Irwiz put his hand down and tried listening to the vibrations.
Nothing.
Although the water was pretty calm right now, he couldn't differentiate from the water flowing.
So, he quit that and once again jogged.
Now that he had reached the first stage Abyss pathway, his body's constitution have increased a lot. He didn't feel tired at all. Not to mention, he also didn't feel very cold even though his body was drenched from the sewer water earlier.
Irwiz felt the changes in his body. Truly, he had become extraordinary. Faster, stronger, and more sensitive to everything.
Even his vision had increased, now being able to see better in the dark.
Irwiz continued.
After some time, he was able to see a set of metal ladder that extended downwards. When he reached that place and looked up, he could see that it let to a manhole cover - one that was for the purpose of draining rain water.
Considering it was here, he was probably out from the slums, and reached the middle area, one where the families with medium wage lived. Not very far from the inner area where the rich people were, but it was still much better than in the slums.
Irwiz climbed up the ladder, feeling the cold wet touch of the metal. It had rusted a bit, giving it an orange reddish hue.
Then, he peeked through the holes of the manhole cover, seeing the situation outside.
It was nighttime outside. He couldn't see much else beside that.
Thankfully, that also meant Irwiz could go outside without getting much attention.
So, he pushed against the heavy steel manhole cover.
He was wondering how he was even able to move this thing from his position. Even though it was awkward, he was still able to do so.
Feeling his renewed strength, Irwiz pushed aside the manhole cover and crawled out of the hole.
As he lied on the stone pavement on his back, Irwiz took a deep breath and felt the clean air outside.
Yes, it was still not fully clean, tainted by the factory smoke, but it smelled way better than the nasty smell of the sewers. After taking another deep breath, Irwiz got up and moved the manhole cover back into place.
He then looked at himself - a youthful body wearing rag torn clothes that had stitched up patches on it. The gaps on his neck, forearms, and shins all revealed the inhuman thing he had become.
Not to mention - they were wet too.
Irwiz felt the need to change these. Otherwise, he might be hunted down for being a heretic by the church.
He still didn't understand how the mystic world worked in this world too. He first needed to gather information on it.
But again, before all that, he had to find a set of clothes to wear and a source of food.
He was no longer the helpless child from before, he felt that he had the ability to sustain himself on his own now.
There was no need to join any organisations like the shelter, and be under the eyes of someone else. He could go his own way. Possibly create a normal identity and live like so.
Of course, he was still a child in this body. The things a child could do was limited, very limited, he probably couldn't find any normal job to do either.
The only possible option for him was to be in the shadows.
Or perhaps, he could even be adopted in by a family? The way to do that would be simple. To join an orphanage and then manipulate the parents coming by to adopt him.
However... why would he do that?
'Whatever, let's just first find some clothes' Irwiz thought as he looked around.
He was currently on a sidewalk by the main road. There weren't much illumination, but it was no problem as Irwiz could see pretty well in the dark.
From the shape of the buildings and apartment complexes, he seemed to be near a residential district? He did have the option to break into one and just steal clothes...
Since he didn't know how to lockpick doors, it was probably not a very good idea to do that. He didn't want to attract much attention.
He needed to find a homeless person at the moment. Since winter was approaching, they might have saved some thick clothes that covered the arms and legs.
That meant he had to go back to the slums.
Actually, it wasn't that hard to distinguish where the slums were. He just had to go the direction where he came from in the sewers.
It didn't take long before Irwiz started recognizing the area he was in. And turning towards the familiar alley, there he was. His target.
A man lying right on the ground, on a pile of newspapers, caught up in sweet dreams.
He had unkempt long hair and messy bear,while also smelling of cheap booze. He was wearing a jacket and a pair of pants that covered his legs.
Although it wasn't in the best condition, they were good enough for Irwiz.
Looking at him, the homeless man seemed pitiful. Just another person trying to live life, perhaps trying to escape reality with the constant alcohol.
He seemed to be really blacked out right now and enjoying his sleep. But Irwiz didn't care.
He had to wake up; to take his clothes while he was sleeping would take too much effort.
So, he kicked the man's stomach. Although he had a child's body, his kick was strong. It instantly seemed to wake the man up as he vomited out from his mouth.
In a confused stupor, the homeless man's wrinkled face crunched up in pain and then his eyes slowly opened. He had amber eyes with pupils that had a shade of gray - a common sign of age.
Well, his face did have a bit of wrinkles.
"Wh- who?" his voice was weak and the effects of alcohol still seemed to not have gone away.
Irwiz didn't waste many words.
"Get up and take off your clothes." his voice was uninterested as he uttered those words from his mouth.
"What? Who are you?" the homeless man asked still in confusion.
"I said take off your clothes" Irwiz kicked the man's stomach once again.
"Urgh" the man groaned in pain.
Before, he was just tilting his head, and now he was clutching his stomach.
"I won't say more" Irwiz kicked again, this time stronger.
But since the man had his arms covering his stomach, it didn't seem to have a strong effect like before.
"Ple- please don't kick me anymore" he stuttered out the words weakly.
"Get up" Irwiz's cold voice sounded once more. This time, he didn't kick, and waited for the man to get up.
"Okay, okay!" the man was now flustered.
After fumbling around for a while, he got up from his lying position, suddenly now taller than Irwiz.
Now that he was finally standing up and roused from his sleep from the previous kick, he could finally take a closer look at his assailant.
But as he looked at Irwiz, he uttered out the words "A kid?" Instantly, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes turned from weakness into one radiating humiliation and anger.
But Irwiz didn't care, he just said the words - "Take off your clothes"
"Take off my clothes? Robbed by a kid like you?" the homeless man said before swiftly bringing out something from inside his jacket.
He had brought out a knife. The knife was not clean, but Irwiz could recognize what it was.
If he had gotten stabbed by it in the heart, Irwiz didn't doubt he would die, no matter whatever powers he had gained.
However, he only looked on in indifference at the man.
Homeless people were like this - they were weak and their willpower were poor. After all, they had been the dregs of society, the long disdainful gazes from people would erode anyone's mind.
However, this was the slums. Anyone who didn't have any sort of strength would not enjoy a good future nor live a long life. Especially when the other side was a weak kid, they would never act subservient.
They all had to protect themselves.
"Kid, I don't know who gave you the courage but you're in the wrong place." The man homeless was angry as he said those words.
His temperament had instantly changed into a fiercer one.
"I'll feed you to the dogs for waking me up" the man thrust instantly. His alcohol seemed to have worn off, and he was blinded by anger now.
It was clear what he was doing. The knife went straight for Irwiz's stomach - the homeless man wanted to gut him and kill him.
However, Irwiz didn't flinch as he just stood there.
And just before the man's knife was halfway to Irwiz, it stopped, and the homeless man looked on in confusion.
Something had stopped him.
But what? He couldn't see anything.
But for Irwiz, it was very clear what had happened. The homeless man may not see it, but this entire place, along with the man's body, was covered in spider web like strings.
He had set them up before waking the man.
Now, he was probably not able to move anymore.
As the man looked in fear and panic, Irwiz stepped in closer.
Then, he looked straight into the homeless man's eyes, saying.
"Tell me, what do you know about this place?"