"No! Not like this! Not again!" Brandyn screamed out in his raging thoughts.
He wanted to dig deep and to harness the rage that was inside him but nothing came out. He was too weak, too feeble. Mr Gudbrand didn't even attempt to help Brandyn or get a student to try and help him. To him, the injuries that he had amassed were too minor for any of his concern. Well, this was one of the justifications that he made. In reality, he would never try and help such a low-class student.
He could've died right there for all he cared.
Brandyn, after feeling overwhelmed with pain, was surprised by how fast he was able to get back up and return to a somewhat healthy state. What was surprising was that the class just carried on as usual. The students occupied the previously open space that they left for the two quarrelling students and all they did was mock Brandyn for his poor performance.
Through this needless mockery, Brandyn realised one thing. He hadn't seen Flavian. Due to his size and perfectly shaped face, he was easy to pick out from a crowd of people. He would usually see the student all the time and it surprised him that he hadn't seen him all day.
"I wonder where he is. I'll ask Carbine tonight." Brandyn said to himself, holding his stomach while saying this.
***
The school day soon came to an end and Brandyn was released onto the bustling streets of Salham, Primos. The buildings all emitted a faint golden glow from the fiery yellow sun as it approached the horizon. Beside Brandyn, a man was speedily darting across a roof with the use of his ability.
Brandyn could see him almost perfectly, even though he was moving at superhuman speeds, and he had the features of a rhino. His arms were burly and grey, while he also had patches of grey skin on other parts of his body. His eyes were a dry, piercing yellow and he wore a fortified metal breastplate.
"Get out of the way, kid!" He shouted, as he leapt down from the building roof and charged ahead at full speed.
Many people would travel like this in the streets of Primos, using their ability to get from A to B much faster. Of course, this wasn't very common as people weren't ready to exert such effort when simply walking home or to work, for example.
That night, Brandyn was 5XP from levelling up so, even though he didn't beat Luuk in their little bout, all he had to do was complete his daily quests.
[Daily Tasks Complete!]
[+5XP]
[Level Up!]
[+1 Stat Point]
[+1 Skill]
[Skill: Lightning Strike]
[The user can command a lightning strike to strike down from above their target. Causes a lot of damage if it lands.]
[COST: 7MP]
Brandyn was very pleased with this skill as it was another step closer to getting stronger than all of those around him. However, the cost was very dear and it meant that, at his level, he'd only be able to do the skill once a day.
After he added his extra stat point to strength, something else changed.
[User: Brandyn Santiago]
[Level: 6]
[Strength: 7]
[Speed: 6]
[Durability: 7]
[HP: 41/60]
[MP: 15/15]
[XP: 0/600]
"My MP went up! That's great! Well, if this skill has such a high cost, then it must be a powerful asset." Brandyn surmised, returning his dagger to his inventory as he was finished with his daily tasks.
{Slot – Akumaha Dagger}
As he finished these daily tasks, his burner phone vibrated again.
"Already?" He asked, looking at the text that he had received.
"Good job on your last mission. Your next mission will be in 2 days, and you have to steal money from the temporary outpost of another gang. The minimum that you can steal to complete the mission is 10,000 Marks. You will receive a base reward of 800 Marks and if you steal more than 10,000, that base reward will only increase.
"They're only giving me 800 marks if I get 10,000? That's a bit greedy." He remarked jokingly, reading the text.
Brandyn thought he would be guaranteed a larger share of that reward but, at the end of the day, he was considered the lowest rank of the gang. Also, he deduced that it wouldn't be easy to run a gang like the one he was part of since it was so large and had so many settlements.
****
*bubble*
*bubble*
"The systems are online, sir." A man in a lab coat said, while typing on a glowing keyboard.
He had short brown hair and was able to type very swiftly.
He was inside a dimly lit room with several computers and 2 chambers next to one of the silver walls of the room.
Another scientist was much smaller, at around 5'4, with a large physique and glasses.
"Perfect. He should be complete in a few days." He explained, also typing at his own keyboard.
In one of the chambers, there was a green, bubbling substance and floating in such substance was a human. He had a lot of muscular mass, but it seemed to be slowly increasing as he was inside the chamber.
"This regular-born will become something we've never seen before. Ability: Spartan is now being injected. Progress is at 2%."