3 Chapter 3

-[Bellwood]-

-[Kenneth]-

"Are you sure about this?" Natalie asked as they stood outside their home. Frank stood beside her, mostly silent as they faced their son.

"I'm sure." Kenneth said resolutely, causing her to show a resigned smile.

"They grow up so fast. Take care, Kenny." Natalie said as she moved forward to give him a hug which he naturally returned.

"I will."

Frank had a smile on his face. "Your grandpa was the adventurous type. I guess you inherited that from him. You're going to experience a whole new world so be careful. We don't want another Tina incident in our hands."

Kenneth smiled sheepishly as the memory of the blonde girl attempting to break into their house played in his mind. "You don't have to tell me twice. I'll be fine." He reassured the man as they came together for a family hug.

He had waited till the next day to start his journey and spent the previous night packing.

As they separated, he turned his attention to the sleek black sports car parked on the driveway.

Suppressing his excitement, he quickly entered the car, starting it and reveling in the revving of the engine.

He rolled down the window to wave at Frank and Natalie, who both waved back, before driving off.

"This car is amazing." He muttered as he drove.

-[Skill Gained 'Driving']

'Great. My first skill and it's one I already know how to do.' He thought sarcastically as he quickly connected his phone to the car.

As if waiting for that moment, the central console lit up as a call came through. Seeing the caller id, he paused for a moment, a frown marring his face as he answered it.

"What's up, Steve?"

"Dude, where are you?!" The now-identified Steve asked.

"That's…a bit complicated." He answered a bit hesitantly.

"Huh? Anyways, the gang wants to meet up at the arcade in half an hour. You in?"

He frowned a bit. "Yeah that's where the complication comes in. I'm leaving town for a while."

"Seriously? What about our gig? We were supposed to use this summer to up our game. You know, beaches, resorts, the girls." Steve complained.

That was why Kenneth was reluctant to pick up the call. Apparently his predecessor and his friends started a band the previous year. They weren't very popular but they were known enough.

"That'll have to wait for a while. I can't exactly put this trip off. It's something personal."

The line was silent for a while until Steve's sigh was heard from the other end. "I get it. I get it. I'll break the news to the others. Just don't hook up with any more crazy girls."

"Hey! That wasn't my fault." Kenneth refuted in exasperation before muttering. "I swear you go on one date and they think they own you."

The crazy girl being referred to was a girl named Tina. The same Tina Frank referred to. She was one of their few fans who apparently chose Kenneth as her favorite among the band. Obsessed wasn't a term he used lightly but it was the most fitting for her.

"Kate's still salty about that. Next time don't go stealing her cousin." Steve joked, ending the call.

Kate was the pianist of the band and the sole female within the group. He let out an exasperated sigh at 'his' history. 'What kind of life did I inherit?'

•••

"Seriously?" Kenneth had his hands over his head and an exasperated expression on his face. "You couldn't wait a few days."

"Shut up!" The man in front of him ordered, pressing the firearm into his side.

The 'man' had green skin, a tail sticking out of his coat and an impatient look on his face.

Kenneth held in his sigh of frustration. He only stopped to get some food. He'd been driving all day and he was hungry.

In his raised hand was a takeout bag but that wasn't what interested the humanoid EVO who was attempting to mug him.

"I saw you get out of that car over there. Hand over the keys. That is, if you want to live." The clicking of the gun showed the seriousness of the situation.

They were standing in the alley beside the restaurant. He allowed himself to be led her for one reason, privacy. "Alright. Let me just take out the keys."

With the EVO's attention focused on the hand that went into his pocket, it didn't notice the cold glint in Kenneth's eyes. Neither did he notice the takeout bag vanish into his inventory.

'Only one chance at this.'

As he pulled the keys out his pocket, his filled his other hand with mana, striking down hard onto the man's head.

"Aahhh!" The man stumbled backwards but it wasn't enough to take him down.

-[Skill Gained 'Power Strike']

Acting fast, he sent the keys to his inventory and reached for the gun. The moment he touched it, he also sent it into his inventory, bringing it out just as quickly to aim it at him.

It happened so suddenly for the man to react properly. 'I guess even after adding mana, I'm not strong enough to knock him out in one hit.'

"Isn't this the type of gun Providence uses?" He wondered out loud.

Regaining his bearing, the man snarled at him. "Brat! Give that back!"

He dashed towards Kenneth who frowned. "I'm sorry about this."

*Bang!*

The man froze in his step for a moment before falling down face flat, a small hole leaking blood from his forehead.

-[Skill Gained 'Firearm Proficiency']

-[You have killed your opponent.]

-[Level up!]

Letting out a shaky breath, he quickly moved the man's body that was quickly growing cold. Grabbing his arm, the corpse disappeared into his inventory.

Stashing the gun back into his inventory, he quickly made his way back to his car, slamming the door shut.

He took a deep breath to compose himself. 'Calm down. Dad took you hunting when you were younger, though people and deers are two different things…'

It took a while for him to calm down but he managed. Though there was a chance that he could have run away and escaped instead of killing him, he couldn't help the thought that rose in his subconscious.

Despite how lightly he seemed to have taken his life being threatened at that moment, he was anything but calm. His life was one thing that he would guard jealously.

He'd already died once, he wasn't going to allow himself to die again, especially not to a random mugger who thought he got lucky.

This time, it was a random mugger. Next time it could be something much more dangerous.

It didn't need to be said but at the back of his mind, he knew that if he ran away, he would have lost something inside of him.

'If I can't do this, then how would I even be able to kill Van Kleiss or Vilgax?' He asked himself, ignoring the slight tremble of his hand.

Steeling himself, he opened his inventory, staring at the slot that held the corpse.

-[Delete Item?] (Yes | No)

It was a function he found out while playing with it a while ago. He confirmed it, watching as the corpse disappeared, leaving the slot empty.

Letting out a heavy breath, he opened his menu.

•••

Name: Kenneth Tennyson

Level: 3

Title: None

HP: 500 [20 per min]

MP: 500 [10 per min]

Fatigue: 0

[Stat]

Strength: 10

Agility: 10

Vitality: 10

Intelligence: 10

Perception: 10

(Free Points: 6)

[Skills]

Passive Skills

-Driving (Lvl 16/30)

-Muscle Memory (Lvl ???)

-Firearm Proficiency (Lvl 10/30)

Active Skills

-Power Strike (Lvl 1/30)

[Equipped Items]

-None

•••

'Wait what?!' The levels on his skills didn't make sense.

He immediately opened the notification log.

•••

-[Skill Gained 'Driving']

-[Due to past experience, skill has leveled up accordingly!]

-[Skill Gained 'Muscle Memory']

-[Skill Gained 'Power Strike']

-[Skill Gained 'Firearm Proficiency']

-[Due to past experience, skill has leveled up accordingly!]

-[You have killed your opponent.]

-[Level up!]

•••

'Huh…that's handy. Who'd have thought those family hunting trips would come in handy? He thought appreciatively before moving to the next agenda. '6 points. That means 3 points per level. Where do I invest it in?'

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