First Red Blood

"Ha… ha… ha…" 

Rob's heavy breaths filled the corridor while drops of blood fell down from his fist and joined their kin within the small pool formed on the floor. 

'Oh shit,' Leo's face twitched as a sense of unusual dread filled his head. 'If this seeps in…'

The world was changing. And for all the chaos the alien circuit and the invasion of portals would bring, it also was nothing less but an immeasurable opportunity for those who dared to accept it. 

An opportunity that could bring about great fame, wealth, and influence. An opportunity that, as proved in bad faith by the now three deceased bandits, would turn the whole world on its head. 

Right now, the entire thing was still in its infancy, less than two hours since everything began. Even the government has yet to make the move to address the situation, with the public services scrambling just to keep things relatively stable for the time being. 

For now, though… 

'Carol's going to kill me…'

Despite her small posture and generally petite build and physique more on a small and adorable rather than developed and mature side, when it came to maintaining the household that sheltered her from her past, Carol… 

Let's just say there was a reason why Leo, for how much of an overactive and rowdy child as he used to be before the summonings, never dared to openly cross or slight her.

Despite having no blood ties to the three brothers, this petite woman never held back from disciplining her step-children, righteously putting their upbringing ahead of showing leniency for the sake of having the trio accept her as their mother more easily. 

Still, when it came to household maintenance, Carol became a person Leo would sense in the back of his head even over a hundred years into his summoning adventures. And with all the opportunities of the ongoing mess only to unveil themselves in the future… Replacing all the woodwork of the corridor's floor was an expense the current Pesterny household likely couldn't afford. 

"They are dead," Rob turned his head over to his brother, his face filled with exhaustion, a slight sense of dread but also a justified amount of pride. 

Only a small bruise marked his cheek, revealing how not even the hope of survival and the desperation it induced in the bandits wasn't enough for Rob's enemy to overcome his fists. 

On the other hand, a few steps deeper into the corridor, Mark rested his back against the wall. 

His face was marked with several bloody bruises. There was even a small stream of blood trickling down the corner of his mouth and dripping down to where one of his teeth lay down to its rest, forever separated from its origin within the young man's jaw. 

Contrary to his older brother, Mark lacked both the endurance… and the confidence that wouldn't falter in the face of someone who actively opposed him. 

Used to stand on the aggressive side of bullying, Mark clearly never faced someone who actually dared to fight back. And if not for the increase to his stats from the portal, with just the very first punch of the bandit actually getting him to falter and stumble back… 

'I guess this circuit isn't all for nothing, after all,' Leo thought as he glanced down at the result of Mark's rage-induced punches. 

Rob's target died to precise and sharp strikes to his vital points. An axe to the side of his head brought the man down to his knees, a following uppercut removed his ability to fight back, and then a series of three quick attacks to the throat, to the base of the man's nose, and finally, for the second time, to the side of his head caused enough damage to prolong the man's unconscious state from the given moment to eternity. 

On the other hand, there was no rule or order to the damage of Mark's punches. The moment he regained his senses when the bandit got the first few hits on him, he simply abused his superior physical statistics to strike the man over and over again, not even bothering to bring his punches up to the man's face, showering his entire body with attacks indiscriminately instead. 

"Ha…ha…hahaha…" Contrary to Rob's simple breaths, Mark was quite quick to turn his heavy breaths into an actual laugh, a sense of overwhelming pride and achievement painting all over his face. 

For him, this moment marked taking this one, final step he never dared to take before in all of his acts of bullying. The ultimate showcase of supremacy exhibited in the act of taking the life of another. 

There was but a hint of reluctance in his eyes, the one reason why Leo didn't immediately move to pacify the younger of his brothers. 

*Screeeing!*

*Screeeing!*

*Screeeing!*

Before anyone could produce any real reaction to the situation, an annoying, ear-piercing noise filled the whole apartment. 

But with Leo's sharpened tenses, he could tell that wasn't it. 

The same sound came from all over, it's high-pitched akin to scratching cutlery against a metal plate, cut even through the proofing of the walls, indicating this particular apartment wasn't the one to experience this noise. 

And what was even worse, it came from several different directions at the same time. 

Taken by surprise, Leo tensed up before forcing all of his muscles to relax, making it easier to jump into action the very moment the threat behind the sound revealed itself to his eyes. 

He was the only one to freak out to this level, even if he didn't really show it on his face. 

"Already?" Tina muttered, appearing as if she couldn't care less of the carnage caused by her stepbrothers just a few steps ahead. 

Before any hint of hesitation, she pulled a weirdly thin phone out of the back pocket of her pants before staring at the white-flashing of its huge screen. 

"What's this?" Leo asked, right as everyone else in the house pulled out their respective phones, all flashing with the same, whitish light. 

"You asked for about the government's response, didn't you?" Tina raised her eyes and asked, before bringing her phone up and turning it around to show the message written in huge, red letters flashing on the otherwise pristinely white screen. 

[Accessing the portal-like anomaly is now a restricted behavior. Any attempts to do so without authorization will be taken as an act of trespassing on government property.

As of now, local authorities are doing their best to maintain peace and order, stay off the streets, and await further instructions.]