Chapter 21: Murderous Intent

Class proceeded as usual, though he was antsy after being surprise attacked on multiple occasions now. He found himself continuously looking out of the windows, hardly paying much attention to class. In the scope of his abilities and what was out there, it felt so minuscule, especially considering the strength in the palm of his hands. 

“Hey, are you feeling alright?” Emily whispered to him, seated beside him. 

He had been staring outside the window, tapping his pen against his desk repeatedly for some odd minutes, only taken out of his thoughts from her words as he gave her a reassuring smile. 

“Yeah, I’m fine–just slept the wrong way,” he laughed it off. 

“Oh…I see. Well, you should make up for the rest you lost when you get home,” Emily smiled. 

“Yeah, I’ll do that,” he nodded. 

–

Nothing of note happened during school, though it was partly due to him actively avoiding others while his mind was plagued by thoughts and paranoia. It felt as though there was a third-party, lurking and watching his every move–the elusive “Sentinel” organization. 

As he walked home casually like any other day, he was hyper aware of his surroundings, waiting for Yukio to show himself, either for his promised alliance or for an ambush–either way, he was prepared to respond. 

‘I just want answers already. Maybe they know more about this ‘system’ stuff, too,’ he thought. 

While passing a corner mostly occupied by old stores, mainly local businesses that were dying out, it was a less affluent part of town, resulting in no-good thugs loitering around. 

He didn’t even take notice of the thugs that intruded in his path, waiting by a dark alleyway as he passed by, being stopped as one of them got directly in front of him. 

“--” He looked up at the man. 

The tan-skinned man with blonde cornrows huffed from a cigarette, blowing the smoke directly into his face, “Hey, we’ve got somethin’ to show ya’--c’mon.” 

It was an obvious, thinly-veiled trap that was crystal clear by the smug, malicious grin present on the man’s face. Behind him, a pair of thugs were blocking him from moving back. 

As he was already not in the best of moods, he went along, as the secretive nature of the alleyway was beneficial to him, too. 

“Sure,” he said coldly. 

Thinking they just snatched ‘easy’ prey, the thugs laughed, giving each other looks that were hardly secretive in their flimsy plan. 

The sophomore simply walked into the alleyway, cracking his knuckles before turning to face the trio of hoodlums that now blocked the entrance to the grimy, repugnant alley. 

“Drop all yer’ shit right now,” the tan-skinned, blonde one in the red basketball jersey demanded, pulling out a pocket knife. 

“Dumbass,” the bulkier, brown-skinned one added with a laugh. 

Noah didn’t respond, finishing cracking his knuckles as he did the same for his neck, standing his ground with a cold expression worn on his face. 

The thugs looked confused by his obvious preparation for a fight despite being outnumbered and not having the traditional look of a hardened fighter. 

“What’re you waiting for? Come at me,” Noah challenged. 

Of course, his invite to a fight was met with perplexion and almost laughter from the sheer absurdity of it. 

“Huh? Is he fuckin’ serious?” The lanky one with curly tufts said. 

“Must have brain damage or somethin’,” the foremost thug with cornrows said with a smile, tapping his forehead. 

“Dumbass kid, let’s just–”

Before the burly one of the three could finish talking, Noah took the initiative out of impatience, slamming the man’s head straight into the wall, face first as the thug’s teeth were knocked out in the process. 

The brick wall cracked from the brutal impact, leaving the hoodlum drooling blood as he began to fall over, unconscious. 

“What the fuck–?!” The red-jersey wearing thug let out. 

Yet, that didn’t save him from the adolescent’s merciless violence as he was caught before falling, being slammed down into the ground as the concrete caved in. 

[“Soul Plunder”] 

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Curing his exhaustion, he absorbed the life force from the bloodied-and-beaten man, causing his skin to turn gray and his body to shrink, drying out as his soul was converted into sustenance that flowed directly into Noah. 

[Experience: +1]

It was the death sentence, carried out right then and there without a second thought as Noah cracked his neck side-to-side again, letting out a sigh of relief from his newfound vigor. 

“That’s the stuff,” he mumbled. 

Caught in a web of fear, the other two abandoned their friend, turning the other way to run but being cut off as the exit from the shadow-filled alley was now blocked by the one they tried to run from. 

“Ditching your friend like that? ‘No honor among thieves’, huh?” Noah remarked casually. 

“...What the?! How the fuck did he get here?!” The lanky one asked. 

“I don’t know!...Urgh, fuck this!” The jersey-wearing hoodlum gripped his knife, lunging forward. 

Before the knife could reach Noah’s neck, he caught the thug’s arm, snapping it by the elbow as a gut-wrenching ‘crack’ echoed. 

“Aaaargh…!” The knife-wielding thug screamed out, falling to his knees. 

Noah had no patience for the figure, simply holding his palm out in front of him, aimed directly at the thug’s head: [“Soul Plunder”] 

The soul-siphoning spell caused the man to wilt like a flower, becoming a mummified corpse in an instant as Noah took in his life force, leaving just one hoodlum left. 

[Experience: +1]

“H-hey, man! I-I didn’t know! I was just going along with them!” The curly-haired one slowly backed up. 

“Is that so?” He quietly replied. 

“Yeah! That;s–!”

Before the figure could continue their desperate plea, Noah waved a single finger, causing the figure to not simply have the life wrung from their pores, but crumble to dust with a simple invocation. 

[“Soul Decimation”]

All that was left of the figure was sprinkles of dust, allowing the condensed form of his soul to be left as a violet orb of life force that Noah took, consuming it like a snack. 

[Experience: +1]

“Bitter,” he said, disliking the taste. 

The sensation of eyes watching him caused him to spin around, flexing his arm, ready to engage in combat once more, only to find a familiar, blue-haired figure standing at the entrance to the alleyway, leaning against the wall. 

“Yukio,” Noah muttered, putting his arm down. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not here to reprimand you for what you did. That’s precisely why I’m leaving the Sentinels,” Yukio assured him. 

Noah adjusted the collar to his chest, fixing his naturally well-kempt hair as he left the alley, being accompanied by the azure-haired man on his way home now. 

“You still haven’t told me what the ‘Sentinels’ are,” he said. 

“Oh, right–I forgot!” Yukio laughed, “To make a long story short, ‘S.E.N.T.I.N.E.L’ is a top-secret organization formed by the government as a force against anomalous threats that can’t be handled by conventional means.” 

“Anomalous? Do you mean like us?” He asked. 

“Bingo!” Yukio pointed at him then at himself, “It’s an anti-system wielder defense force that’s headed by system wielders, since it’s not exactly plausible for standard weaponry to contend with systems, as I’m sure you found out already.” 

As they walked down the street, Yukio’s eccentricities are displayed in how he handled a simple hike: the man kicked cans left on the sidewalk, spinning around in a dancing mood, and talking with a bright smile. 

“Yeah. So, how come I was set to be eliminated rather than join this place like you did?” He asked. 

Yukio grinned at him, “There’s two reasons: your system is far too much of a threat, and you proved yourself quickly to be nefarious.” 

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