112 Strays

*Cough Cough*

Asher wheezed, gripping his bicep in phantom pain. Feeling the warm flesh in his hand, Asher nervously opened his eyes.

He was back in the real world.

The boy sighed a breath of relief. Those few seconds when 'Last Chance' faded away... That pain still haunted him, far more than when Little Red tossed him around.

But in reality, he didn't quite remember what exactly happened in the last bits of the mission. His mind was too mired with pain to commit the scene to memory.

The only thing he could remember was him crying and mewling pitifully.

He cleared his throat, a light blush surfacing on his face at that memory.

[Focus.]

Asher's eyes sharpened as the System spurred him to attention. Right, where was he now?

Dust swirled in the air. The walls of a warehouse surrounded him.

Stray Dogs-!

The thumps of footsteps behind him confirmed Asher's thoughts.

He turned around to face his opponents.

The man named Dino turned to his leader, whispering audibly. The tattoos on his bare chest rippled with unhidden strength.

"The girl disappeared, Boss. Should we search for her?"

Asher glanced beside him. The man was right, Sophie was nowhere to be seen.

'So I have to activate it again after reabsorption...'

He tossed that thought out of his mind for now. It was far too risky for his current situation.

As the members of the Syndicate conversed among themselves, the System revealed the rewards he obtained from the mission he just did.

[Completion: A- grade]

[Reward: Fortitude +35, Insight +10, Temperance +15, Justice +15]

[Synchronization 'Little Red Riding Hooded Mercenary' obtained due to sufficient clearance]

Asher suppressed a shout of joy. Fortitude, his weakest stat, just increased by thirty-five!!

And the other stat rewards... They weren't too shoddy, either!

'Damn, is this overpowered or what?'

[The reward depends on the difficulty of the mission, as well as completion grade.]

Asher made a moue of thought. Made sense. Little Red was a WAW, after all.

[Obtained skills-]

'Hold on for a second. Let me finish this first.'

Asher didn't want prompts to distract him as he fought, and he wouldn't be using his new Synchronization for this fight.

[Okay.]

The scent of cherry blossoms filled the air as Asher immediately swapped to his E.G.O.

The leader narrowed his eyes, motioning to his side

"Dino, Zulu, leave him alive! Jones, start recording!"

Dino and Zulu rushed forward simultaneously, their tattoos glowing purple. Behind the leader, a phone's camera began to record the soon-to-be fight.

The mysterious figure in the center took in a deep breath.

His left arm held an open bamboo umbrella, covering his forehead; his right hand held a pink, oriental fan, obscuring his mouth.

The only thing left visible was a set of hollow, gleaming eyes.

Asher took in another breath, until his lungs were near bursting.

Then a single step forward.

Asher walked toward Dino and Zulu with a confident smirk. Now that his Fortitude had more than doubled, these enemies were simple for him.

"Put on a good show for me~" As he spoke, pink mist trailed behind his lips.

Asher's pace sped up as he began to sprint forward, meeting Dino and Zulu's attacks head on.

But just before the pair's fists could reach him, he let out the breath stored in his lungs.

In an explosive exhale, half of the warehouse was covered in pink smoke, up to the ceiling.

"-!" Before Dino and Zulu could react, they had already inhaled a mouthful of the pollen. Instantly, their vision began to distort, and the target in front of them turned into a hazy, wobbling shadow.

Asher slipped between the two men's attacks amidst the confusion, flipping his grip on the knife to stab Dino in the back.

The blade sunk a few inches before lodging in the man's back muscles. Asher blinked, pulling the knife out with some difficulty. That should have been the lungs.

"Playing dirty-!" Dino whirled around, his tattoos steaming with energy. A dribble of blood formed in the man's mouth as he resisted the urge to cough.

But Asher had disappeared.

As the smoke cleared, the boy was nowhere to be found.

Dino and Zulu stepped back to their leader, and Dino let out a hacking cough.

"Damn... he led us by the nose. My lung's been pierced." Dino sat on the floor, closing his eyes. The tattoos around the wound began to glow green.

Zulu bowed silently, his expression apologetic.

"Haha! Y'all did fine. This was the kid who killed the previous Capo, after all!" The leader of the Stray Dogs barked with coarse laughter, signaling the cameraman to stop his recording.

A few minutes passed as Dino recovered from his wounds.

"Alright, let's get out of here," Dino stood to his feet, "the Capo wants this recording."

The new Capo, Boris, had taken a strange interest in the Chimère Office. Especially the 'Capo Killer', Asher.

The leader nodded, grinning as he gave Dino a fistbump.

Soon, the warehouse was empty yet again.

...

Or was it?

Sophie slunk down the horizontal support beams near the roof, quietly landing on the floor below. She turned off her ability, her presence once again revealing itself.

"Phew."

The figure began to morph. Its blond hair shortened, darkening into a midnight black. He became an inch or so taller, and the dress he wore was exchanged for a hoodie and shorts.

Asher made a quizzical face, talking to himself.

"I would've been fine, y'know?" He paused, silently bickering with a voice in his head. "Alright, alright... [Fragmentation]!"

Asher grinned as his chest split open, revealing the beating heart within.

Soon, Sophie was back by his side.

"I'm back, Sophie." Back to the real world.

He spoke softly, a hint of disbelief glimmering in his voice.

Sophie's lips pulled to a faint smile as she stepped to his side.

But that grin soon faded.

"That mission... You suffered in it. Tossed around."

She flicked her hair to the side, glancing at his arm. Then at his throat.

"So- You saw everything?"

Sophie wrinkled her nose with distaste. She did. Everything from Little Red's rage to Asher's pain, she experienced it all. From Asher's perspective.

And she couldn't do anything to help him. She had been bound to Asher's soul by the Abnormality's will for the duration of the mission, unable to express herself.

"-!" Sophie flinched as Asher placed his hand on her head. He could decipher her true emotions from her expressionless, mask-like face.

"No need to worry about me. I'm fine!" He put on a strained grin. "Let's check out the rewards, okay?"

Sophie let out a gentle hum as Asher shared his vision with her.

[Reward: Little Red Riding Hooded Mercenary (Synchronization Skill)]

[A Justice stat of 75 or higher is required to use the skill. However, regardless of Justice, an unnatural rage will fill your body whenever you use it.]

That was something unexpected. It was like his [Frenzy] skill, except with Justice instead of Temperance. And there was no way to stop the side effects.

[Little Red Riding Hooded Mercenary: A humanoid being of unknown origin. Filled with hate and rage, she is able to manifest her negative emotions into reality, gaining physical and mystical prowess. She enjoys nothing more than the thrill of a successful hunt.]

Sophie squeezed Asher's arm. An uncanny feeling told her that she would not get along with this Synchronization when Asher created a body for it.

The Synchronization had four different 'skills'. As Sophie and Asher scanned their descriptions, their eyes began to widen.

[A Rusty Blade: Tarnished and neglected, this nameless weapon may change after being soaked in blood. Progress: 0% until next upgrade.]

[An Old Flintlock: This gun is brittle enough to be broken with one hand. Does it even work anymore? This nameless weapon may change after being soaked in blood. Progress: 0% until next upgrade.]

[Living Red (Dimmed): The cloak lies in tatters. It is colored faintly red, almost pink, as if dyed by an amateur hobbyist. A faint sense of unease can be felt within, if one presses their ear onto it. This cloak may change after being soaked in blood. Progress: 0% until next upgrade.]

[Mark: What good is a hunt if there is no target? Engaging in a conversation with an individual or group for over a minute allows the user to place a 'Mark' onto them. While clashing with a marked target, the user's stats are multiplied by a number from 1.2 to 1.5 (chosen at random) for three minutes. Usable once a day. Killing enemies with the marked status may unlock new abilities. Progress: 0% until next upgrade.]

This...

Sophie and Asher shivered simultaneously.

They had never seen a growth type ability, yet here they were, with four of them at once.

Every one of Little Red's starting abilities/weapons could grow and evolve.

Incredible.

Each of the abilities' descriptions filled Asher with excitement. Was this the potential of a WAW, the second most dangerous tier of all Abnormalities?

Sophie's cheeks puffed up. Sure, those were good abilities, but the way Asher's eyes glimmered-

She pouted.

"What is your plan, Asher?" Still, her voice was emotionless, as always.

Asher turned to her, a genuine smile flashing past his lips.

"Well, we first have to see if I can actually use it! System, can I see my stats?" Asher hadn't checked his stats in such a long time, because most of the time it was only missions that increased his stats.

____________

Statistics:

Fortitude: 55

Insight: 45

Temperance: 85

Justice: 85

Skills: Scorched Girl (TETH Synchronization), Little Red Riding Hooded Mercenary (WAW Synchronization), Fairy Queen, Fragmentation, Echoes from Beyond, Cherry Grave.

Description: The greatest among the frogs in the well. With some luck, he may be able to climb the stone walls that surround him.

____________

Asher twitched. Come on, was the description necessary?

But disregarding that... Asher's knees softened with joy. First, his Justice was actually high enough to use his new Synchronization. Second, now Fortitude wasn't his weakest stat now!

'And when did my Temperance get so high?' Asher blinked, remembering the little prompt the System gave after he snapped out of his future self's emotions in the mission.

Something about 'iron-willed path'... He remembered how it gave him 15 Temperance and Justice.

Whatever. Any stats were good stats, as long as they don't come from the demon sealed within him.

"You've gotten stronger, Asher." Sophie pressed closer to him. "And so have I."

Any strength that Asher gained would be passed down to her when he used Fragmentation, which Sophie was forever thankful for.

"Erm, you're welcome...?"

Sophie jabbed her finger into his side.

"Any plans?"

Asher winced, nodding his head as he rubbed his stomach.

"I have a vague idea. But let's get out of here first. I've been in the mission for so long I hardly remember what was going on in the real world."

"Me too. Race to Mei's?"

Asher smirked.

With a billow of dust, the two disappeared.