The rushing brother-sister duo makes their way to the entrance, where a battle is already taking place, a group of 14 people fights 20 of his men, Dana among them, fighting - they all wield weapons, ranging from metal bars to the sword created by Zevik.
“Break contact!” Ethan shouts. His shout makes everyone stop due to confusion, his people fall back when realizing who spoke up, Dana stands by him, her spear ready.
He scans the area, one of his warriors is on the floor unmoving, being attended by some people, the 20 who fight bruised up in varying degrees, the same goes for the aggressors.
The 14 in front of them are all showing different reactions to his arrival, some wary, some laughing, some unreadable.
“Do you have a leader?” Ethan asks the group, his voice composed.
A man walk forward, “Wolf, nice to meet, We would like to ask you to make way and give us food and beds”
Ignoring him Ethan spoke with Dana In a voice that could easily be heard by everyone present, “Was he explained about us taking over? Was he offered the trading relationship we spoke of?”
She nods to his question.
“And they didn’t like it and just attacked?”
Another nod from Dana.
“I see, and this guy over there?” Ethan asks, his eyes turn even more serene.
“Severely damaged”, she lowers her voice and whispers, “He most likely won't make it”.
“Do I need…” As he is about to ask one more question, the man named Wolf shouts to him.
“How dare you ignore me like this?!” Wolf shouts.
Inspecting the group, he is indeed the strongest in level 5, the rest are level 3.
“Hey, puppy, how am I supposed to deal with this situation if I don’t know what happened?” Ethan asks Wolf.
Wolf’s face contracts in anger, “Puppy?!”
“The fact that you are resorting to these actions is proof of you being either dumb, childish, evil, selfish or all of the above” Ethan states calmly, but his eyes send a different message.
“Do you think I am asking for permission? We have a group of 40 people, families and children, do you think we care about you?!” Wolf shouts back.
Walking forward Ethan retorted, speaking loudly, “So coming here and fighting with 14 armed men, a force that doesn't even amount to half of mine, is wise? Now this is what gonna happened for my man dying over there, you will die, the rest start picking a new leader”
It takes the wolf a second to realize the situation he is in and Ethan’s words, ‘This young man is crazy, I can’t push my luck any more’ Wolf sneaks a single thought, as his arms cocks back to his belt, he pulls a gun, aiming at Ethan.
As he is about to shot he watch Ethan just walk towards him gingerly, he is already 5 meter from wolf, “I am tired of everyone just pull this thing, thinking they are the new world’s kings”
Taking his knife he throws it in the air.
Wolf’s eyes follow the knife ‘did he just throw his weapon?’ This one second of confusion is all Ethan needed, he is just 4 meters away.
Activating his new body enhancing trick he use an explosive step that lunges him a meter and a half forward, following Wolf’s gun’s barrel with his eyes, he use a combination of both his passive skill and the trick to make a curve-like second step that helps him take grab a hold of the gun with his hands diverting it’s aim, a gunshot echoes, and a twist from wolf’s hands causes a crisp click to be heard.
The bullet ricochets somewhere unknown leaving a little hole in the ground, before a second shot is fired a second loud creaking sound comes from the already twisted arms of wolf’s, followed by the sound of a gun falling to the ground.
Lowering his stance, Ethan sends a kick to Wolf, creating more distance, he picks up the gun, and holsters him.
“What are you doing?! Attack him!” Wolf shouts at his men.
“Before you do, think of my words, we are still about 40 armed people combat ready, you have people you so called ‘care for’, are you willing to throw it all for this man? He won’t be able to fight or shoot properly anytime soon either " Ethan states pointing at Wolf’s mangle wrist.
Understanding the reason in Ethan’s words at the men actually stopping their charge.
Seeing this Wolf screams out, “Useless shitheads!”
“If you are willing to speak business, stay here for a moment, I will even give you food right now to show goodwill” Ethan moves closer to a shuddering, cursing Wolf holding his twisted wrists in an unsightly manner.
Charging forward, the cowering man with a broken arm it’s no longer an effort.
Ethan releases three combo fists, the final one landed soundly on the man wind pipes, he falls down recreating the scene from the alleyway, this time it was intentional, “You picked quite a funny name, I seem to have a thing with wolves, it seemed”.
Ethan was still in the afterglow of the successful mediation, he was hyped and restless, his feelings all over the place. ‘Oh yeah, being a public figure’ He punched the side of the fist on his palm like an idea came to his mind, “Who harmed my man?”.
“It was Wolf!” Three men automatically screamed out.
Funnily enough, the rest of the attackers pointed on one of the three who blamed the still ungracefully suffocating leader.
“Now hear me out, I know what I am going to say will be hard to follow, but my offer still stands, don't run away” without further notice he takes out one of the three guns he holstered and shots the three men who lied in their legs making them fall on the ground screaming in pain.
“Dare say a single word and your head is next” raising his head, Ethan sees that about half of the group ran away, Six men still stand there.
Four of them looked scared, but two looked at him with conviction.
“Do you wish to speak on further cooperation?” Ethan asks the two leading men.
“We are!” one takes a bold step forward, his spirit unwavering.
“How many are you?” Ethan inquire.
“42…41 now” the man looks at Wolf’s body slowly giving up with a disapproving gaze.
“Not a fan of him I take it,” turning to his parents who were not willing to leave their son at such a moment, “bring them basic food for 2 days”.
Nodding they turned and went to the supermarket without arguing, returning 5 minutes later.
Confused by the kindness and decisiveness of the man leading this place the new leader speaks honestly, “him and the men who ran are a group that led us in a cruel and selfish manner, Especially towards the lonely women among us,” his fist contracts, “with your actions today, you have become our benefactor and we can take the fight back to our hand”
Feeling danger sense tugging his attention to one of the men in the group, he starts walking among them casually, improvising a chit chat until he walks by a man that triggers his danger sense, he asks, “I would dare assume that he is one of those men?”
With emotions all over his place the new leader admits, “unlike like wolf and the one who ran, but he is indeed not a good man to say the least”
Making a quick work of this man as he understand the situation, Ethan drops him to his knees, locking him in place he throws his knife once more this time to the new leader, “Come on, show us your sincerity in taking care of your people”
“No wait, I am sorry! I was just following orders!” the man's facade broke, he graveled on the ground asking for forgiveness.
The new leader, being level 3, and working under Wolf is no longer innocent or soft, he takes the knife and dispatches the squirming cursing man. Wolf’s men must have clearly did some unforgivable things it seems.
Passing him the food, “next time, food will only be given in exchange of metal, wood, knowledge, weapons, fuel or energy sources and if you manage to find monster corpses in good condition, this also works”
Getting confused by Ethan's final clause for a tradeable material he continues “And if by any chance I find out you became as rotten as this dirtbag, I am coming for you, now clean my doorstep from your dirt” Ethan speaks as he turns away his hands still pointing at Wolf’s body who finally collapsed.
Few moments after walking away the system confirms another kill.
[Ding! classless human level 5 defeated!]
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Activating devour, he received another gift.
[Ding! Strength increased by 1!]
An hour later, a farewell and cremation ceremony was conducted for the guard who didn't make it.
Briefing took place to the warriors who saw the face of the true world for the first time.
Giving them a break to digest what happened Some people choose to get back to training. After seeing Ethan's prowess, their spirit was ignited “his image as a capable leader breaks records every time he leaves his room” a man whispers to a fellow warrior as they left.
Going to their rooms Dana followed Ethan, he could almost feel her eyes digging holes in his neck, “how did you even manage to move like that?! And reading them like that?! playing with random strangers like puppets…” she looked at him with freight and reverence.
“You remember the skill I got from killing the ex-cop who caught you? I never told you but it's a skill that gives me some knowledge of fighting with melee weapons or unarmed, very useful” he nods and moves along.
“Can you train me privately? I want to be strong and capable like you, for you!” she burst.
“I will accept in one condition” he smiles warmly, “get stronger for yourself first, also why do you think I am in such a rush? I'm finalizing another insane breakthrough” he gestures a ‘shoosh’ motion with his finger on his mouth and continues to walk forward.
Letting out an exasperated sigh, Dana asks “Do I want to ask?”
“What do you know of magic from fantasy and stories?” he surprisingly asked a question.
“I don't know much, people use magic powers or items to shoot fireballs, fly, fight and build stuff. never really cared for it, it felt too unrealistic, isn’t that too ironic to say that today?” She laughed bitterly, “Also, what’s this sharing mode?”
“I think I am on a brink of something that might be good to brainstorm on with someone else, Let's use the hour or so we have left to put you up to speed” Ethan quickened up his walking pace
Sitting in his room, They took two chairs in the fancy table, “So that’s the thing, I tried to grab a quick mental grip of whatever weird energy started this all before leaving here for the first time, I felt like I ran straight into a wall, yesterday, I tried to try and meditate, have you ever tried it?”
“Calling it meditation would insult whatever yoga instructor still alive out there, I exercise breathing exercises to help me sleep” she asks, eager for the explanation to continue.
“So I tried approaching the understanding of our body and energy in a more…mystical manner, very much like eastern legends and stories, you know, breathing, feeling, inner sense, kind of a thing. I didn’t get a third eye, sadly, but the sensing of my inner body felt deeper. Doing this for a whole night I can now establish to reach a semi... meditative like state when I am awake, heck, this is not even half of what meditating felt like. Doing this, I feel significant physical enhancement”
“This super human body twist you used to dodge the bullet?” Dana reveals for the first time how exaggerated this quick power burst was from the point of view of an observer.
“Was it really so fast?” Ethan asks like an innocent child, never expecting his new trick to be so effective.
She nods, He returns a nod back keeping a straight face.
“I will now continue. Contemplating this concept a bit deeper, I had a moment of enlightenment. I decided to look at it as if our body is a vessel build of layers, hiding the soul in its core and assumed that I got this painful backlash because I tried to go past and skip some layers, aiming to reach a profound and deep layer directly”, He waved his palm using this trick noticing the speed of his hand is indeed about to break the humanly standard.
Dana face was full of confusion and bit of skepticism, “Not gonna lie, take me five days back and not only I would have burst laughing in your facing, we were most likely would not have been friends no more”
Dana's world had always been one of harsh realities and hard-learned lessons.
Growing up, she had watched her mother struggle to make ends meet, the weight of their circumstances pressing down on them felt almost as if they were a physical burden.
Romance novels and fantastical tales held no appeal for her. They were frivolous escapes from a life that demanded constant vigilance and pragmatism. The idea of heroes and villains, of good always triumphing over evil, felt like a cruel mockery of her own experiences.
She'd seen firsthand how easily the good guys could fall, how quickly the world could turn against you. So, she had built walls around her heart, shielding it from anything that even hinted of surrealism or idealism. It was a defense mechanism, a way to protect herself from disappointment and disillusionment.
Ethan, Though, with his wild theories and impossible claims, was slowly chipping away at those walls, forcing her to confront a world she'd long ago dismissed as fantasy, with an indisputable display of powers and reasoning.
Shaking her head like she was shaking away bad flashbacks she speaks once more, “Keep on going, I understand the gist of what you say, we are a three layered shell, that in its core there is a soul”, Her face contorted unsightly trying to agree with this.
Now for the good part, “Based on this, i tried to pinpoint my focus around my chest where I found the cores of monsters, where the orbs and loot manifesting from defeated enemies, digging deeper and deeper, I struck a barrier, After almost breaking through I managed to have the smallest glimpse of what I could assumed to be the inner layer. I can't explain it, I sensed something, I was like I saw it, but not really - blue dots moving around aimlessly”
She was torn, the distrust she had in the mystical and metaphysical world against the proofs given by Ethan time and time again, “How am I supposed to help?”
“I want you to try to meditate, I want to hear about your experience, Your thoughts of the process, I believe that dealing with this will be the key to greater heights, I am talking about real life magic…” Ethan exclaimed, his voice full of excitement.
“I can try, I will let you know how it goes” She said hesitantly.
They both, Sat in their rooms, trying to get a breakthrough in what could be the next step of evolution based on Ethan's instructions.
In his room, starting with a round of calming meditation, Ethan concludes his prior meditation session and its deductions.
Focusing on the physical layer of the body, it felt easier. The area of effect and efficiency he enhanced could be somewhat adjusted by just a tiny bit, especially when not actively moving around. ‘Is that the result of the extreme stressful situation I put myself in last time? I Will try to control the physical layer attunement a bit better’.
Moving on, Ethan sits and works on his physical layer meditation, he tried feeling his body and the micro movement of the muscles, but then realized, doing it while actually moving could be more efficient, so he tried a relatively easy yoga stance that is easy to stay at, he stood on six. Feet, Elbows and palms on the ground he tried more extensive movements, felt what moved and how, where blood came from and to where.
The difficulty increased significantly. Staying at a certain pose, focusing on holding himself in the best stance, the physical exertion, accelerated blood pumped in and out of his heart, he felt it all.
Doing this, he failed quite often, but this was the key to the next step he felt it in his bones - quite literally. ‘If I could figure out how to master this, I could stay static, and have enough focus to reach the inner layer easily. The pressure of holding focus intact moving around the physical layer was what took most of my mental sources’.
Hour went by when he stood up, his physical and mental powers resources felt oddly full, he could swear that the physical effort he should’ve used for what he did in the last hour would make him finish this workout sweating like a dog forgot outside in the summer days locked inside a car, yet he wasn’t, what he did felt on the other hand is that he could really, so very much, call it a day and go to sleep, It was not physical need for sleep, it was like a week of night shift drained his whole energy cycle in a hour.
‘So I paid with my ‘will power’ in exchange to ease my physical exertion, this feeling…’ he knew where he felt that kind of exertion, but he couldn’t pinpoint why does i feel different, he couldn’t point where was is happening, recalling all his later experiments - ‘the breach to the inner layer!’
Taking five minutes to restore some resources he tried to sit down once more. This time he will recreate the breach to the second layer but much smaller and with a different approach, he won't ram into it, he will insert will to the process and act to it as if it’s a muscle or a bodily function.
Sitting down he focused. His awareness making it’s way around his body, past the arteries, the blood vessels, deep within, the barrier is met, a dark veil that lays as the base of his physical form, ‘So will power?’, He focused on one small point, mentally looking at it, he used what he could explain himself in the best manner as ‘will power’.
This drive to go to work that worn you out, this extra set you did at the gym, the extra shift you took this week, he suddenly felt a drain, and the smallest of holes came to be, he could barely sense through it, let alone draw anything from it but it was there! Suddenly the pull grew stronger, holding even that pin size hole took its toll, but it was a win nonetheless.
The result, although successful, was pathetic at best, The size of the breach was laughable and the duration he managed to hold it in was not something to boast at.
Waking up from the meditative state he felt tired, it was as if the annual trip one needs after a tough year is long overdue.
‘Ah!’ he clapped his palms together, ‘so being in the meditating state while focusing on the physical layer - Am I subconsciously using mana?‘ Ethan was positive, every bone in his body told him that this was the case but he had no way to stamp it as a fact.
But then he realize, ‘pure magic and spells would require a large quantity of willpower to just allow mana to leave its borders and be used externally, the amount of mana being an unknown factor, it is also very likely that moving and controlling mana around would be using will power as well’, he cupped his face, just thinking of how much time it takes him made him despair.
Leaving the room to take a small break, Dana wasn’t there, her door still closed. He washed up, ate something and as he was about to sit down and give her a few more moments but she then burst out of the room.
“Oh! Ethan! I saw it! I saw this mana thing!” She jumped in for a hug, her voice full of excitement.
