Time passed. It was now winter and the siblings had done a lot during this time. Amelia practiced to the 2rd Realm without any problems popping up so the siblings decided to use her as a sort of bodyguard. The manual was amazing, Amelia could run as fast as a horse hit with 900KG of force and could jump to the roof from the ground floor. Most importantly she could use something akin to telekinesis or magic. They almost gave in to the manual several times but decided against it because they felt they could easily get a better manual once the plan was in action. Alex had several mugging attempts made on him with even several thugs who almost looked professional but how can you beat someone who took no damage and could counter your every move and still hit hard? Maybe he would have run out of stamina but thankfully there werent too many thugs. In real life so many thugs would only alert the police
They had slowly gained around 20,000Apts, using ocassional treats and such but due to how expensive the gadgets were they could only gain 10,000 points. Laura had sold all her figurines and every piece of art they both had. The two still had to strengthen themselves, Especially Alex considering the recent events. They obtained the 2rd realm or level 20 without using manuals simply through pills. They would be weaker than Amelia and cant really use any mystical powers because they didnt truly 'cultivate' but atleast their characteristics wont be affected because, if its anything like the novels one can only have one training manual to guide them.
They had also finished making a program. It was an robot and BoS application. They uploaded it to their own website and created a database for it using their server, the website would provide a forum like environment. They did not plan to make the website or app public since it would create chaos everywhere, for now atleast. One day Alex was working on opening a bank account for the transactions but decided that considering what its prospects will be instead of having a traceable one he rather just hack it in. He added a account to the Swiss bank with fake details which were roughly in his area but not exactly there.
The preparations were finished all he they had to do now was buy some items to make the app work. He left that to Laura as it was time for college again. On his way to college a van stopped right besides him and picked him up. His perception was no use as he wasnt even paying attention. In the van he could easily subdue them but he decided to find out the one behind it all instead. They punched him several times but as always no punch was ever felt apart from slight discomfort because of the weight difference. Confused by all this the assaulters just held him down. They started stripping him but Alex struggled free and promptly hid the button inside his hair. The digital gun he almost never carried outside because of how dangerous it is and how bad at aiming he was.
They grabbed him and this time he didnt resist, he was stripped down then 'knocked' unconscious, he wasnt actually unconcious but he had to pretend because it was clear they wanted him to be sleeping by how violent they got when their hits didnt work.
They took him to a warehouse and tied him down, Soon after a young man came in looking to be in his 30s. He slapped Alex as if wanting to wake him up so he then pretended to wake up.
"Where am I?"
Oscar level acting.
"How cute, pretending to be sleeping then pretending to have amnesia"
Or not.
"Well if you already know just spit out what you want"
"Your phone, where did you get it? I run a very small business related to manufacturing them you see and I would love to know"
"Check your wifes bed asshole"
Alex got slapped but didnt feel anything, still unsure if this was the mastermind he didnt struggle too much. He was tired of the constant mugging attempts so he wanted to catch them all at once
"Wise guy huh, Alright bitch look here. Someone tipped me off that you have a lovely little device and my friends here would really love to get one too, so tell us where you got it or next time we ask, less nicely with a cute little sister passed between us."
The sister loving Alex heard every word clearly with his increased perception, they were clearly threatening to rape Laura. Originally he intended to meet said 'someone' but this was clearly not worth waiting for, He instead decided to ask the guy infront of him who the mastermind was. Not in a nice way either
He looked at the guy and spit at him then punched, ropes were basically strings to him so even from this position the punch broke a few bones and smashing into the wall broke even more. The surrounding thugs took out their gun and shot at him but the bullets disappeared with a tiny blue tint stopping them.
He jumped at the closest thug and landed a kick on his face, with his increased perception and speed he grabbed the now midair gun and shot at the thug holding the shotgun. Well perception didnt mean better aim so he missed splendidly, salvaging it by throwing the gun at the thug with the shotgun. He saw a larger glow on his shield when several shotgun pellets hit him.
Perhaps it isnt good at dealing with attacks at several points at once but the situation didnt allow further thoughts on this. The gun hit the shotgun thug making him flinch Alex ran towards him and used him as a meat shield not daring to risk finding out whether the shield could handle multiple attack points. The thug got shot a few times and when the last thug was reloading Alex pushed the thug onto the last one and punched him out.
Honestly he never killed before but he was pretty sure atleast the thug he used as a shield is already dead. He vomited straight on the unconscious thugs face and thought about whether the guy he first punched would make it, he got punched with full power after all. His phone was lost but the original chip interface wasnt, he picked up a random phone and bound it, then fed a recovery pill he got for 50Mpts to the guy he first punched hoping to atleast save his life, It didnt completely heal him but it kept him alive. He then sat down to calm his nerves. His hands were trembling and he felt scared, what if the police got him? what if his family found out? Would he be able to live normally? He is just a teenage boy after all but after a while of calming himself he knew he had no choice.
Slowly getting up he found his own phone in the pockets of the guy he just rescued. He fixed the bindings and sold the phone he had picked up. It wasnt a very good phone so it only got him 70 Mpts. He sold the guns for 10-20Mpts each not surprising as they couldnt really hurt immortals, the phones were sold too for a total of 1000Mpts, Alex was scavenging the items to distract his mind as he knew if he didnt do this he would end up thinking and he would fuck things up if he hestitated too much. Alex also knew that letting these thugs live wouldnt end well for him so he found some gasoline and torched the place after dragging out the only guy he rescued ironically. The smell of burning flesh made him vomit once again but he still walked on.
He knew he was being a hypocrite but he didnt know what else to do, he was confused. He didnt think they would have guns or use them so readily. He thought he could just knock them out and get the mastermind but this wasnt a movie. He decided to deal with his thoughts later and after dragging his victim far enough he woke him up. He could hear police sirens from the warehouse along with some firetrucks, perhaps being far from the city was a blessing for him as it took a while for the authorities to get there. The kidnapper woke up confused at what happened. Understandibly he didnt expect to be knocked out in one hit from the guy tied to a chair, nor to wake up in the middle of nowhere. He had picked a secluded warehouse to avoid detection but it worked out against him.
He had no clue how Alex got out with him but seeing the thick smoke he realized he wasnt going to be rescued. He was a coward as most people in power were and readily gave up information on who he was and who was behind this all. Alex never expected Ray's name to come up but thinking about it that makes complete sense. He decided to plot his revenge later but for now he decided how to deal with the guy he was holding. He claimed he owned a technology company, well 31% of it. It wasnt a large one but it was still pretty big of a deal, just when Alex was thinking of what to do the guy named Howard spoke first
"Please, just let me go. I promise I wont bother you again, I'll get you money. So much money, a million dollars! just let me go"
"Money huh? doesnt your kind love it? Why give it up then?"
Clearly still angry about all this, Alex couldnt think straight, still most of his anger calmed down evidenced by how Howard was still alive.
"Please. I am sorry. Just dont kill me look ill transfer the money now, just tell me where to pay you!"
Alex eventually gave him his own Swiss account number. After a while he got a confirmation for the transfer and Howards face lit up
"Look I gave you the money, Just please. I will never show up again I promise"
'A guy who threatened to rape my sister promises he would never show up? someone who would kidnap for some random technology? Yeah Absolutely'
Too tired of all this he just outright punched howard's face then slowly walked back home. Thinking about everything that happened and occasionally bumping into people. The clothes he wore were from howard and they clearly had some blood and dust on them, despite his good looks the dirt and blood made him look like a beggar .
When he got home it was already dark, his parents and sister rushed to him after seeing him in such a straight. Alex burdened by fatigue collapsed