Chapter 10 – Docks

The pair had arrived at the docks, which was the location of the gang leader. The docks contained several boats and was surrounded by a metal fence reaching up to 2 meters in height. The entrance to the docks was guarded by 5 guards carrying a pistol in their hands, with flashlights in the other, as they surveyed the area.

They appeared alert which wasn’t a surprise as the entire gang’s assets had been destroyed in less than half a day. The leader appeared to be aware that the gang was being targeted and ordered the security to stay alert.

The pair prepared to rush out with Kazuki readying the katana on waist which he picked up from one of the lackeys, although he didn’t mind using his fists to fight, he preferred using the sword in combat as its efficiency was higher and he had more experience with swordsmanship than martial arts.

Kazuki dashed out with inhumane speed and unsheathed his sword in a flash aiming it as the back of the neck of one of the guards. The guards became aware as they saw the youth flash into their vision and were unable to react however something unexpected occurred with Kazuki slashed at the man’s neck.

*CLANG* *CLANG*

The sword had been pushed away from the neck rather than piercing the skin. Kazuki backed off as he retook his stance and looked towards the guard. The man had a mocking smile as he looked towards Kazuki with arrogant expression.

“So, you have some sort of ability correct?”

“Yeah, I have as you can see, it allows me to protect my skin from attacks, even swords are unable to get through this ability. All thanks to the bosses blessing. Why not put down your sword and surrender?”

“So, it’s a defensive ability huh, wait what do you mean by ‘the bosses blessing’ did he give you this ability?”

“Correct the boss gave us this ability due to our hard-work and loyalty, with this skill we are invulnerable to attacks it’s pointless to struggle”

“If he can give you guys abilities, I’m sure he has some of his own huh”

“You don’t seem to surprise about this kid”

The pair conversed and Kazuki realised that the men in front of him possessed defensive abilities allowing them to cover parts of their skin. The provider of this was their ‘boss’, this meant that this boss was an ability user.

Kazuki wasn’t flustered at the fact that he was an ability user as he had met many people with abilities in the past as a lot of people possessed them, it just surprised him that someone would create and control a gang when having abilities.

The ability then men had in front of him was to use protect a part of their skin with some sort of defensive material, almost like a shell, this only covered a part of the body meaning the uncovered parts were still vulnerable.

Kazuki was curious at how this ‘boss’ had given these people abilities. There were several ways to share an ability to someone, but 5 people would certainly cause strain to the host.

“How did this boss give you these abilities?”

“You seem knowledgeable about this stuff huh, well telling you won’t hurt. The boss gave us a ‘potion’ to drink and when we drank it we gained this power”

“When did you drink it?”

“Around a week ago why?”

“Just curious”

The information given by the man had given Kazuki the answer to how they had received their abilities. ‘Blood Transfer’ this was a technique used to pass on abilities from one person to another, it wasn’t used commonly due to the risks the consumer had to take to gain the power.

The only way for the consumer to survive was to have the same blood type as the host, and everyone who didn’t would die. The power given was a fraction of what the host wielded, and the powers were only temporary until the effects of the blood disappeared from the body.

These powers would only last for a week before the user would lose them, the technique can be repeated continuously but it can cause side effects to both the host and users. These guys would still be able to use the abilities for 2 more days before losing the abilities, and require the technique to be repeated.

Alex decided to use sheathe his sword for this fight and have a match between abilities. The men believed the youth had given up as they began to approach him, but they stopped once sensing danger.

They looked towards the youth who had flames covering his arm in shock, they had seen the abilities their boss possessed, but had never faced another ability user before.

The flames covering his arm began to gather on his hand, turning darker than previously as they danced violently across his palm.

Kazuki had activated his fire magic and gathered it into his palm, he had then combined it with darkness, which would make the attack even deadlier.

This spell was the combination of high level fire magic and dark magic that Kazuki had named [Shadow Flames].

He wasn’t satisfied with the child-like naming, however to use the spell he had to use the spell words to activate the spell or it wouldn’t work.

The men began to back off once they saw the flames however before they could the magic shot out from the youth’s palm. The magic came out of the palm like a flamethrower as Kazuki kept on approaching the men.

This spell had been altered by Kazuki so that if he kept putting mana into the spell, it would stay active rather than disperse after the chant. The flames were started to cover the men as they began to activate their ability.

The downside to their ability was that they could only cover small parts of their body and not all of it. Kazuki had discerned this when he first attacked the man, because of how he only covered his neck and not the entire body.

The flames started to consume the men as they struggled in pain, unable to let out any sounds as the poison within the flames had infected their body making it impossible to speak. The flames continued until the men had perished.

Once confirming the men had perished, the flames consumed the bodies leaving no traces of them at all. Kazuki deactivated the magic and let out a sigh as he called out to Shiroyuki and continued forward to the warehouse, however before they could a figure appeared in front of them.

“Are you the bastards that have been destroying my gang”

A man who looked about 40 years old appeared in front of them, his angered voice made them realise his was the leader. He was an overweight man who had dark brown hair, a smaller build and a face that looked like an orc from the anger and fury it displayed.

“I saw you have abilities like me why don’t we test them out brat”

The man let out a vicious smile directing bloodlust towards Kazuki, who in response shrugged it off as he got into position, Shiroyuki followed his response and gripped her hand on the pair of knifes at her waist. The 2 groups looked at each other before shooting out, as the battle had begun.

End of Chapter 10