Chapter 10: Stockholm Syndrome 1

If only Boss Mayni was still alive. It could have evaded the stone pillar with its speed. Perhaps it could have saved the other two…

If only he was stronger and better. He could have lessened the burden that the mutated rats carried. Perhaps they could have saved a few amounts of energy to manifest their armor…

If only he could detect the presence of living creatures. He could have warned the rats about the incoming danger. Perhaps they could have banded together to resist the new threat…

If… If… If…

Perhaps… Perhaps… Perhaps….

Various emotions had surged to Allen Stryka's mind. Regret, shame, loneliness, sadness, anger, hatred, and most importantly regret.

'Once the wretched Sun is destroyed, then no further beasts would emerge. Their number will become finite. We can then hunt them all down. One by one.'

Those were the lofty words he said back at his hometown. He felt shame when remembering these words now.

Not all mutated beasts should be hunted. Of course, there were species that do prey at the human beings. Those were the ones that enjoy the suffering of people.

But there were also species that was simply trying to survive. They were also suffering hardships brought by the apocalypse. This was not something a 'sheltered' brat would realize without going out.

The same could be applied to humans actually. There were people like Allen, his parents, the town mayor, and the residents. People who were trying to get by and live against these harsh conditions.

And then there were these people who were laughing like madmen. They were currently looting the corpses of the three rats. Even the white cat was being looted.

What was more ironic?

The fact that the mutated rats were impaled by an element that they could manifest themselves. Or that they were killed by the very same species they had taken care of.

It was regretful to know that even Boss Mo and Boss Eni would be caught off guard. Just like that.

Indeed it was regret. A strong sense of loss that he could do nothing. He could not affect the outcome of a situation that was important to him. He was too weak. Too helpless to make a difference.

I don't want to be weak anymore!

Allen shouted in his mind. He was unable to move in the physical world. He was frozen in place due to his shock.

But he was able to slow down the time within his psyche. This had enabled him to gather all the emotions he felt in one place. He used the surge of emotions to break free.

Katcha!

Something, somehow broke inside him.

***

Sutak Ormsindro was the leader of his bandit group. They were called the Orm Bandits in honor of their great leader. Which was him, by the way.

When the apocalypse occurred many cities and town had fallen. The survivors mostly chose to head to the allied towns or settlement. They believed that if they joined forces then they can survive the new world together. That was human nature anyway.

There were also people who chose to live through the harsh lands. They were brave souls that chose to fight the dangers head on rather than cowering inside those fancy fences. They were often called outcasts, hoodlums, or pillagers.

In other words they were bandits. Hired muscles that would pilfer anything or anyone. They take whatever they could take.

This time around, the Orm Bandits were hunting down a mutated white cat. This was a wind-type beast that had attacked one of the towns in the province. It had massacred the residents of that said settlement. And the remaining residents had offered a bounty to hunt down the said beast.

They were so desperate to seek revenge that they did not mind hiring bandits to take on the job. The pay was good enough. Thus Sutak accepted it.

He gathered around ten of his lackeys and they began hunting their target. They followed the trail for days until they reached the banks of a certain river. There they saw something quite extraordinary.

A young man was fighting the white cat on his own! Well to be precise, there were also those three mutated rats that was somehow helping him. As to how the he had done it, the bandits had no idea.

"Earth-type Field Rodents!"

Sutak immediately identified the three creatures. They were known for their sturdy armor and hellish tackles. Their teeth were also sharp and could be used as a bladed weapon.

But most importantly, their meat was pretty exquisite. They were a known delicacy among the hunters and bandits alike.

Sutak gulped in anticipation. How could his mouth not water in the face of such a treat? He was even sure that his lackeys were thinking of the same thing.

He decided to seize the moment. He began manifesting his ability. He had to be slow but sure in order to not attract the attention of either party.

"What intense flames."

Sutak commented when he saw the young man cast a flaming straight punch towards the white cat. He could think of many uses he could do if he captured the owner of those flames. Nonetheless he never stopped setting his ability up.

The white cat fell. One of the rodents fell. Then there was some kind of drama afterwards.

Sutak raised an eyebrow. He was beginning to have an idea on what was the relationship of the young man to the rodents. He snorted and waited for the right moment.

And then,

[Stone Spikes], activate!

Splurt! Splurt!

The bandit leader casted his ability when the opportune moment arrived. The spikes targeted the rodents and they were successfully impaled. He grinned. A familiar form on energy was rushing towards him. He was absorbing the soul energy of the rodents.

Soul Energy.

This was the energy that living beings had refined from the radiation emitted by the mutated sun. It was the source of energy to manifest the elements of an ability. And successfully killing any living being would enable the victor to absorb the dying energy of the defeated.

There were many uses for the absorbed soul energy. The first and foremost was that it could help the victor to strengthen his ability.

Sutak would have loved to discuss on this topic further. But he had to take his prize now! He laughed excitedly,

"Hahaha, what a great haul we have today!"

He was definitely in a good mood. He ordered his lackeys to secure the corpses of the defeated beasts.

"One white wind cat and three earth-type field rodents. They have suffered some serious wounds but we can still salvage the best parts."

"Good! Handle the head of the white cat carefully. We do need that to claim the bounty."

Sutak nodded as one of his lackeys reported. Not all of his lackeys could develop an ability. The efficacy of the vaccines being given was not 100% after all. Despite that, he still brought the other lackeys. They were here to handle the menial tasks that their gallant leader was too proud to do himself.

But he did not forget to remind his lackeys of their main goal. This was to hunt down the murdering cat. So what if they were not the one who defeated it? What mattered was that they had the severed head of the target.

He then glanced at the young man. He observed that the latter was still frozen in shock. The bandit leader reckoned that the young man was devastated by what he saw.

He snorted. Such show of weakness was a proof that the young man was immature. He was just a kid. A naïve kid at that.

One of the lackeys approached the kid. He shook the unmoving kid to no avail. Then suddenly,

Bam!

The kid punched the lackey. It was a solid hit that knocked the latter down the ground.

Another lackey was enraged by this conduct. He rushed towards the kid. But the weird kid did not back down. He raised his arms in a fighting stance. There were fire burning in his eyes.

Bam!

The lackey tried to tackle the kid. But the latter easily avoided the attack. He was then able to throw a counter against the lackey. The bandit was hit squarely in the face and fell down the ground.

"Stay away!"

Sutak ordered his lackeys to stand down. He was not sure why the kid did not use his fire element to attack the previous two. But he would not wait until the kid did so. Or else his lackeys would be reduced to ashes. He would still need them to carry the menial tasks after all.

"Do not interfere!"

The bandit leader commanded. He was now fascinated with the kid in front of him. He wanted to test the strength of this weird person.

[Stone Spike]!

The ability manifested below the kid. But the weird person seemed unperturbed. He simply took a side step to avoid the skill.

The bandit leader nodded. He was expecting this anyway. To be honest, his ability was better suited for entrapping enemies rather than being used in a direct combat. But he could still use his ability to probe on his target. Perhaps it could even intimidate the opponent into surrendering.

But the weird kid was not shaken at all. The fire in his eyes had actually intensified when he saw the spike. It was like he had finally found his sworn enemy of some sort. He readied his stance.

"Oh? Boxing huh? Know what, so do I!"

Sutak had already seen the fighting style of the kid when he was against the cat. But there was no harm in pointing out the obvious. Rather, this could be used as an intimidation tool against an enemy.

Anyway, the bandit leader had taken an orthodox boxer stance. It was done by placing the left arm forward in order to throw left jabs more effectively. This would also enable his dominant right arm to charge up for a straight punch.

"Come!"

The two fighters rushed forward. They had now entered each other's attack range. Sutak made the first move. He threw a left jab to probe the kid.

The kid had raised both of his arms in front of him. Those arms served as solid guard for most frontal attacks. This stance was called the turtle shell guard. But some people may identify this as the Peek-a-boo style.

Swoosh!

The jab was easily dodged by the kid. He weaved to his side.

"What good form!"

Sutak could not help himself from showing his admiration. Most of the ability users he had met had focused on the effects of their elements. Although this was not a bad approach, it was not that good as well.

What if they were faced in a situation where their ability was at a disadvantage? There were only five known elements that humans could use. This means that twenty percent of the time, their element would be rendered useless in a fight.

If one did not train his body as well, how would he supposed to react against such situations?

"Kid, I like you even more. So much more that I want to plunder you!"