"Attack from behind"

Theo strained his ears, attempting to catch the last word whispered by the old man. Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through his head, jolting him as if some unseen force was trying to warn him. He winced, immediately reaching for his temple, but the agony persisted with an eerie intensity. As he opened his eyes, he realized that the old man had vanished into thin air, leaving him alone in the passageway.

Puzzled and suspicious, Theo searched the narrow corridor with fervor, meticulously combing every corner.

"Where did he go?" Despite his exhaustive efforts, the old man had inexplicably evaporated without a trace. "Must be an 'Enigma', but what in the world did he want from me."

People with abilities were called Enigma. Enigmas could have a variety of different abilities ranging from elemental to innate. There were many different Enigma groups within the empire, so Theo couldn't tell who he was.

"Seems like you have lost your way, boy," someone called him from behind, "Let me help you get back."

Theo turned around to find a group of four people standing in front of him. One of them was the beggar he had helped before. Theo was near the slums, and getting robbed here was a common occurrence.

"Take out everything that you have and don't try to do anything stupid," one of them told Theo while approaching him.

Theo complied and took out his wallet and mobile phone. He was outnumbered and fighting with them over a few bucks wasn't worth it. The robber took it and was about to leave when the reflection of something golden caught his eyes. It was Theo's pendant.

'Shit! He had to see that.'

The robber tried to snatch it from his neck but the moment he was about to take it, Theo grabbed his arm and slammed him on the garbage can beside him. The moment he hit the ground, the robber was knocked out.

"This little bastard! Kill him!" The remaining robbers brandished their knives. All three of them quickly closed and attacked him simultaneously.

Instinctively, Theo's body reacted with lightning speed as the first attacker lunged towards him, knife glinting in the dim alley. Sidestepping the strike, he narrowly evaded the deadly edge, his heart pounding with adrenaline.

With a swift and fluid motion, Theo seized the attacker's wrist, leveraging his strength to twist it mercilessly. The attacker's grip weakened, and the fell to the ground. Sensing an opportunity, Theo unleashed a powerful palm strike to the attacker's chest, the impact driving the air from his lungs. The assailant staggered backward, gasping for breath, his eyes wide with shock.

Amid the chaos, the second attacker launched a flurry of slashes, each one a deadly threat. Reacting swiftly, Theo instinctively ducked beneath the first swing, feeling the rush of air above him. Seizing the moment, he retaliated with an uppercut that connected solidly with the attacker's chin, a resounding crack filling the air. The attacker stumbled backward, disoriented, giving Theo the opening he needed.

Without hesitation, Theo transitioned seamlessly into a spinning back kick, his heel connecting with the opponent's head. The force of the impact sent him hurtling into a nearby wall, the sound of impact reverberating through the alley. But there was no time to revel in the small victory.

The danger escalated as the third attacker, capitalizing on the diversion, lunged forward with a thrust aimed at Theo's abdomen. Reacting with split-second timing, Theo summoned every ounce of his energy. His forearm met the blade, deflecting it just in time, but it grazed him, leaving a deep gash that sent a jolt of searing pain through his body.

Undeterred, Theo retaliated swiftly. He unleashed a rapid series of strikes—a devastating knee to the attacker's midsection, followed by a lightning-quick elbow strike to the back of his neck. The attacker crumpled to the ground, his knife clattering away, as Theo smoothly transitioned into a defensive stance.

The remaining two opponents had a look of confusion on their faces but with nowhere left to run, they both attacked him from different sides. One attack was aimed at his throat and the other opponent slashed toward his leg.

Theo's senses heightened, his mind focused and his body in perfect sync. He sidestepped the attack aimed at his throat, narrowly avoiding a potentially fatal blow, and countered with a powerful punch to the opponent's solar plexus. As the air was expelled from his lungs, the attacker stumbled back, clutching his chest in agony.

Meanwhile, Theo deflected the leg slash with a well-timed parry, his bare hands meeting the blade with precision. He used the momentum of the attacker's strike against him, swiftly grabbing his arm and executing a fluid joint lock. The opponent cried out in pain, dropping his knife as his arm was twisted into an unnatural angle.

With the odds now in his favor, Theo swiftly moved to incapacitate the final attacker. He delivered a barrage of strikes—a thunderous kick to the ribs, followed by a powerful knee to the sternum—each blow calculated to subdue rather than inflict lasting harm. The opponent crumbled to the ground, his eyes wide with defeat.

Breathing heavily, Theo stood amidst the fallen adversaries, his body battered and bruised, his muscles humming with exhaustion. He glanced around, the silence of the alleyway broken only by the sound of painful grunts and rasping breadths.

Theo tore a part of his shirt and wrapped it around his wounded arm to minimize the bleeding. He walked back home with heavy steps.

"Laura would freak out if she saw me in this state," he thought to himself.

His room was upstairs and the only other way to enter was through the balcony door of the second floor, so climbed up through the sewage pipes in the backside. Theo stealthily creaked open the balcony door and went inside his room.

He cleaned his wound with some medicine and dressed it with bandages. He cleaned himself and climbed down to enter through the front door of the house.

When he walked in, Laura was sitting on the couch, watching TV. She looked up at him and asked if he wanted to have lunch.

"I'll pass for now, feeling too exhausted to eat," Theo replied, his head still throbbing with pain. "I'll go take a rest first." She said something, but he couldn't hear it properly.

Theo went up the stairs to his room, dragging his feet with every step. He threw his belongings into a corner and collapsed onto his bed, feeling the soft embrace of his linens soothing his aching bones. Closing his eyes, he hoped to relieve the lingering pain in his head. Gradually, the soothing comfort of his bed enshrouded him in a deep sleep.