Gotham City
East End
"So... what are we doing here, exactly?" I asked while keeping a mindful distance from the dark alley behind me. I inspected the area, trying and failing to figure out why the homeless man had led me here.
And oh my god! I just realized I followed a homeless stranger into the shadiest part of Gotham. Sorry, mom. You taught me better.
"You see that there?" the homeless man asked with a cryptic smile. I turned to where he was pointing and saw three very suspicious gaudily dressed men standing at the street's corner, chatting and snickering.
Why do I find them suspicious you might ask? Well, they're standing in a corner in a dingy street while chatting and having a fun time. In Gotham. If that isn't suspicious then I don't even know what is!
I nodded and turned to the homeless man despite having a terrible feeling.
"Those three are members of a drug trafficking gang, the Penitente Cartel," the homeless man said. I nodded again while sending him a confused look.
"They're the type to cut off a man's genitals just to make a point and send a message," he added, patting my shoulder. And I felt the bad feeling inside me get more intense with every word he spoke.
"I want you to go and pick a fight with them..." the homeless man casually remarked, giving my shoulder an assuring squeeze.
I turned to face him, unblinkingly staring into his eyes with the blankest expression possible. "I refuse," I said as I vehemently and slowly shook my head.
"I need to know what you're capable of if I'm gonna train you," the homeless man said with a chuckle. "It's not like you're afraid of them, I can tell, so stop complaining and show me what you can do," he added, crossing his arms.
[New Quest Initiated: Enter The Dragon]
...
Enter The Dragon:
The mysterious homeless man is a martial artist capable of rivaling the most competent fighters on the planet, such as Lady Shiva, Black Canary, and the friggen Batman himself.
He's powerful, mysterious, and capable of turning your sorry behind into a bona fide bad-ass martial artist. Enough said.
Primary Objective: impress the mysterious homeless man.
Bonus Objective 1: defeat all thugs.
Bonus Objective 2: don't get hit.
Rewards:
Primary Objective: your first mentor (hard is its own reward?)
Bonus objective 1: ??
Bonus objective 2: ??
...
[Accept quest? Yes/No]
"Fine," I grudgingly said as I accepted the new quest and selected Fighter as my new class. If I'm going to do this, I might as well do it properly.
I haven't chosen a class yet but now is the right time.
[Quest acepted]
[New class obtained: Fighter]
[+1 class level to the Fighter class, held back due to former class reaching maximum level]
[New skill obtained: Brawling]
[+1 skill level to the Brawling skill, added due to the host's experience]
[Brawling (level 2)]
[Fighter (level 3)]
[+9 stat points]
I took a deep breath as I started walking towards the thugs, turning to my stat points.
'The homeless man might notice if I raise my Body attribute too much, but three points shouldn't be too obvious...'
I allocated 3 points to my Body, raising it to 16. I closed my eyes with a wince of disgust when my muscles tightened, a sensation of strength coursing in my veins. And just like that, I was more physically fit than a top competitive athlete.
Although raising my Body attribute too much might make the homeless man notice, but my Mind Attribute was entirely different.
Firming my resolve, I allocated 10 points to my Mind attribute, raising it to 24. I felt a slight headache that quickly dissipated, and my eyes widened. I felt like I was seeing the world for the first time.
It was almost like the fog covering my brain dissolved suddenly.
The feather gently floating down towards the ground, how fast it was going, and how long it would take to hit the ground.
I calculated all of that and then some with a single passing look.
'So that's how geniuses see the world...'
I mused, taking a deep breath to compose myself. It wasn't like new information began flooding my brain, like when my crime skill increased. Raising my Mind stat enhanced my brain, allowing me to see such details for myself.
It was just as sudden as my increase in strength but different, exhilarating. I couldn't get myself to dislike the feeling.
'I could definitely get used to the feeling...'
I exhaled the breath I was holding back as I reached the thugs, my newly enhanced brain already formulating a plan of action. I said nothing as I stopped behind the nearest thug who had his back against me while chatting with his buddies.
I raised my foot and kicked the thug between the legs hard enough to lift him off the sidewalk.
I almost felt bad for the man when I heard his anguished scream, visibly shivering in pain. Almost. But his anguish didn't stop me from pushing the thug towards his buddy standing on the right as I tackled the third.
"What the fuck-" the thug I tackled started, but I quickly cut him off with a punch. He tried to resist, but I climbed over him, pushing him down with my weight as I punched him a second and a third time until the second thug pushed me away, making me roll on the ground.
Luckily the third thug was already out of the fight, and now I only had to worry about the second one who pushed me away.
"No one messes with the Penitente Cartel, pendejo, no one!" thug number three exclaimed and reached into his inner pocket, his expression twisted into a sneer.
I didn't panic. I calmly stepped back, raised my hand, and threw the rock I'd picked up while rolling on the ground, aiming at thug number 3's mouth. I winced at the sickening sound of shattering teeth as white shards and blood spurted out of his mouth.
'Now I really feel bad...'
I grimaced but tackled the thug to the ground and punched him until he was unconscious. Then I stood up and froze at the sound of a metallic click.
[+1 skill level to the Brawling skill]
I slowly turned around and raised my hands as I saw the man whose balls I'd sent to mars, one hand holding the gun he pointed at me, the other nursing his package.
"I'm going to enjoy killing you, puta," the thug hatefully spat, glaring at me like I'd just killed his son, which I technically did and in more than one way.
"Let's not get reckless here, buddy. How about you kick me in the nuts and call it even?" I nervously remarked with a hollow laugh, feeling my balls shrink at the very idea.
Did I mention how much I hated guns? They're basically my worst enemy at this point.
"Oh, it'll take more than that to call it even..." the thug replied with a dark chuckle, seemingly satisfied by my reaction. "I'll take my pound of flesh, and the other two will take there's..." he added, gesturing towards his downed buddies.
"And if there's anything left of you by then... maybe we'll call it even-" he added, likely intending to start a typical megalomaniacal speech. Luckily the homeless man showed up and shut him up with a well place karate chop to the back of the neck. Huh, so that actually works in this world?
[quest complete: Enter the Dragon]
[Bonus objective 1: fail]
[Bonus objective 2: fail]
"Thank god, I thought I'd have to listen to the guy talk forever," I said, sighing in mock relief as I lowered my hands. I knew the homeless man would come to my rescue if needed, but I still had to do my best to impress him.
He chuckled and crouched to inspect the downed thug's vitals.
"Not bad," the homeless man said as he turned to me with an approving nod. "You need to be more aware of your surroundings, but you did decently for someone with no formal training," he added, to which I had to resist the urge to fist pump.
"We'll call it a day here. Come find tomorrow early in the morning," the homeless man instructed as he stood up and gestured for me to take my leave, which I didn't.
"Sure, but before I leave, do you mind if I...?" I said while gesturing towards the unconscious thugs. "It would be a waste to leave just like that, you know?" I added, awkwardly clearing my throat. I was pushing my luck, and I knew it, but I definitely couldn't leave without trying.
The homeless man sighed and shook his head in exasperation, catching on to what I said.
"Suit yourself," he replied, shrugging his shoulders. I immediately lunged at the thugs and started rummaging through their pockets. "But don't touch the guns," he added, causing me to sigh as I retracted my hand from a gun I'd been eyeing.
Knowing better than to push my luck, I quickly took all the money while leaving the guns.
"I guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow morning then-" I said, stopping halfway through as I stood up and sighed in annoyance as I found no trace of the homeless man.
"Yeah, sure, up and leave, why don't you? It's not like I was talking or anything..." I muttered, my eyes twitching as I turned to leave, kicking the nearest thug out of frustration.
I am motivated by praise and interactions! So if you like my stories and you'd like me to keep writing, then make sure to share your thoughts about the story with me via comments or reviews.
You can also always come and say hi on my discord server -> ( discord.gg/sEtqmRs5y7) - or hit me up at - Wicked132#5511 - and I'll add you myself
Did I forget to mention that I'm motivated by money as well? Because I am.
So if you want to show some love to my stories, or read ahead, then consider subscribing to my Patreon. You can read ahead for as little as 1$ -> (patreon.com/wicked132)
Oh, come on. What was the point of spending the points if he wouldn't fulfill even one bonus objective? He could have just as easily have failed without spending them and then at least he would have an excuse. Also is there a limit to how many points he can get from training and is now harder to get them after he had distributed some?
So with the bonus quests why did he even tackle the guy? At that point in time he only kicked the first guy in the nuts, and then instantly tackled the 2nd. . . What did he honestly think the 3rd guy would do? Did he really expect him to just stand there and do nothing while he punched his friend?
What if the third guy pulled out his gun instead of pushing him off the second guy? I just see no point in his strategy here. Why not kick the first guy in the balls, throat punch the second, and then tackle the third?
Also no wire? Why have it if he isn't going to use it? Could have used it like a whip to hide his ability to control it.
Now I am not saying he should have gotten both bonus rewards. I think it would have been unrealistic to do this whole fight without getting hit since he didn't take the acrobatic class, but still think he could have beat all three if he actually had a good plan. Heck even if he failed both bonus objectives I would be alright with it if it at least seemed like he was trying to get them.
Live in the moment and experience it for yourself as a poor schmuck that doesn't know anything about fighting, defending themself, or basic human response due to your white collar 7 to 9 job.... he still has fear of gun and doesn't think to use bulletproof trenchcoat or wire to defend.
And a reason he doesn't use the wire is if he can save it without anyone knowing it's existence is that he can lash out without the person being prepared to defend or counter, maybe even more if fakes going down. At best hiding it's existence as a hidden weapon/armor can save his life
@NixolasZinn This isn't an instant fight that came out of nowhere. He was going into it knowing that that he was going to fight them. He has time to prepare a plan. To get his sh*t together.
So the first thing he does is kick one guy in the balls. Hitting his weak point and taking him out in the beginning which is smart. He does this because he knows that he is out numbered and needed to even out the playing field but then he instantly ignores this idea after that.
The worst thing to do in a group fight is to get on the ground. Now if he was angry or targeting that one person for revenge I could understand tackling the dude, but with the goal he had it makes no sense.
He shouldn't be treating this as a dc movie in which a background bad guy will just be hit by nothing and be knocked down. . . Looking at you Batman Begins(movie) dock fight scene.
Also if he is so afraid of guns that it effected his reasoning he should use his wire right in the beginning to either destroy the weapons, slap them away, or trip the guys. Small spoiler but he doesn't keep this weapon hidden for long, he is pretty open about using it in the future.
Anyway, my original point was just that he had time to plan out the attack, but didn't. He made a dumb decision tackling the second guy and just hoping the third guy would do nothing. What would I do if I was in his situation? I have no real fighting experience but I could make a plan.
Without wire: Kick the first guy in the nuts. Right after that try to throat punch one guy with one hand and with the other throw sand in the face of third(out of inventory). I don't think the mc is weaponizing the inventory skill enough. I would have sand, spikes, big rocks, bowling balls, all kinds of stuff. Rocks and bowling balls would be for dropping from high spots or from behind vehicle. Find stuff that is easy to steal/take that can be used randomly.
Ps. This is not that big of a deal. Its his first real fight in the world. People make mistakes. Problem is that it makes it look like he didn't even try to do the quest.
@KidBuu699 .... oh god I just realized he can make a dust explosion on demand.
But yeah I agree, the mc has an idiotic immortality complex thinking he won't get hit. He made poor decisions, hindsight is 20/20, and whilst weaponizing inventory is a way to do things.... But how would others percieve it power wise? Storage, magic, telekinesis, teleporting, or something else? What are the cons of that? Would it be better to hide it as if it's an illusion of him throwing something from his sleeve or otherwise? Seriously he needs a satchel and pull a Harley Quinn by pulling out a Mallet or boozaka out...
Finally I realize that he gave up hiding the wire after getting caught using it too many times, I binge read the rest of the story, and yeah some questionable designs from the authors end.
@NixolasZinn I guess the excuse would be magic or storage/shrinking technology but I don't think he would really have to explain it. You used harley as an example of people in the dc just pulling stuff out but there is more.
Think of how many times batman has pulled out a grappling gun out of his utility belt. Or those batrangs that he is always throwing. They seem larger than his utility and he probably throws a lot more than he could realistically carry.
Since there doesn't seem to be restrictions on the inventory he can use it in all kinds of ways in a fight. Heck he could just approach people, touch the holsters of their guns, and put them in his inventory.
@KidBuu699 now if only he learnt how to erase his presence, he would be one of the best thieves. But yeah fair, it's literally a meme; Inventory problems? Don't worry about, just pull it out
@NixolasZinn He could just go to a museum and have catwoman make the lights go off while he is standing in the room. That priceless 6ft tall ancient statue, who is going to think the guy in a tux took it. Lot of ways he could use the inventory to steal large items too.
@KidBuu699 ..... I now kinda want to make a bet that he steals a church bell in broad daylight as it's ringing or something
@NixolasZinn I'd say cars man. Just walk up to a nice car or one of those semi's that have all the cars in the back, pop it in your inventory, and then take it to a chop shop or something.
@KidBuu699 I mean yeah, it's an idea, but you need to block the gps on highend ones, and also deal with the remote alarms that send notifications of where it is when broken into.... also scratch the numbers on the engine and other things
@NixolasZinn Most of that stuff are the chop shop problems to deal with. Its a path he could take but not the greatest. Have to meet to many criminals in person and personally take the cars out of the inventory in front of them unless he tried to drive them there. Too many variables of things that could go wrong.
@KidBuu699 fair enough