Chapter 25

The idea of bounty hunting together came as an unexpected idea, but not unreasonable. It was the fastest way for both of them to get power without too much risk. Anthony agreed to do it on the condition that Peter wasn't allowed to fight.

[Estimated time until complete recovery: 26 days]

They also left Sarah at home. Their excuse was that someone needed to care for the still distraught James. That was obviously a lie, since he was starting to get himself together. Their actual reason was that they both had an idea of how she gets her power by now and they didn't want to deal with the consequences of that.

Because neither of them waned to deal with the police, the two made their way to the neighborhood mob boss to ask for some targets. Helen gladly provided an entire notebook filled with names and location, mostly of her competitors, and sent Manda with them as well to have an actual representative of the Green dragons around.

"You two go ahead. I'll catch up soon."

Anthony wanted to speak to Helen in private now that he had the chance. He was curious about her ability.

"Can you tell me about my future? You have been pretty accurate so far."

He wanted to know if there was anything in the near future he had to worry about, but the answer he got wasn't really helpful.

"I see nothing in your future. Does that help anything?"

"Well, Peter told me that you couldn't really see the kids' future. I guess I'm like them now."

The thought was a little disappointing but did make him feel a little special, until the idea was shot down outright.

"No you're not! I do see your future, there's just nothing in it. My ability lets me see the state and circumstances someone will be in. For your reference, you're like a walking corpse from my perspective."

Meanwhile, the two boys were walking towards their first destination. They were slower than planned because when they left by themselves, they forgot that Anthony had the car. While walking, they started speaking about things that they wouldn't want to mention around others.

"So Manda, can you tell me how you get stronger?"

This was a question Peter wanted to ask for a while now, but never had the chance to do so. He hoped that it wasn't as destructive as his sister's.

"I adapt quickly, if you punched me for example, I'd get some endurance. What about you?"

"I steal other's abilities. That's why I've been fighting that much."

"That's so cool!"

They talked a little more about how their abilities worked, then a question arose in Peter.

"Wait, how do you get magic?"

"No idea. I usually get some after a tough fight"

The two continued chatting until they found their first location, with the target peacefully watering some flowers in the garden. Peter started to have some doubts about attacking him so he tried to talk Manda down.

"Are you sure he's the target? There doesn't seem to be any reason why we should start trouble with him."

But his objections were quickly shut down.

"Trust me, after we're done here you'll want to give him to Sarah's zombies."

And with that they started making an attack plan. It wasn't anything complicated. Peter would sneak up on him then retreat after the first hit to let Manda fight the man one on one.

The first part of the plan worked out in spite of the daylight, but then Peter was hit while trying to get away.

[Health: 78%]

[You have been poisoned.]

[Achievement unlocked: Get poisoned.]

[Reward: END +0.05, STA +0.05]

[Estimated time until complete recovery: 28 days]

The poison was most likely some kind of anesthetic judging from its effect, making Peter unable to move properly, but it still hurt a lot. The rest of the fight however was finished quickly aside from Manda getting intentionally hit a few times.

[Successfully absorbed class 5 poison blessing.]

[Result: END +0.1, STA +0.15, MGC +0.05, EXP +50]

The experience reminded Peter that he should always use identification on his opponents to avoid surprise injuries like this.

Manda led themselves into the house and down to the basement, saying that down there is the easiest to explain why they attacked the man.

In the basement was a nice and orderly kitchen with nothing suspicious around. Peter was about to complain when Manda walked up to the freezer and opened it.

Inside the freezer were a bunch of plastic bags with meat in them, some of which had discernibly human features. Manda looked at Peter, who was struggling with nausea due to what he was seeing, and began his explanation.

"The reason people leave our gang alone is because we clean up on our turf. Most would rather have us on the streets than cannibals.

So if you still want to accept bounties from us, then you'll be dealing with criminals like this, people who no one would complain about if they disappeared. How does it sound?"