Hmm?"
As Cast stepped into the shadowy alleyway, he discovered that Jack was already there.
The other was leaning against a dirty wall, fiddling with something around his neck. But he abruptly stopped these actions when he noticed Cast.
Quickly straightening his posture and looking at Cast with expectant eyes and a serious expression.
Cast slightly lifted his eyebrow, he didn't think the teenager would be so collected after yesterday. The fact that he even showed up today was surprising for Cast.
But in the end it didn't really matter to him.
He was still a bit annoyed at his boss for forcing him to take Jack with him. He had completed his jobs just fine alone.
Not that he held a grudge against the boy in front of him, he actually pitied him quite a bit. It was obvious that his boss tormented the other on purpose, but he knew not to stick his nose into other people's troubles.
Being a busybody usually didn't end well in the underground.
After one last glance, Cast turned around with a 'Let's go'.
He heard Jack hurriedly catch up to him, so that they would walk next to each other.
That wasn't really necessary today, as they wouldn't pass-by any bigger streets, which effectively reduced the risk of any police officers stopping them.
Most alleys were ruled by hidden organizations, no policeman would voluntary set foot there. Especially since it was unlikely for them to leave unharmed.
Cast sneered silently in his heart.
Although there was a deal between the organizations and the government, the former had long overstepped the agreed-upon boundaries and the latter had gradually succumbed to the devil's temptation.
Corruption ran rampant in the oh-so strict and honest government, while the organizations only continued to expand their scope of influence.
The organization that Cast belonged to was one of the strongest competitors in this game of power.
They had firmly established their foothold through the alcohol business and gradually expanded into all kinds of other sectors.
Gambling was only one such example.
But...
Cast unconsciously furrowed his brows.
Despite all this, he felt like there was some kind of conflict gradually growing underneath the peaceful surface.
Getting ready to explode.
Cast stopped his steps, pushing these useless thoughts down.
He shouldn't worry too much, fact was, even if something did happen, he was only a meager debt collector in the eyes of the other factions.
If he took advantage of the mess to get away, nobody would pursue his matter.
Although he still hoped that he was just imagining the tension and everything would be back to normal soon.
Cast fixed his gaze on a wall just in front of him.
With light steps he rushed towards the wall that was only bit taller than him, before grabbing onto the top edge and flinging himself over in one swift, smooth motion.
Not bothering about whether Jack would be able to follow him or not.
There was already a group of men laying in ambush on the other side of the wall.
Really stupid.
Cast jumped off the wall behind him towards their group, directly engaging (and knocking out) 2 out of their group of 11.
Hoping to take further advantage of this surprise attack he swung his fist towards one of the men still standing in front of him, while slightly raising one of his legs for a low kick targeting a man to his left side.
It was a risky move, he was completely surrouded, so his momentary imbalance could become a fatal weakness if one of his 'assailants' were to snap out of their daze.
Unfortunately, he made the wrong choice. Right before his attack connected, he caught a metallic flash in the corner of his eye.
He instantly realized that it was a knife, his fighting experience and numerous scars caused by sloppy cutting attacks told him so.
This was very bad luck.
But now he didn't have any other choice but to take the hit.
Cast followed through with his own attack, only tensing up his muscles, awaiting the searing pain of a knife slashing or stabbing him, although he hoped that it would be the former rather than the latter.
'Crash!'
The stab attack never succeeded, and when Cast turned around after robbing two more people of their combat capability, Jack had appeared. Kneeling on top of the man who had still possessed a knife until just now.
But, the knife had already vanished from his hand.
Instead, Jack was tightly holding onto it.
Delight rushed through Cast's body, although he made up his mind to take the attack, it'd still hurt like hell and he'd rather not deal with the aftermath.
So this was actually the most unlikely best-case scenario.
Cast's opinion of Jack rose and he quickly took this opportunity and knocked out one more person, while also taking care of Jack's 'victim'.
Now only five remained.
A grin spread on Cast's lips, this fight was unfolding better than he had anticipated.
He slowly took a step forward, calmly crossing his arms.
This was a tactic he rarely got to use, because you needed enough momentum for it to work.
Intimidation.
Cast looked at the remaining men, although they were very hesitant about what to do next, they still didn't back off.
He was a bit regretful, he'd rather spare the effort of knocking out everyone of them.
Just as Cast was about to return to a fighting stance and continue this beating, the men's demeanor changed a bit.
Earlier they were merely hesitant, still thinking about how to tackle this problem (Cast) best, but now they didn't seem too sure about that approach anymore.
A bit taken aback by this development, Cast tried to figure out what caused this change. Then he noticed Jack who stood next to him. Although it was only out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the teenager had a threatening expression on his face while brandishing the stolen knife.
He was amused by this obviously fake threatening aura, almost bursting out laughing. But only because he knew how timid Jack was, didn't mean that their opponents did as well.
So it wasn't long before their determination and fighting spirit completely dissipated. Their eyes flickered between their fallen companions, but in the end their courage was too small. Once the first person turned to run, the others followed suit.
From the start, Cast didn't expect there to be much loyalty between them, his judgement told him, that this was probably just a ragtag group of debt collectors, bouncers and bodyguards that had been forced to work together by their organization. Most of them had probably never seen each other before.
He figured that since the members of illegal organizations weren't exactly known for their self-sacrificing character, this intimidation tactic might work.
Cast's violent reputation also contributed to this outcome.
Being famed as undeafeted even after frequenting and mingling with the hidden scum of socitey for 7 years certainly had its perks. Although there were enough people trying to challenge him and make use of his slight fame to make themselves more desirable to other organizations...
This very satisfying outcome put Cast in a good mood.
Not caring about the men on the ground, he turned to Jack. For the first time, he felt like this pitiable guy who was assigned to him could actually become his partner.
With a bit of training of course.
From what he could tell the other had good reflexes and physical strength. Teaching Jack to fight shouldn't be too difficult with these prerequisites.
The way he fearlessly jumped on an armed opponent and rid them of their weapon, despite the potential danger, also somewhat impressed Cast.
With a light grin, Cast asked the stunned Jack:
"Do you want to learn how to fight?"