Vol. 2 - Chapter  64 - The Syndicates Thugs Reunion

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While approaching those Syndicate Thugs, he could start hearing their voices clearer where their curses and threatening words become far clearer, giving him an idea of what was going on, before he even got to hear their stories.

'They seem to be talking about some women getting harmed and raped by those thugs. Still, how likely are those kids to actually find the right people.'

{You never know until you actually ask them. We, as outsiders can only speculate, and that's it, nothing more, just like old hags.}

'It would be far better if you wouldn't call me some weird names since I also know how to play that game.'

{Let's leave it for when we are getting bored, shall we?}

{I am all on board}

Having his talk with Haycien, not feeling threatened or stressed about those thugs whatsoever, as if he knew them since they were sucking from their mother's tits, and with his arrogant, noble like stroll toward the zone of conflict, he opened his status window interface to have a closer look at how things looked.

There was nothing much changed since the Gravelmark Raids when he fought against the Necromancer Mallus, and its Frankenstein, the monstrosity, Undead Bear Iljnoks that proved a harder challenge than he expected, all with except to his rich status points.

'Damn, now because of the Red Energy it is hard to make a path for my stats. Any suggestions, old Hay?'

{If I am not wrong, from what you explained to me about this system thing, STR is your power, STA your passive defense and health, along with other minor perks, INT, standing for intelligence, how smart you can be, and AGY for, I guess, agility, speed.}

'You remember right.'

{I would go with some strength for starters and slowly build it with my intelligence and agility}

'Let me think about this. Hah, the interface of the Red Energy is so annoying right now, can't I shut it down? It messes my perception a bit over myself since I receive a substantial boost whenever I play with those stats.'

{Son, you remember what we talked about while you were wanting to get your breath back. It would be very unlikely that you will stay at full capacity. Meaning, if you really want to be sure of this change go do some mathematics in that smart head of yours, and see how much you would have if you would be at a quarter of the energy boost.}

'Not useful, but also decently helpful. Let's see … Glad I have this cheat with me. Now I should get it done before those thugs kill the two brats.'

Considering his options carefully, since starting the live version, never taking the wrong step in distributing his status points all over his body, and with his calculator being the magical cheat, he calculated his stats at a percentage of 20%.

With this Red Energy capacity in mind, he began distributing the stat points, and in the end when he almost got to the raging thugs, he was slightly impressed by how well his abilities turned out to be, a balanced build of magic and strength that would put to shame any weirdo who might have thought of building something weirder, and his status window was enough to attest this.

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[Status Window]

Name : Mathias  /  Class :Saharan Successor

Level : 32 (32500/65000)  / Title : Farmer's Son / Item Creator / Dominance over Hillbars /  Repeler of Evil

Health : 5291/5291  / Mana: 2607/2607

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Strength : 407  / Stamina : 260 / Agility : 254

Intelligence: 724/ Dexterity: 280 / Indomitable: 10

Dignity: 14 / Regeneration: 50 / Insight: 15 / Charm: 80

STAT POINTS: 0

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'Hmm, I still haven't taken into consideration the other spells I know that boost my intelligence, but this is more than enough.'

The thugs didn't even seem to care about Mathias, with his presence not being felt by the Syndicate thugs, and step by step the young man wearing renaissance-styled clothes with a chaperone hat that covered his entire hair morphed into a black suit that gave you a morbid sensation.

From nowhere the chaperone hat disappeared allowing the young man's hair to escape its constraints, and with the cascading view of his crimson hair, a black hat crowned his head.

The shadow of Mathias seemed to be enlarged by another magnitude after he downed his pristine suit, and as he approached the Syndicate Thugs, the last piece of his set, the Dragon Mask completed his dignified appearance.

They still didn't feel much of his presence, but once he stepped inside their range like a phantom, the thugs felt a chilling sensation down their spines, immediately turning their heads as if their natural enemy was at their backs, and once they saw Mathias, all of the sudden reverted to a normal behavior.

It was so quick that it made the two players who challenged them stop from their curses, watching from the ground the nobleman with a mysterious mask on his face, and red as bloody like the heart.

"Do you need something from us, Lord?" asked the one who seemed to be the captain of this group, which made Mathias contemplate what information he knew about the Syndicates and how they were organizing.

"Interesting, we got human speech. You started on the good page with me. What trouble have those outlanders caused you?" asked Mathias in a serious voice, having a clearer view of the encircled boys, who quickly shouted at him.

"Mister, don't worry about us! Even if we die it is not a problem. We will hunt those bastards in the future when we grow stronger. Don't get entangled with our problems, you only have one life."  shouted one of the players hold to the ground by the feet of one thug

"SHUT UP YOU ANNOYING OUTLANDERS! How many of our brothers have your kind didn't kill, appearing like undead fiends to attack us?" lashed the thug who kept him to the ground, stomping hard on his body, that it could even give the impression he broke his bones.

On another hand, the captain of this squad, kept his calm and with a courteous smile, mentioning to Mathias, believing he was a legit nobleman of the Empire.

"Lord, we belong from Clark Syndicate, while we might deal with the other side of this world, since the appearance of those devilish spawns who can't die, we no longer found trouble with the citizens of Titan. But we are only defending ourselves since those mad kids tried to attack us for no reason."

"Lies! Your group has raped Yolande, and killed so many innocent people. How can you blatantly lie like this, when we got the story, and received a quest to bring you to justice!" screamed on of the players, the one who was level 28, which made Mathias gaze at the thugs in a cold way.

"Is it true?" inquired Mathias in a quiet, but chilling voice, while his ruby eyes started shining with a dark-purple light.

Feeling tongue hold by Mathias, feeling that if he would start lying would be irrelevant, as the way he could see Mathias staring at him turned hostile.

"... What the fuck are we even doing? Some sissy even dares to ask me if what those little shits spewed is true or not. Making us act so cowardly around those annoying bastards? To hell with boss orders "Don't get into conflict with outlanders?". I'll deal with the repercussions anyway.

"Ohhh, you'll deal with the repercussions? You? Who are you?"

"I am the Captain of Squad C1, Delvon"

"Quiet, rat! Did I give you the right to speak? Tell me, are you so capable of defeating the entire outlanders if you would show aggression?"

"Motherfucker, on whose side are you? The outlanders? I see. Those black clothes, it explains everything. YOU ARE A DAMNED YATAN SERVANT! You'll perish, you scum, once the Goddess places her eyes on you, you can't escape her."

Mathias walked closer looking at the man in front of him, and the more he walked the more nervous the guy became, and he even lashed out, giving an order to his boys.

"You want to fuck with me? Then I'll entertain you on the Syndicate's behalf. Kill them all boys, I'll deal with the repercussions with Boss Clark."

"Tsk, and when I thought I wouldn't be spilling blood on Titan in my stay, at least not until someone antagonized me. Let's see what you, Clark Thugs, have learned since the last time we danced."

"You'll see you damned Yatan scum."

Hearing that failed attempt at insulting him, he saw the group of 5 immediately start their attacks on the two players, who were aware of their circumstances, activating their defensive skills just in time, allowing them to survive the onslaught of the thugs. Still, they weren't worried about themselves and their safety and simply laughed in the face of death.

"Cherish your victory, soon we will come to hunt you down."

"Die you damned cursed immortal!"

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Once they were about to be done, a black-red spear appeared next to them, piercing the stomach of one thug.

[Critical!]

[You have dealt 3636 damage to the target.]

Afterward, there was a strong pressure that washed over the thugs, where a dark-purple energy wave blasted away the thugs from the players who prepared to die, but seemingly they couldn't believe that an NPC had took their side since stepping inside Titan, and clearing out the quests gained from listening to Titan's inhabitant's stories and cries.

"Mister, please don't get dragged into this mess. The Clark Syndicate from our understanding is a dangerous underground group that has a big control over Titan's Black Market and all sorts of illegal doings."

"You two little guys are interesting. I know very well who the Clark Syndicate is, so raise up and strike back. I will give you a hand in completing your task, and this will be all. You never saw me, I never saw you do anything. Understood?" mentioned Mathias while picking Ragnius from where he landed after being thrown like a javelin that missed by a little his initial target, the heart of the thug, and later on he took out a longsword that he had strapped at his side.

This longsword was your average sword that he bought from Nelmon's shop, changing his low leveled sword he gained from the bandits camping in Gravelmark Mountain, and after picking up his sword he started slashing his sword a bit as if he was warming up.

"Don't worry about me, young adventurers. You can start attacking those thugs, I will see that you aren't harmed."

When both of the young players, Watkins the one with level 28, and Draznin the one lagging a bit behind, heard this crimson-haired man whose body was starting to shine with a red aura, while his hands were giving off a dark-purple light, they couldn't comprehend why such an NPC might be a super-named one bothered to help them.

@Draznin: Dude, this NPC took 60% of that thug's health with only one of his spear attacks, while his magic attack dealt 15% of their health. INSANE. Now he took out a sword. Who is he, I heard that if we want to reach this level of welding more skills separated from structure, it will be a monstrous difficulty challenge.

@Watkins: I saw it. Now let's calm down. Go take your potions and focus on the fight. You heard the assisting NPC, he will only help us a bit to complete the quest.

Getting themselves railed up by Mathias's help, the two players charged at the disoriented Clark Thugs who still suffered the aftereffects of the new spell Mathias came up with, which was inspired by some comic superpowers he saw from his grandfather's collection and began unleashing their own arsenal of attacks.

While they were doing their attacking, Mathias opened his system to the sword path he learned from Haycien that contained some skills, from some passives to even abilities, and right now he found the perfect timing of testing his skills in real action.

[Beginner Sword Mastery - LV. 4]

[Magnific Historia Slash - LV.1]

[Whisper of the Swiftblade - LV.1]

[Basic Sword Attacks - LV. 3]

[Basic Sword Guards - LV.3]

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{Aren't you impatient?}

'Didn't you tell me I should go out, and fight monsters to train my skills? Aren't I, outside fighting monsters?'

{I wasn't referring strictly to bastards, instead thought of the monsters of the world.}

'Yes, the monsters of the world, you have 5 of them right here.' mentioned Mathias, who while holding his sword, also decided to jump on attacking the thugs, starting off by attacking with basic sword attacks, and techniques that he would combine together with his Sword Guards that looked rather uncommon.

The thugs kept on cursing him and the two players, but instead of slowing down, he activated one of the skills he managed to learn from Haycien, the Historia Slash.

Taking a side step while dodging the attack of one thug he didn't care to remember his name, Mathias raised his longsword high which from the blade, the Red Energy began making its appearance, and from what seemed to be a grandiose technique, slow and powerful, in actuality the thug couldn't even see how Mathias slashed him.

[You have dealt 3450 damage to the target.]

His attack didn't even, as he made his disappearance again, slashing another thug making the entire alley an abyssal atmosphere, where the screams of agony were like music to demons.

[You have dealt 2870 damage to the target.]

'It seems I got the technique down.'

{Boy, you still got a lot more to improve, but the Historia Slash, you got it. Why you can't get the Heaven and Earth technique, I don't know, but for those childish ones, you are like a magnet.}

'Maybe I am still too young to understand those serious techniques of yours.'

{It shouldn't be that. You can try the Body Arts we started practicing, maybe you get some enlightenment in the process.}

'No, they are too weak for me to lift my fingers. Let those two clear their quest, and I will make my disappearance while there's no one around here.'

After he had some fun, torturing the thugs with his fast attacks, and constantly blocking the attacks that would prove challenging for the players, he immediately retreated, and only watched the fight from a distance, using Ragnius to support himself.

Once he retreated, the thugs saw this chance to finish the two young guys, but it was a stupid judgment, as Mathias began using his Arcane Magic to break what initiative those guys had at unleashing their strength in a unified way. Slowly, step by step, as the players were draining themselves of their entire resources in the fight, they in the end successfully overwhelmed the 5 thugs, killing them, later on watching their bodies turn into gray light scattering in the snow.

Simultaneously, Mathias received the notifications of the thugs' defeat, where he was rewarded some EXP for his assistance, a decent chunk for his effort, he also received another notification that broke his inner peace.

[Ding!] [The Challenger of Syndicates]

'Damn, I forgot that thing had its weird ways of messing with me. Challenge the Syndicates? Aren't you trying to force me way, and I can't even decline it. Whatever.'

'Well, you two brats, I wish you good luck on your journey, don't make the mistake of dropping on the mistake of treating the people of this world as a joke.'

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"Mister, how can we pay you back?" asked the two players while looking at Mathias, where they only heard the crimson-haired man wearing his slick suit comment in a cold way, without any signs of him.

"Don't look too much into ordeals you can't take on as you are right now. Clark Syndicate, don't try to hunt them, you are still too weak."

Looking left and right, they failed to take a glance at the man who helped them, which made his disappearance in a mysterious way that was worth stories, something both of Watkins and Draznin contemplated before Watkins remarked as if he suffered a lot.

"Fuck, I forgot to record this encounter since I thought I would get killed."

"Me too. You wanted to take a look at that magician?"

"Heck yeah, his appearance was so cool that you could only see such things in anime."

"I know. Well, let's hope we meet him again in the future. We got to repay his support. Now let's return the quest to Yolande, she should be pleased to hear we tracked down the ones who hurt her so badly."

"After that, what then?"

"Join the Adventurer Guild? That's the easiest way of gaining quests, but I heard we need to contribute points to level our ranking. The better our ranks, the sweeter the quests will turn out to be."

"Seems like a sound plan. Let's stick with that for now, if it doesn't work, we can always approach people who are down, and help them. We can get random quests that way, and also help them in the process."

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