~Ten minutes earlier~
Lydia and I had long since left the broken clothes store. Where we were going? Where else if not the supermarket to meet up with the others. Lydia and I were walking side by side. She was still in her purple battle robe and I had changed into a pair of fresh jeans and a black t-shirt. My sword, Black Salamander, was placed at my hip for a quick drawing and my hands were still in the black aranian combat gloves.
With a backpack that was half empty at my back, Lydia and I walked side by side. We still hadn't encountered any ravids but at one time a mutated dog had jumped at me from the shadows. However a simple punch with my 117 strength points was more than enough to deal with it. I didn't even turn towards it.
That's how much my battle instincts had improved.
[You have acquired the soul essence of a level 5 mutated Saber-toothed Dog]
"Wow" Lydia said in a daze
"I'm pretty cool aren't I?" I said with a smug smile. Lydia couldn't help but roll her eyes.
Soon the supermarket was within sight. Though much like the rest of the buildings in this area, it looked slightly run down but it was could still be considered to be in good condition. I took the lead as we approached.
However just when we entered the place I found it strange that there didn't seem to be any activity. The place was completely empty except for the occasion blood and remains of either a dead animal or a dead person.
"Weren't they supposed to be here by now?" I Asked obviously referring to Jordan, Rina and Candice.
Lydia didn't reply or at least she didn't seem to have an answer. In the next moment however we heard loud banging noises and my passive skill Super Soldier kicked in and with it I was certain that those were gunshots.
At that moment I had a bad feeling in my gut.
"This way!" I said as we run toward the other side of the Supermarket following where the sound came from.
"Use your Stealth skill" I said as we got closer. Although I wanted to get there as fast as possible it was still good to be cautious after all you never know what we would see on the other side.
Lydia gave a slight nod as her very presence seemed to disappear into thin air. I couldn't even feel her presence at all. In fact if she decided to attack in her state then I would be as good as dead. I doubted there was anyone else who could detect her in that state.
Shaking off the thoughts I grew focused.
I exited through the back exit, the sun shone on my face slightly. I emerged in an empty street. Or so I thought until I heard a slight commotion coming from a short distance away. Not missing a beat I headed in that direction. However who knew that the first thing I would see would be a small destroyed area. There was a building to the right with its front completely damaged and its windows were shattered. Standing in front of this building were two sorry figures, one large one being supported upright by the smaller one.
Across from them a single man with a blade in his hand was making his way towards the two and a short distance away a small group of ten holding what looked like handguns had them pointed at the sorry figures.
As I got closer I finally recognized who the two sorry figures were. The man raised his blade in the air. At that point a smoldering rage burned in my heart. My jaw steeled and my right hand moved in a blur reached for the sword at my hip. Pulling it out and bringing it behind me, my muscles tensed as I used the momentum of my speed. My arm shoot forward like a bullet firing from a gun as I spared no expense in terms of strength.
Boom!
Black Salamander shot off leaving a cacophonic sound as it left my hand. Its aim? The dreadlocked guy's head.
The man retreated backwards, my sword zooming past him and into the chest of one of the ten sending him flying. I didn't care about any of that though. I felt this flame in my gut and every time my eyes landed on the man it only seemed to get more and more intense.
"You…" my voice came out cold. It sounded as though it was coming from the depths of hell itself. "How…Dare…You"
This man shivered. If I hadn't arrived when I did he would have definitely killed Jordan. My jaw clenched to hard that I could almost feel some of my teeth crack however I didn't care. I was about to lose my remaining best friend? This man wanted to take my best friend away?
What gave him the right?
I could already imagine Jordan's cold corpse lying on the ground, the heat I was feeling seemed to increase another notch.
This man. He needed to…
"Die" I said. Murderous intent so large exploded forth causing everyone in the surroundings to fill as if a mountain had been placed on their shoulders.
All the remaining nine armed men felt was despair. What was going on? They wondered.
[You have learned Second Star Order Active Skill Murderous Intent Level 2]
The Spirit Record flashed in my eyes however I immediately dismissed them. I wasn't in the mood.
My body flashed forward. My 94 Agility points fully unleashed.
All dreadlocked man could see was a blur before I was directly in front of him. His eyes widened in surprise. What is this speed? Damien thought. He took a step back and swung forward from above with his blade aiming for my shoulder. My left arm shot out immediately, my forearm knocking into his wrist from below and my right fist driving forward and into his gut.
Damien stumbled backwards. His organs trembling and his entire right arm that held his blade felt numb and ached.
His stats higher than mine! The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. Panic set in his head as sweat fell down his forehead as he tried to gather himself up.
I just stood there and waited. I wanted this man to feel my rage and ending him too quickly didn't seem satisfying enough.
"Damn it what are you all doing shoot now?" Damien yelled at his remaining
The nine men seemed to be struggling to move under my Murderous intent but they heard the words from their boss and moved to aim their guns at me however that was when something completely out of their expectations happened.
Whoosh!
Billows of wind forcefully lifted them into the air. The men could only panic as they were lifted higher and higher into the air. They only seemed to stop when they were about 20 meters high. Before the winds vanished completely. With the wind gone the nine men felt the wrath of gravity in full force. Over the last couple of week the gravity of Earth had also increased by a small notch after all it was a world that was approaching the Second Stage of Evolution so of course its properties to change gradually.
Unfortunately for these men they were about to know that the hard way. They all crashed into the ground with no suspense and remained unmoving. Their life or death were completely unknown.
Damien jaw set. He didn't know what was going on.
He looked to the side and saw Lydia beside Candice's unconscious form with her delicate hand out. It was clear that she was the one who had executed a skill of some kind to cause that. That was the least of his worries though.
I closed the distance between us in a flash my fists raining down upon him. Damien felt suffocated, he tried to lift his arms but for some reason his movements felt stiffer than they usually be and soon he understood why.
[All stats reduced by 5]
Soon Damien felt his arms give way.
My fist smashed into his face, knocking some of his teeth out before he felt my other fist into the left side of his ribs. They snapped no differently from twigs.
A small shout escaped his lips as he tried to take a step backwards.
With my foot however, stomped forward directly on top of his right foot before he could move. The force of which crushed his bones, his metatarsals crumbling to dust in less than two seconds.
Damien couldn't retreat even if he tried.
With my Super Soldier Passive Skill my hand-to-hand combat skills had taken a drastic turn. A far cry from when I had been beaten black and blue by Jerard Geon-speaking of which I still have a score to settle with the punk, a week ago. With the accumulated knowledge from the past elite soldiers of Earth my body itself was a weapon.
Ten minutes passed before I felt my anger finally calm down enough to stop my relentless assault.
Damien stood with his back hunched.
His breath haggard and his body beaten and broken. He was bleeding from head to toe. He couldn't even lift his arms anymore. His entire face was different. His nose was shattered so many times that it flattened out completely, his eyes and face were swollen to the point that he could no longer see and his jaw hang loose.
"You shouldn't have tried to kill my friends"
Was the last thing he heard before my fist shot out once more. Delivering a nasty uppercut to his already broken jaw, shattering it completely. The force of the blow carried on its momentum, crushing his tongue to paste, collapsing his nasal tunnel before finally knocking his brain out of orbit within his skull.
Crack!
His head bent back so far that it almost touched the back of his neck. His neck bones were completely shattered.
His body fell backwards and by the time he hit the ground, he was already dead.
[You have acquired the soul essence of First Star Order Level 10 Damien Malroy]
Beside his corpse a skill scroll lay.
I picked up the scroll and its information flashed before me.
[Aura Eyes (First Star Order Active Skill Level 3) Skill scroll: Skill that allows user to gain a keen sense for the mana within living existences. You can see the mana within anything that lives. Increases perception by 10%. Consumes 5 mana per activation and lasts 10 minutes]