CHAPTER 8 - Target Practice 2

_{Fight sequence initiated}_

_{Analyzing hostile human}_

_{Hostile human possesses no sort of magical aura or attributes}_

_{Preparing to attack.....please insert keyword for effective execution}_

Peter stared at the group of words with a dumbfounded look on his face.

_{Insert keyword [ ]}_

_"Keyword huh?"_

Peter wondered as he stared at the blank spaced bracket.

_"Since we are about to have a fight, why don't I just make it simple"_

Peter thought as he gave his reply mentally.

_'Attack'_

_{Keyword has been updated to [Attack]}_

_{Please repeat keyword for confirmation}_

_'Attack'_ Peter repeated mentally.

_{Keyword confirmed}_

_{Commencing attack}_

--------------------------------

As Ezekiel got close to Peter's body, which seemed unmoving, he attempted to carry the kid's body when;

~Whoosh~

He heard the sound of rushing wind, but took it in stride, as after all, it was just the wind.

But that didn't seem to be all, as he caught a strange glow from the corner of his eyes.

"Huh?"

Ezekiel raised up his head due to the sudden glow, as he began to wonder if it was the sun.

While he briefly glanced at the sky, and was about to pick up Peter's body, he saw a golden glow flash before his eyes.

~Bam!~

----------------------------------

Ted and his other lackeys were quite shocked as they saw the way Ezekiel was sent flying like a ragdoll and smashed against a tree.

What was more shocking, was that the kid whom Ezekiel had apparently shot dead, was standing on his own two feet!

Peter stood up in surprise at the effective attack meted out by the staff against Ezekiel.

This made him to begin to reevaluate his thoughts concerning how this whole scenario is gonna go down.

"B--Boss the kid....he....how....?" The unnamed lackey was quite shaken as he pointed towards Peter and spoke incoherent words.

Ted subconsciously glanced towards Freddie as he saw the similar level of shock and surprise on Freddie's face.

But they couldn't afford to be terrified by a kid now could they?

"Hey kid!" Ted called out to Peter who turned to stare at him.

"What did you do to Ezekiel?...answer me right now!"

Pulling out his gun, Ted pointed it directly at Peter, ready to take a shot at a moment's notice.

Meanwhile...

Peter's eyes and ears were preoccupied with the group of floating words before him.

_{Initial threat has been partially neutralized}_

_{Scanning for more threat}_

Peter's eyes were glowing with excitement as a broad smile appeared on his face.

_"This is awesome!...It's like having my own personalized combat AI!"_

As he was swimming in his fantasy, another group of words appeared before his vision.

_{New threat discovered and analysed}_

_{One aggressive and two passive hostiles}_

_{Provide keyword to execute action}_

Peter's thoughts were soon interrupted by Ted's yell.

Seeing the gun pointed at him, he flinched in fear and took a step back.

Seeing Peter's reaction of fear, Ted's initial uncertainty was then suppressed as he became emboldened.

"Hey don't move or I'll blow your brains out!"

Ted's face carried a murderous glare as he took few steps forward.

"I don't think that's a good idea boss"

Freddie said as he stared at Peter as if looking at a ghost.

"Just shoot him"

"Don't worry Freddie, I've got this" Ted replied as he kept moving forward while keeping his gun trained on Peter.

Peter knew he couldn't afford to let Ted get close to him as he stared at the group of words floating before him as a reminder.

_{Provide the keyword to execute action}_

'Well then, all I have to do is say or think the keyword right?'

Peter braced himself as he saw Ted approaching.

'But what if he shoots me?' he thought as fear gripped his heart.

But then he remembered what happened when Ezekiel shot at him earlier.

'Yeah the staff blocked it....so I guess I would be fine then, even if I am being shot at—right?'

'In that case' Peter thought as he felt his heart beating anxiously.

'Let's try this again shall we?'

As Ted walked forward, he had a nagging feeling of danger within him that he couldn't put out no matter what.

And staring into the eyes of Peter, the feeling of danger became more assured.

He noticed that the initial fear that was earlier visible in those eyes were now gone, replaced by an expression that he was quite familiar with.

Ted was a crime boss, and he had come across many of his victims who were bold enough to fight back just in the hopes of escaping his clutches.

And it was the same defiant look that they had in their eyes that he now saw in Peter's.

'Who the hell is this kid?'

Peter knew that there was no time to waste as he gave his command to the staff.

'Attack'

Ted immediately saw a golden glow heading straight for him.

He only had a second to be shocked as he was struck flying.

It felt like a metal pillar crashed unto him as he fell heavily to the ground and rolled a few meters away.

Strike two.

Peter had never seen something so awesome, except in movies!

*********************

At a well decorated and classical restaurant, a middle aged man was seated at a reserved table with a glass of wine before him.

Deep in his thoughts, his glanced around the restaurant as if searching for someone, until his gaze finally rested on the pretty young lady playing the piano at a dimly lit corner of the restaurant.

One thing that would attract him to a woman was her ability to be versatile and unpredictable in her talents, not just to flaunt her boobs and ass alone.

And it was for such a woman that he was waiting right now.

While he kept staring at the female piano player, he heard a remark directed at him.

"I hope I haven't kept you waiting too long"

Turning his eyes to the owner of the voice, he smiled broadly and stood up immediately.

"Lady M"

"Mr Henry" Mocheda came forward as they both hugged.

"Sorry if I kept you waiting" Mocheda said with an apologetic smile.

"Nah of course not" Henry replied with a wave of his hand as he gazed at her.

"You're worth the wait"

"Aww that's so sweet" Mocheda said while displaying her full set of teeth.

After giving the waiter their orders, Mocheda gave Henry a straight forward stare.

"So tell me....why did you ask to see me?"

"Would you believe me if I say your beauty is the reason?" Henry asked with a playful smile.

Mocheda reclined on her seat as she folded her arms across her chest.

"You and I both know that we don't have time for this Henry—so I ask again.....what do you want?"

Henry sighed as he shook his head with pretentious sorrow.

"I hate it when you get like this—can't we share a normal romantic moment?"

Seeing that a frown was beginning to appear on Mocheda's beautiful face, he then knew that he had to drop the pretentious act.

After all he was speaking to the infamous Lady M.

His manly charms wouldn't work on her.

"Okay okay" he said in resignation.

"I called you here concerning the golden staff"

********************

"Shit!!"

Freddie and the unnamed lackey exclaimed in shock as they pulled out their guns and began shooting at Peter.

~Blam!~

~Blam!~

Ezekiel and Ted their boss had already been knocked down mysteriously due to this kid.

They would be said to have chicken brains if they don't know by now that the kid was dangerous.

Especially Freddie, he was most fervent in the believe that Peter had to die.

Meanwhile, Peter stood and gawked at the phenomenon unfolding before him.

As soon as the two criminals began to shoot at him, the staff appeared before him and began spinning in a circular motion while deflecting the bullets.

This went on for some seconds until.....

~Click~

~Click~

Freddie and the unnamed lackey had emptied all their cartridges—and what was the result?

The kid was still standing!

"Sweet mother of God!!"

The unnamed lackey exclaimed as he stepped back in fear.

This couldn't be real!

This couldn't f**king be real!

"Run!!" Freddie screamed as he fled without hesitation.

The unnamed lackey only froze for a moment, until he also obeyed his common sense and fled.

Of course Peter couldn't allow them to go as he felt that it was now his turn to punish them for trying to kill him.

'Trying to escape eh?'

Peter thought as he gave chase with the staff flying beside him.

'I don't think so....attack!'

********************

"So what about it?" Mocheda asked as she feigned ignorance.

"Oh come on Lady M—I know you've been trying to get your hands on the staff ever since it appeared in the bus accident"

"And what do you know about the staff?" Mocheda asked as she narrowed her eyes.

The waiter had brought their meal, on which Henry descended and began eating while he discussed.

As for Mocheda, she remained reclined on her seat, without touching her food.

"Your meal is getting cold" Henry pointed out as he sipped his wine.

"Answer my question—what do you know about the staff?"

Mocheda leaned forward and demanded with a slightly raised voice.

"Not much" Henry simply said as he kept eating.

"Just that it's a strange object that's possibly of great importance–"

"You know nothing about the staff do you?" Mocheda interrupted him with a mocking grin.

"You're right" Henry admitted after some seconds of awkward silence.

"But what I do know is that you seem specially interested in it"

~Tsk tsk tsk~

Mocheda clicked her tongue and shook her head with a wry smile on her face.

"Spying on a lady doesn't make you romantic my dear Henry—it makes you a stalker"

"Not when my intentions are pure and sincere"

"Really?" Mocheda gazed at him with an incredulous look.

"How do you figure?"

Cleaning his hands and lips with the serviette, Henry stared at her as he spoke.

"Mocheda I want us to work together in finding the staff....

You should know by now that finding such a strange object in this vast country will be quite daunting, but not if we combine our resources...

Am not doing this for selfish reasons but as an act of extending my arm of friendship.....

So what do you say?"