Chapter 6: Chapter 6 – Syndicate

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Iris - Age 13 - Female - Level 005

Body: SP: 67/90 MP: 70/86 (Minor Down - Dust Poinsoned)

Stats - Str: 9(^1) Dex: 13 Agi: 12 End: 7 Int: 19 Luk: -

Skills - Parallel Thought {1} Sword skill {1} Gunsmithing {1} Mental Resistance {3} Disease Resistance {1} Mana Control {1} [NEW]

Capability: 30

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As a result of my studying, I was finally able to feel the mana flowing through my body, even if it isn't much. And since I acquired mana control, I was able to accurately sense the condition of my body.

Licht: I knew inhaling smog all this time wasn't good for us.

Iris: Not much we can do about it though. We'll just have to wait it out and get better with rest.

I looked out the window. The Black Rain was still pouring down but it wasn't at the height of its downpour anymore. If only we had a place to call home. I thought to myself. It was just too dangerous to survive in this place by one's lonesome. And it wasn't just me either. Shale and Dior need a place to call home too. All the abandoned kids here... They needed a place.

Licht: Then let's make one.

He said. I had no idea what he meant. Make one? How? With our feeble strength?

Iris: What? How could we do that? I... Wouldn't even know where to start

Licht: Simple. All the kids here have the same desire to survive. And even if they aren't aware of it, they'll have a drive to grow stronger. All we need to do is ask. To gather them all under one roof.

Iris: And then what? Have you read too many stories or something? It isn't that simple. We wouldn't even be able to feed everyone.

Licht: That's why- We should make a syndicate. We may be a bunch of weak street urchins, but we can take from others to survive. We can start getting underground contracts once we're strong enough. Imagine, a band of dirty street urchins becoming an infamous band of thieves and assassins.

I sighed and held my forehead. Sure I had already killed but, making a syndicate? isn't that a bit of a jump? And recruiting street urchins for it... But it didn't sound terrible. It was a fun idea. To gather others like us under the same banner, and to get revenge on this world. The siblings looked at me with confusion but waited for me to speak up instead of asking. I looked up at the two.

I still wasn't sure if I could count on them to grow stronger, but it wouldn't hurt to ask if they wanted to join me. The best way to survive is in a group.

Iris: "Hey... You two. Would you like to join me?"

Shale looked confused and Dior looked surprised.

Shale: "Join you? Wha...?"

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Iris: "I... Want to get stronger. I want to do more than just survive, I want to thrive. And I want to get out of this dust-poisoned place too. But I also want to make a place for abandoned kids like us to belong to."

At first I thought these two were part of an orphanage or belonged to a poor household, but it seems their only parent, their father, was killed in a mugging several months ago. And then they had to survive in the streets just like me. They also needed a place to belong.

Iris: "I want to make a syndicate for the street urchins. We'll take from the world that abandoned us in order to survive, and thrive. So? What do you say?"

They looked at me with surprise, which turned to admiration. Then dior's face looked like she had lost her confidence and shale looked like he had resolved himself.

Dior: "Um... Are-"

Shale: "I want to join. I'll help you make this place yo belong!"

Dior: "Wha- Wait, brother! Are you sure we can really follow emer? What if we'll just be a burden to her?"

Her? I guess my disguise couldn't fool a fellow girl. Maybe I was too pretty to fool people? Troublesome. I hadn't seen myself yet, since I never bothered to look.

Shale: "That's why we have to get stronger dior! I'm we can do something to help if we follow- her?"

It looks like he realized what she said and looked at me properly. I guess it could fool boys to some extent? More testing is needed. Hopefully I wouldn't be in danger. Dior seemed reluctant but she agreed while shale seemed conflicted suddenly.

Licht: Ah, this poor boy's pride.

I wasn't sure what he meant. Poor boy's pride? For some reason that knowledge wouldn't be imparted to me. Whatever.

Iris: "I'm happy you two have agreed to follow me on my path to get stronger. But now... I should clear something up." Saying that I pulled my hood back and showed my face.

"I wasn't sure if I would meet you two again after this so I used a fake name. My real name is Iris."

We exchanged greetings again while shale looked a bit flush. Surely I wasn't that charming, I tilted my head at him while Dior giggled quietly. I guess my journey will have more than just Licht as company now. And the black rain has passed, so I got up and walked to the door, putting my hood back on. 

Iris: "We'll need a proper base somewhere to hideout in. Do you two have any good ideas?"

I asked them, hoping they would know something. They thought for a moment before shale spoke up.

Shale: "There's an abandoned warehouse on the north side of the district. Apparently there was a fire that destroyed a big shipment but the building was fine. We could use that as our base, since it isn't far from the airdocks in the east."

That sounded promising. Being close to the airdocks meant pilfering active warehouses and shipments. And the commercial hub was closest to the airdocks, with the industry spanning the south side and west side. Residential zones were partly in the west side spanning up towards the north, but the outskirts were larger on the north side because of monster threats and a larger density of Black Rain. I thought on that for a bit before responding.

Iris: "That sounds perfect. You two go there and secure the site, and I'll meet you there later"

They nodded and we left the shelter, splitting off. Hopefully everything would work out fine.