He was catching his breathing as he mindlessly placed his hand to the stone bridge while observing the water in motion. He noticed two carps playing gleefully and smiled but then they disappeared, no, startled by something.
Laughs, laughs.
Lock went angry and glared at the people who threw the stone at the fishes. A group of three boys were laughing at him.
"Oh? It's the great soooorcerer!?"
"It's really amazing! How nice it is to have the Headmaster of the academy as your old man!"
"What'cha doin' here? Big shot?"
The three boys were of Lock's age, or maybe a little older. They were obviously looking for trouble. He could remember the original Lock meeting them and he would just ignore them. But he will not.
Lock heard the resounding sound of the system, as his eyes turned grim.
Laughs, laughs.
They continued laughing, and in Lock's view; they looked a lot like stupid monkeys. Lock grinned eerily. He did not care about them or anything at all. His face darkened as he crossed the bridge to them with a mocking expression.
They dare to mock him in public. Now they will pay for it handsomely.
"What? Do you want to have it?" The boy at the middle shouted.
"You sure are cocky, ain't you smiling like that!"
The group broke into threatening fighting stances, but it only looked funny to Lock.
Lock was in no rational state to dismiss the petty mockery. It was no wonder why the original Lock cannot stay out of trouble. Right now, he had only wanted to be alone and isolated, but sadly, there were actually people that wanted to bother him for harassment?
While walking, Lock noticed a rusty dagger in the floor and picked it.
Lock halted. He felt the distance was close enough, and he stopped walking raising the dagger in his hand. At the same time, in his vision, he could see several red dots and lines in the air where he could unleash killing techniques. At that time, it was only the time he could see. "Oi! This kid is thinking he's actually a big-shot." The boy who looked the oldest snorted and his eyes were squinting his eyes in mockery. The boy smiled, and Lock decided he would be his first target. "What are we going to do? He got a dagger," one boy then asked the older boy. He was a little nervous about what seemed to happen. He looked around the hood and found no one willing to step in. "Do you know who Heath is? He's now a mercenary. Unlike you, he has got real experience." The third boy shouted and pointed to the oldest boy. 'A mercenary?' Mercenaries were people who got hired by the Mercenary House to do quests. Obviously, not all of them were strong, but it does not mean all of them were weak. They were at least 'tough' individuals. Lock narrowed his eyes and broke into a lifeless deadly stare as he said, "Who's Heath?" "That's me. What? Do you want to have it?" the oldest boy said and it made Lock smile. "You're going to die." Heath then placed both of his hands together and a small magic circle formed on his hand. "Oh? A sorcerer, huh." Soon after, blocks of rocks slowly covered his palms and made it look like he was wearing a pair of rock gloves. "But you're overall weak," Lock mumbled, witnessing the rock slow formation. And everyone there heard him clearly. "You piece of crap!" "Your Old Man's not here to protect you." The lackeys shouted. But they were not attacking. "What?" Lock provoked, "You won't attack?" Lock flatly followed up, and licked the dagger's blade. At this moment, everyone couldn't help but look at his eyes and expression. It doesn't look like a good idea to fight someone who looked that insane. But Heath, who thought he was superior, do not think the same. "Like the rumors say, you sure are cocky, ain't you? But you chose the wrong people to fight." Heath grinned. "Attack him!" Heath ordered. Lock started to move towards them. The two boys glanced at each other before they both came charging forward. They launched simultaneous kicks towards him, but as soon as they went as near as five meters towards Lock, they were already on the ground, with wounds on their faces. Lock saw the kicks in slow motion and simply ducked his head to dodge. He took a couple light steps, superior in speed, calmly evading the kicks with ease, passing the two, as he reached Heath with a manic smile carved on his face. Right in front of the stunned Heath, Lock sliced his arm, drawing blood in the air. "Fuck!" Heath hissed. The wound wasn't deep, but if he had not reacted faster, he would have wounded deeper. He had never expected Lock to have such agility so he was caught off guard. But he was still able to react. As a counterattack, he immediately gathered power in his hands and attempted to punch Lock. However, it wasn't in a speed that threatened Lock. It even made him grin. The attack was so slow that Lock could see it in slow motion. Quickly, he indifferently kicked him in the knee. However, he didn't stop there. Just before Heath fell because of his pained knees, he quickly grabbed his neck and slammed him to the ground, making blood spill from the back of his head. Heath's eyes went wide as he quickly fainted. "That's way too fast." Lock immediately said in a mocking tone. Then he raised his right leg and stepped full force against Heath's chest, making blood come out of the dying man's mouth. "You're way too fast. It's still too early to sleep." Lock said, and kicked Heath's ribs, sending him rolling to the ground like a dirty piece of rag. The two lackeys watched Lock then move towards Heath who had regained his consciousness from the pain, but he was too weak to stand up. The two were so shocked to even react. Heath, their strongest friend, was being beaten to death, and his defeat was so fast. What just happened? Lock ignored his two audience. The community was almost empty, too. That side of the town was where the lowest of the lowest in the town lives, and people die every day. "Scum." Lock said, and grabbed Heath's hair, revealing his wounded face that scratched the ground. Pulling his hair, he then lifted Heath to the air, and unleashed a beautiful kick that sent Heath to the air like a mere pillow. Boug! Heath dropped to the floor. His eyes had rolled over. "Be happy that I decided not to kill you." Lock said, and dropped the rusty dagger towards his side. Then he moved away, heading towards the lackey boy who was so scared to move. Before the boy could react uglier and afraid, he grabbed his neck, and squeezed his throat.