Victor opened his status panel to check his two new talents.
Name: Victor Kross
Age: 12
Talents:
Purple: Aura Intuition, Ghost Rhythm
Blue: Tactical Master
Green: Nen Aptitude: Natural Talent, Brawler's Instinct, Wasteland Adaptation, Robust Constitution, Gutter's Edge
White: Brute Force [10/10], Vulture's Instinct [5/10], Dirty Fighting [5/10], Scavenger, Pain Tolerance, Language Comprehension [1/10], Iron Gut.
Victor focused on the descriptions of the two new talents
[Aura Intuition (Purple)]
Description: You've stopped staring at your aura like a confused caveman and finally read the manual. You can now grasp advanced concepts in weeks instead of the decades it takes "normal" people to fail at them. It's high-efficiency learning. Try not to learn your way into a very sophisticated, very difficult situation.
[Ghost Rhythm (Purple)]
Description: You're now a walking technicality. You can move in bursts that bypass the human eye's refresh rate, leaving "ghosts" behind while you've already moved on. You aren't just fast; you're a visual error. Try not to trip; face-planting at this speed is a very efficient way to find out your nose still obeys the laws of friction.
Victor looked at his hand and noticed something escaping from his body, though he still couldn't control it. This might be my life energy, he thought, but I still can't guide it. After checking his new talents, he closed the system panel and walked toward his hideout.
Ten minutes later, Victor entered a very quiet area where no scavengers were in sight. Suddenly, he saw a black van approaching. Victor stopped and stood his ground, his hand hovering near his knife.
The van bypassed him at first but stopped some distance away. Victor grew vigilant; in this deserted area, the van stopping likely meant it was there for him.
The van door opened, and a man in a black suit stepped out, holding a rifle.
Seeing the weapon, Victor's pupils constricted.
Although he now possessed powerful talents, he knew his twelve-year-old, malnourished body could not survive a direct confrontation with a firearm.
"Kid, drop the knife and start walking toward me with your hands raised," the man commanded.
Victor dropped the knife, raised his hands, and walked slowly toward the man.
When he reached him, another man pointed a rifle at him from close range.
The first man searched Victor and found a second hidden knife. Angered, the man struck Victor with the butt of his rifle, sending him to the ground. As blood began to flow from his nose, the man tied Victor's hands with rope and ordered him inside the van.
Victor obeyed and saw three other children already inside. He realized the gravity of the situation as the van began to move. The driver started the music.
Victor maintained a calm expression, but behind his back, he pulled out a small razor blade he had managed to keep hidden. He began slowly cutting through the ropes. The van drove for an hour, leaving the mountains of garbage behind until only desert remained.
By the time they entered a small town and pulled into a warehouse, Victor had already cut through the ropes that was binding him. But He remained still, waiting for the right moment to act.
After entering the warehouse, the van stopped and three human traffickers got out. One of them said, "Let's have some fun with the one inside since our quota is complete." Hearing this, the other two laughed. One of them walked towards the van and opened the door.
He looked at the only girl with a predatory gaze. Seeing this, the girl was terrified, but because her mouth was covered, she could hardly make any noise.
The man extended his hand toward the girl to pull her out, but suddenly he felt his hand was sticky. He looked down to see it was covered in blood.
He looked at the girl again and saw a happy expression on her face. Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain in his throat and realized his throat had been cut. He looked to the side only to see Victor, who was holding a small, blood-stained blade.
The man screamed and fell to the ground.
[Language Comprehension (White)] acquired.[Firearm Familiarity (White)] acquired.
They immediately picked up their rifles and walked cautiously toward the van where their associate's scream had come from.
When they reached the spot, they saw their associate was dead in a pool of blood with a deep cut on his throat.
They noticed that one of the boys they had caught was missing and immediately became vigilant.
One of them looked under the vehicle to see if Victor was on the other side.
Seeing no one, he stood up and directed the other man to walk around from the other side. Since the warehouse was empty, the only place to hide was on the other side of the vehicle. Victor, who was already on the other side, realized this and prepared himself.
The first man holding a rifle noticed Victor and fired. Victor dodged two bullets, but the third grazed his shoulder. Ignoring the pain, Victor immediately threw the knife toward the trafficker. The knife traveled at high speed and struck the man in the head, his body lost all strength and he dropped down.
[Language Comprehension (White)] acquired.[Firearm Familiarity (White)] acquired.
Suddenly, Victor heard footsteps behind him and noticed the other trafficker firing at him. Victor immediately climbed over the van to get to the other side of the vehicle.
The man followed and continued firing. A bullet hit the van, while another grazed Victor.
The man walked slowly around the side with his rifle, eventually spotting Victor and pointing the weapon at him.
Victor noticed the man and immediately threw the handgun he had stolen, since he did not know how to use it.
The gun hit the man on his forehead, causing him to lose his balance; his shots went wild and hit the ceiling.
Taking advantage of this, Victor closed the distance and punched the man. The man took the punch and lost consciousness. Victor then used his small blade to finish him.
[Criminal Awareness (White)] acquired.[Firearm Familiarity (White)] acquired.
After finishing, Victor searched the corpses and found a map and the keys of the van. He opened the map, but the language was foreign to him.
However, he noticed several hills drawn separately as a reference—this was Meteor City. Because it was a forgotten place, someone had clearly sketched it in by hand.
Nearby, he spotted a marked location and realized it was the town he was currently in.
Victor heard muffled cries, "Wu wu wu," coming from the van. He walked over and found two boys and a girl struggling against their bindings.
He quickly cut their ropes and freed them. As soon as the girl was loose, she thanked him and immediately ran off; the two boys followed her lead after also offering their thanks.
Victor did not attempt to stop them and simply let them leave.
After they departed, Victor spent another twenty minutes studying the map before deciding it was time to get out of town.
He knew that if there were any local law enforcement agencies, they might already be on their way due to the sound of gunshots.
He found some clean cloth and tied it around his injuries where a bullet had grazed him to stop the bleeding.
He then climbed into the van and started the engine. Despite his young age, he was tall enough to operate the vehicle.
He relied on ten years of driving experience from his previous life to handle the van with ease. Victor drove the black van out of the warehouse, leaving the bodies of the traffickers behind.
Once on the road, he spotted some pedestrians and stopped to ask for directions. After receiving the information, he thanked them and drove away.
While Victor was driving, he noticed a police vehicle heading in the opposite direction and realized they were likely heading toward the warehouse.
Luckily the the police didn't notice the bullet holes on the van, or he would have become a wanted criminal. He sped up, and ten minutes later, he had cleared the town and reached the highway.