faded from her eyes.
"What do you want from me?" He asked resignedly.
Lara lit up. "Awesome! Come on, come one! Lets go back to the hideout and we'll explain everything."
Sighing, Brenden started following the overly energetic girl, seeing as he didn't have anywhere else to go at the moment. At the very least, this meant he should be able to eat something, and sleep with a roof over his head. There were many thing he regretted about his fight with Mike. Not bringing any money with him was one of the larger ones.
After meandering through the slums for awhile, they ended up in front of a shoddy looking tavern, which was named The Cat's Paw. Despite its appearance, the place seemed rather crowded, with the sounds of merriment spilling out into the street. As such, Brenden did have a pressing question to ask.
"What is this?"
"This is our hideout and the headquarters of the Hunter's Paw gang!" Lara exclaimed. "Its also where most of the adult members work."
"Wait, so you have adult members?"
"Of course! You didn't think a bunch of kids could really run a gang by themselves, did you?" She asked while shaking her head smugly.
Without another word, Brenden turned and started leaving. It took the offer of all the food he could eat to bring him back, but even then he fully intended to leave once he'd had his fill.
[I'm definitely not getting involved in any of this, no matter what they do or say.]