Finding a pce to sleep was easier said than done because there were no signs or posters to help me locate a motel or bunkhouse to spend the night in. So, I had to make do with whatever was at hand, which resulted in a couple of wet cardboard pieces and a lot of muddy rags scattered across the narrow streets.

  I could have sewn the rags together, but I had no needle or thread to work with. However, my knowledge helped me tie them together in the right manner to create a very rough pillow. Calling it a rock would be a better fit.

  I was already missing the shelter back in Menagerie. It had showers, even if they were communal, they were fully functioning showers.

  But here?

  It would be an understatement of the century to say that I didn't have a good night, even less a good morning, since I woke up with a headache from my badly improvised rag pillow, which thankfully was gone in a matter of minutes. Compared to yesterday, the slums looked better illuminated, and I dare say, more lively. So, there was plenty of time to explore and keep looking for the exit of this dump.

  But that developed into a secondary problem as a mob of faunus poured into the street and surrounded me, blocking my way. Unlike the st ambush, all of them had a weapon of sorts, ready to use them against me. They had metal or wooden bats, chains, and even knives.

  Even though this unfriendly group doesn't wear a uniform of sorts, as it's a mismatch of clothes, they all share simir faunus traits, like antlers and horns on top of their heads. That's why I could recognize them as faunus in the first pce.

  I gnce at my sides to confirm the obvious before my eyes nd on an approaching bull faunus with a murderous look on his face, pointing his hammer at me. "Speak up, boy! Why is trash from the Skull Breakers in our territory?"

  "Skull Breakers?" My head cocks to the side in confusion. It's the first time I've ever heard that name, but my mind hastily connects the dots after gncing down at my hoodie and the rge skull drawing.

  Rather than speaking up for my case, I pull down my hoodie and proudly reveal my cat ears and tail, letting them speak for themselves.

  "Wait, you're a faunus. Those punks are exclusively human. How come you're wearing their sign?" The effects are immediate as his eyes widen, and he lowers his weapon, but the rest of the crew keeps their guard up.

  I scrunch up my face in surprise. That expins why those assholes attacked me out of nowhere yesterday.

  "They tried to pick a fight with me, keyword 'tried.' It took one broken nose to have them running, so I took this from them. Probably should have taken other things, but I didn't bother chasing them," I lied in the st part. There's no need for them to learn about my poor attempts to knock out a nameless thug.

  My brief expnation earns a chuckle from him. "Ironic. Those racist fucks got their ass handed to them by a faunus."

  Judging by their numbers, they could have done the same with that group, but I'll take his strange praise in silence and try to walk away since we've technically cleared up the misunderstanding.

  Yet, two deer faunus immediately step in, blocking my path with a malicious look while tightening their grip on their weapons.

  I turn my head with a raised brow to the supposed boss, who is no longer amused. "So... Can I leave?"

  "We have rules, boy. You must pay your dues for coming into our territory."

  Yeah, unbiased gang things.

  "You can't be serious. What happened to the motto, 'faunus have to stick together'?" I said, causing everyone to exchange confused gnces. I let out a sigh and raise my fists. "Be my fucking guests then."

  The leader raised one hand to gesture for the others to calm down. "Oi, we said nothing about fighting. You simply need to pay respect to the king."

  I raise an eyebrow. "And you'll leave me alone after that?"

  "You can fuck off after that," he answers.

  I eye my surroundings once more, both sides cut off by the henchmen but above is clear with some window frames and small gaps suitable to tch on. I could try to make a run for it by using my aura to jump and get out, but that would turn everyone hostile towards me, while I only have a metal stick to defend myself and they have far more numbers than yesterday's gang and better armed.

  Besides, they know the area much better than me. I'm confident in my ability to outrun them and leave their territory, but I could nd in another gang's territory and they may be less… diplomatic, and if any of them have aura…

  They are seemingly my best chance to dig some information and maybe even a ticket out of here.

  I loosen my stance. "Fine. Let's make this quick."

  My acceptance of his forceful invitation is the signal everyone around us was waiting for to lower their weapons and leave.

  The faunus gestures for me to follow him into a narrow alley. He couldn't help but make things more suspicious than they already are, could he?

  At the end of the alley stands a metal door. He knocks thrice and steps aside as the guard behind opens the door and invites me inside.

  I'm getting bad vibes from the whole thing. In an enclosed space, my aura won't help me escape and avoid being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. But there's at least some level of trust with words; they're faunus, not humans. I don't want my hopes crushed, so I'll try to keep my word out of a mispced sense of honor, if you could call it that.

  The building has dim lights, but it's not an issue for the narrow corridors with many doors on each side and my natural night vision. The guard merely points at the door with a big golden ring and horns before returning to his post at the entrance. Walking towards my new destination, I can hear loud voices and ughter behind the good-looking wooden doors. Unlike the exteriors, the inside looks maintained, not in tiptop shape but enough to be presentable.

  The first thing I notice is the size of the room, which is surprisingly spacious despite the narrow corridor and tight spaces outside. When I open the door wider, I see that the entire room is covered in curtains with intricate designs and tapestries on the walls, giving it a sense of exotic elegance that's quite ironic given the reality of the outside world.

  An overweight, hairy man lies on his sofa, carelessly dressed and absorbed in pying games on his scroll. He doesn't acknowledge my entrance, so I take the opportunity to get a better look at the gang boss.

  His lengthy, voluminous hazel hair is well-kept, or should I say mane since it connects the long hair to his beard and mustache. The big, rounded ears at the top of his head are a dead giveaway of his faunus heritage.

  It's strange, or rather ironic, that a lion faunus is in charge of a gang that seems to have a… herbivore theme. Though the crooks refer to him as the king, so it was a foreshadowing of sorts.

  Suddenly, the lion growls and tosses his scroll to the back of his room with no care in the world and widens his bck eyes as he finally notices my presence, adopting a feral grin, "So you are the little runt that beat up that stupid human gang."

  How does he know about that? I just recently told the guy back in the streets, unless he was hearing from this very room.

  But those are secondary thoughts, knowing that I will sacrifice a bit of my dignity and bow in respect, "Thank you for your invitation, great one, there was never any intention to intrude in your territor-"

  "Oi oi, what with the bullshit atlesian speech? Speak like a normal faunus."

  I stare with a bnk expression for a moment before pinching the bridge of my nose and a long sigh escaping my lips, "I will say whatever is necessary to leave this awful pce. So why am I forced to be here?"

  He slowly rises from his sofa and approaches me. "Taking out an entire gang by yourself isn't exactly normal. It means you had an advantage, something special and powerful - Aura, to be exact."

  "And?"

  "Simply put, finding unaffiliated guys with Aura is almost impossible in these parts. Those bastards are quick to snatch them." His words hint at an invitation to his little group, making me frown in disapproval.

  "Stop right there. I don't want to join any gang or do anything reted to this… mess. Some assholes dropped me here, and I just want to leave this shitty part of Vale."

  Laughably, he tries to prove his nonexistent superiority by towering over me with a gre. "You know it's very hard to leave the slums, don't you?"

  "Hard? I merely need to find the river and follow the stream to reach the bridges to the industrial area." I scoff, folding my arms.

  The man approaches me with a smirk, clearly amused by my response. "Let me correct you right there, runt. You will find no riverbank here. They walled off the entire slums from the rest of the city to keep us contained. Having access to the river would give many opportunities to visit the rest of the city, after all."

  "Shit…" That new discovery throws a wrench into my pn. The stupid map omitted that tiny little detail.

  And I should have looked for more references instead of accepting the first answer.

  I want to be angry, but this is my fault for not bothering to check for more information, and now this asshole knows my issue. His grin from ear to ear told me much.

  "Oh shit indeed, thankfully for you I know a way out."

  "And you want money?" I ask warily, hiding my right hand in my stash pocket from prying eyes. I took some lien from my inventory, sure that a few hundred would loosen his tongue.

  He instead throws his head back in ughter, "HA! You are trapped here. What money can you offer me?" No lien for you then, "No, since you don't want to join, then I want a… favor. Yes, a favor."

  I know where this is going and my brain kicks in as I take one step back and raise my fists. "I'm not killing people."

  The lion man remains unfazed and shakes his head. "Nothing of the sorts, I assure you." He brings his watch close to him and speaks to it. "Bring me the map, quick."

  So that is how he learned from my fight.

  I keep my guard up, gring at the boss while my ears try to pick up anything from the outside, which proves fruitful as they hear the growing sound of footsteps approaching us.

  Soon after the door opens and a skinny faunus with small antlers enters with a rge scroll of paper, he leaves just as quick after handing it to the boss who promptly roll it open on a rge metallic table and reveals a rge map of the shabby district, a retively big zone marked with red, "This is my nd, right at our west frontier is territory of the Boyz, a mixed bag of idiots. They had the gall to steal our members and start probing our streets, disrupting our protection fees."

  I approach the table and look at the map, trying to find the main street and the exits of which there are four, all of them located to the west. "Okay? So you want me to beat them up? Seems easy enough."

  Rushing in and taking them out one by one before they managed to regroup would be the best strategy to deal with their numerical advantage. However, I know I can't escape being embroiled in those stupid gang warfare despite it being just one small task.

  "Oh no no no, if it were that simple, we would have taken care of that a long time ago. You see, the reason we couldn't act is that this gang has a human named Andros, with his aura unlocked. There is little we can do against him." He pulls out a poorly taken picture of a rough looking human, his most notable feature, his round bald head filled with linear tattoos.

  "And this is where I come in, right?"

  A seemingly fair fight, aura vs aura. Yet I do not know how long that human had his aura unlocked, while mine was only a couple of months old. But I am sure of my advantage in training, thanks to Bke and her sparring sessions and my time fighting in Vacuo.

  He nods. "You catch on quickly. Just defeat this bastard and it will send all those fuckers running to their holes."

  "And after doing this, I get my ticket out of here, right?"

  "Simple job, don't you agree?"

  I mull over his offer. I really want to leave this shithole as soon as possible and sleeping on the streets isn't an enjoyable experience. Yet considering what I will have to do makes me frown in deep thoughts, carefully thinking of the hypothetical scenarios.

  I shake my head and direct my gaze to the grinning lion's eyes. I won't cower in fear and doubt. I have fought the Grimm in Menagerie, which are far more scary than a mere human with a mediocre aura. It won't be a deterrent or send me running with my tail between my legs.

  "Fine."

  The crooked faunus cps his hand once and returns to his sofa. "Good choice."

  "However, I need a weapon and a new set of clothes." I quickly set my terms. I won't be fighting that meathead unarmed and looking like a hobo.

  "You heard the runt." He raises an eyebrow but shrugs and speaks to his watch again.

  Moments ter, the door opens and another henchman enters, carrying a rge duffle bag and pcing it on the table. He unzips it, revealing a small selection of weapons, before pouring everything out and quickly leaving the room.

  "Take your pick, runt," the lion says, ignoring his men's total disregard for decency. He could have handed me the bag or dropped it on the table without causing a mess.

  That mild annoyance becomes secondary as I approach the pile of weapons and carefully rummage through them to avoid cutting myself. Unfortunately, I come to the discovery that the selection is very limited, consisting of only small weaponry like knives or pipes.

  They are practically useless.

  However, that doesn't discourage me from continuing my search. I keep looking deeper, pushing a good chunk to the left side to make my search easier, and this proves to be the correct action as I find a thick, rusty chain. I separate it from the pile as it is a potential pick and if I find nothing else, I could always wrap it around my hands for extra punching power.

  It's not ideal, but it could work.

  I soon discarded the idea when my eyes nded on the best find from the pile: a pair of thick brass knuckles. Without hesitation, I grab them and try them on. They fit perfectly between my fingers, and I let my natural affinity take hold of me for a moment as I practice my unarmed strikes in the air.

  I didn't realize how much I missed having a weapon after losing mine.

  "Close and personal, huh?" the gang boss comments, trying to lighten the mood. But when I reply with a ft look, he raises his hands in mock surrender. "Don't look at me like that. I also enjoy doing things with my own hands."

  "It would be great if these had spikes."

  It would make them more effective against Grimm for one and it would deplete aura faster.

  "So you are not okay with killing, but maiming is totally fine? I don't get you runt."

  I shrug, I won't spend a single second expining to him the difference or the advantages of auras, like yeah if I use spiked brass knuckles against common folk it would leave a very nasty wound but against someone with aura it wouldn't leave a mark unless I shatter their aura.

  "The clothes?"

  "Bring it."

  At his signal, another guy enters the room carrying two pstic bags. But rather than making his way to the table, he just tosses both bags to me and leaves. I couldn't catch them, as they nd off-target.

  Not wasting more time, I check the contents and the first bag has shirts while the other has pants and a pair of leather boots.

  I empty both bags on the floor and choose a dark blue slim-fit shirt from the pile, discarding my dirty clothes without a care. I am not bothered by the fact that I have an audience who is equally uninterested in watching me change. Then, I grab a pair of brown pants to match the leather boots.

  Thankfully, the pants have a hole for my tail, although they are clearly handmade and not designed.

  I wish there were a mirror to appreciate my new city look, but my eyes will do just fine. "The pants feel a bit loose, but they will do for now. So, where can I find this guy?"

  The lion faunus turns his head in surprise, and both of his ears stand in full attention. "So soon?"

  "The sooner I finish, the faster I can leave," I state matter-of-factly. Staying one more night in this ghetto is out of the question.

  He rests his head on the palm of his left hand, lost in thought. It doesn't st long, as he quickly taps his watch. "Be my guest. They haven't moved from their warehouse in weeks. A group is waiting for you outside."

  "Wait, why the group?" I ask in surprise. His effectiveness in getting things done is really something to be praised. I didn't expect to have others with me on this stupid errand.

  The jungle king merely raises an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't we take advantage of looting the pce after your victory?"

  "Whatever, let's move." I leave his presence and head outside through the only corridor. Just like he said, a sizable group is waiting outside, with the same bull guy acting as the leader.

  He's the first to note my arrival and beckon me towards my target location, which is somewhere in the western frontier. I follow without saying a word.

  During our brief journey, only two things were noteworthy: the streets growing in size and actual people, not gangsters, although they all shared the same miserable, angry face until they saw my group and ran away in fright.

  This solidified their cim on the territory.

  With the sun still up in the sky, we reach a rundown building with peeling paint and broken windows. Despite its appearance, the warehouse isn't abandoned. There are many guards standing around, and they hurriedly turned their attention to us in unison. The reaction is immediate, with one of them yelling in panic and an arm bell ringing from the inside.

  A rge human kicks open the main entrance, with two goons by his side. He looks around with a deep frown on his tattooed face until he notices me. "So Scar didn't learn his lesson. Does the kitty want another spanking?" And, in accordance with the idiotic stereotype, his goons burst into forced ughter.

  Scar. The name surprises me, as I hadn't expected that fatass to have one as dramatic as that.

  My group remains still, but steps aside, giving me an unobstructed path to confront my ticket out of the slums. "Are you Andros?"

  Andros grins and removes his jacket and shirt, tossing them to one of his goons. He reveals his bare, muscur chest with a rge tattoo of a stabbed heart. "In the flesh. Does the kitten want to py fetch?" he taunts, not holding back with his provocative demeanor.

  "You clearly weren't picked for your brains if you don't even know what a dog is. You have two at your side, though."

  "Shut your hole." He growls, one foot moving to the back while his sidekicks back away and one of them runs inside.

  I also adopt my combat stance and raise my weapons. "Let's end this."

  The minor thug that left the scene comes back running and drags a thick chain behind him, which Andros swiftly snatches from his hands and wraps around his right hand before gring at me with a feral grin. "As you wish."

  As soon as he finishes, he unleashes his chain with lightning speed, catching me off guard and forcing me to block the attack with both arms. But the strike never nds as the chain sneaks past and coils around my body like a constricting snake.

  Instinctively, I try to break free, but the muscle head doesn't give me a chance. He yanks my entire weight with his chain, throwing me off bance, and using the new momentum to pull me towards him. I'm powerless as he greets me with a direct reinforced punch to the face, and I'm sent crashing to the ground.

  Lying there, I stare up at the sky with wide eyes, my brain struggling to process the sudden turn of events. Bke's sparring sessions never prepared me for something like this. It dawns on me that she always relied on technical moves rather than brute strength. The unpredictable nature of my opponent takes me by surprise, and his linked chain weapon only makes him more dangerous.

  I can't stress enough how grateful I am for aura. It saved me from losing a couple of teeth at the hands of that brutish man. Nonetheless, a searing pain shoots through my right cheek.

  But before I can even begin to manage my pain, the man kicks me in the face and then steps on it, dispying nothing but sheer arrogance. "You're alive? No wonder Scar sent you to after me. You've unlocked your aura. So why don't you join us instead of that damn zoo?"

  "I… want nothing to do with your damn… politics. I just want to leave this fucking cesspool," I snarl between gritted teeth as the weight on his foot increases.

  "One favor for another, shame."

  Andros steps off my face, and I take a few gasping breaths of air, grateful that aura saved me from losing teeth. But before I can even recover, Andros yanks his chain with such force that my entire body flies towards the building's entrance. I smash through the wooden doors, and the sound of splintering wood echoes in my ears as I collide with a pilr.

  The impact is bone-crushing, and my back takes the full force of the throw. I feel the air being knocked out of my lungs, and I fall on top of a pile of gray powder. The powder cushions my fall, but it engulfs my entire body in a toxic cloud, making it hard for me to breathe.

  With every bit of strength I have left, I manage to roll away from the powder and nd on the floor with a thud. I try to gather my senses and catch my breath before the fucking asshole arrives.

  Thankfully, my regeneration quickly kicks in, but I choose to remain lying on the floor, keeping my gaze fixed on the direction I was thrown. It's not long before the human comes barging through the broken door, a sadistic grin on his face, as he twirls his chain in his hand. His eyes are solely focused on my downed form, and I tense up, ready to evade his chain.

  But to my surprise, he doesn't attack. Instead, he starts walking towards me at his own pace, making me wonder if he intends to grab me. The more steps he takes, the more his intentions become clear to me and smile as he was giving up his range advantage over me. My brass knuckles wouldn't be of any use if he always kept the distance after all. So I wait, biding my time and preparing my fist for a direct free hit on him.

  Bke was very thoughtful in teaching me counter moves.

  Finally, the bald gangster stands above me and kicks me a few times to check my status. Each kick nds with a sickening thud, sending a jolt of pain through my body. I grit my teeth, swallowing the pain.

  Falsely believing his victory, he tries to reach me with his hand, giving me the perfect chance to make my move.

  Just like that gang leader, my hand shoots forwards and grasps his wrist before pulling him even closer and getting a free swing at his tattooed face, except he proves quick reaction time, my hand missing his cheekbone entirely.

  Instead, my knuckles connect with his nose in full force, followed by a strike with my elbow that sends him staggering back.

  My eyes shoot open in surprise when I see a flickering reddish light around his body as he recoils in pain. Thanks to Bke's lessons, I can recognize the patterns of low aura, meaning this idiot barely has any reserves or my punches have more strength than expected.

  But it's another terrible mistake from my part to stay still in awe with him not fully defeated as he pnt his left foot and counter with a chain-reinforced uppercut right under my chin, stunning me as my vision goes blurry and my vice grip on his wrist completely lost.

  He follows up with a powerful kick to my chest, knocking me off my feet. I quickly spring into action, using my arms to push my body off the ground just in time to avoid a stomp aimed at my head.

  The man roars in anger and charges at me with his arms wide open, clearly resorting to reckless charges. I wait until the st possible second before jumping over him, expecting him to crash against the nearby pilr.

  To my surprise, he doesn't collide with the pilr. Instead, he spins on his heels and charges again, this time with a fist aimed at my head.

  I react quickly, twisting my body to the side and narrowly avoiding the blow. As he stumbles past me, I use his momentum against him, grabbing his arm and flipping him onto the ground.

  He hits the pavement hard, and I can hear the air rush out of his lungs. For a moment, he lies there, stunned and gasping for breath. But I know better than to let my guard down.

  I move in to finish him off, but before I can strike, he suddenly rolls to the side and springs to his feet. He's breathing heavily, but there's a dangerous glint in his eyes.

  "I felt that..." he wipes the blood from his nose. "Just a little."

  With a fierce snarl, the man releases the hold on his chain, letting it spring free, and starts twirling it around to gain momentum before quickly shing it out at me. I keep my eyes on the weapon, trying to anticipate its trajectory.

  Learning from my past mistake, I quickly jump away, not letting the annoying chain reach me. It whizzes past me with a deadly whoosh, missing me by inches.

  He pulls back and tries again, but misses.

  "Stay still!" He yells.

  "Fuck you."

  With a swift movement, I leap over the chain aimed at my leg and nd on top of it, shattering its momentum and closing the distance between us. The man's face twists in fear as I charge forward, delivering a powerful hook to his stomach.

  He grunts in pain but manages to retaliate with a punch that grazes my ears. I use his momentum against him, pivoting and nding a solid hit on his back before delivering a kick to his back knee, forcing him down to one knee. Without hesitation, I jump and reach for his neck, forming a tight chokehold.

  The man lets out a primal roar, struggling to break free, but I keep my grip firm and tighten it even more. His hands fil helplessly, unable to reach me.

  I apply more pressure around his neck, but his muscles prove to be highly effective in resisting my hold. Nevertheless, I know that time is on my side, and I continue to squeeze with all my strength.

  But my pn is cut short when the bastard suddenly leaps into the air, using gravity to his advantage. With a loud thud, he sms his back onto the floor, and my body takes the full brunt of the fall.

  I gasp for air, but force myself to stifle a scream. My lungs seize up, causing me to cough and wheeze uncontrolbly. Although my aura saved me from being crushed, Bke was right again. Aura can't protect me from blunt force trauma.

  In hindsight, I shouldn't have tried to strangle a person twice or thrice my weight.

  Thankfully, Andros is not doing any better as he slowly rolls to the left, panting and taking bored breaths, attempting to recover from his near-death experience.

  And his aura is flickering again.

  From the corner of my eye, I notice his chain lying unattended, as he is more focused on getting up. A gamble forms in my head and without hesitation, I take a deep breath and make a dash for it but stumble and fall again, but my hand still reaches for the street weapon.

  [Steel chain added to your inventory.]?I roll slightly to the left and gnce up at the roof before letting out a short, pained ugh as it proved my theory correct: I have successfully disarmed the asshole.

  "S-sembnce?!" He manages to squeeze between shallow breaths and tries to rise from the floor.

  However, I am the first to achieve that endeavor thanks to my regeneration ability, and I summon the metal stick I used yesterday. I stare at my new weapon for a couple of seconds before I approach him as he ys there helpless, struggling to get up and only able to extend a hand in a feeble attempt to stop me. I simply step to the left and swing my metal bar with both hands straight into his mouth, a single attack that is more than enough to shatter his aura completely.

  It is the first time I have ever witnessed an aura shattering. There is an abstract beauty in watching the reddish aura shards dissipate into nothingness as the muscle head finally falls to the ground, defeated.

  I toss my weapon and let out a pained sigh, my hand quickly grabbing my chest as I stumble forward. I won, but I don't feel satisfied, not in the slightest.

  The bastard made me suffer for my victory way more than I had anticipated. I could somewhat accept Bke beating me because she had trained with her aura for years, but this wannabe thug from the streets? I've been fighting his kind of idiots for years back in that desert. Aura or not, it didn't change a damn thing.

  My pride won't allow it.

  Standing tall above his downed form, I climb on top of his unconscious body and begin my relentless assault on his tattooed face.

  With his aura no longer protecting him, I draw blood with the second punch. My brass knuckles do even more damage, leaving nasty cuts and breaking his lips, and another punch knocks out one of his teeth.

  Even though he's already out cold, I can't stop myself from continuing the assault until I feel completely satisfied. Each punch is fueled by a deep sense of anger and frustration this bastard caused.

  After what feels like an eternity, I start to slow down. My arms feel heavy and tired from the repeated blows.

  My attention shifts to the human lying on the ground, and I take a moment to appreciate my morbid handiwork.

  He is completely unrecognizable, his face red and swollen, profusely bleeding from the many cuts I inflicted. His nose is broken, his jaw shattered, and his teeth scattered on the ground.

  "And stay down, you fucking prick," I say, spitting on his bloody, broken face as I release my grip on him and wipe his blood off my hands on the floor.

  All I hear in response are shallow gurgling sounds

  'Status'

  Ma'iq RakhanRace–Feline FaunusAge 17Css: The pugilistLevel–4 (33%)Mentor – Bke BeldonnaApprentice–NoneHP – 371/410 [45 regen per minute]MP – 581/1650 [350 regen per minute]SP – 687/1850 [200 regen per minute]STR–26END–33DEX–30INT–27WIS–24CHA–25LCK–10

  Disappointment washes over me after checking my unmoved progress. Defeating people doesn't help to increase my level. Unlike the thugs from yesterday who only needed a couple of hits to have them running like rats, I defeated Andros in every sense of the word, and my system didn't react.

  But that train of thought immediately invited the idea to snap his neck and see if that would finally give me experience points. It would be too easy and nobody would miss this piece of shit, just one more dead in a broken world where death is as common as bread. Besides, I practically left him at death's door already.

  'What the fuck is wrong with me?'

  I shake my head to push those dark thoughts away. What I did to him was more than enough.

  What really matters is that I completed my job. It's time to cash in my reward and leave this fucking hellhole. And maybe find an actual bed to colpse into for the day.

  I quickly scan my surroundings, but the pce is devoid of people. Even though nobody seems to be watching, I'm certain that everyone in the vicinity is already aware of my victory. The group leader is probably outside, waiting for me to invite them in so they can do their thing and contact Scar.

  I summon back my recently acquired steel chain and throw it away, then store my brass knuckles. I'm not sure if there's a limit to the mystical inventory I seem to possess, but I don't need that weapon anymore. It's just excess weight.

  But as I stand there in the newfound silence, my ears twitch. Something's not right. Why hasn't anyone rushed inside to loot the warehouse? It's unusual for the victor's side to be so calm.

  I need to investigate this further.

  As soon as I step outside, a blurred figure comes into view, but before I can make sense of it, my chest is engulfed in a searing pain. My vision blurs, and bck spots dance before my eyes as I crumple to the ground with a loud thud.

  [Aura broken! MP regeneration halted for an hour.]?I have no time to worry about the sudden notification, as I tightly clutch my chest and gasp for air, struggling to fill my lungs. Even this small task is a grueling torture. The pain is worse than anything I've ever experienced, not even that Grimm monkey back in Menagerie made me suffer so much.

  To make matters worse, I've nded in the wrong position, and my throbbing tail adds to the agony.

  "See Renny? I told you there were bad guys inside!" A loud cheery voice calls out, I am too busy trying to not scream to see the psycho girl.

  "We should tread carefully Nora, we don't know if they are lying in wait to ambush us." A calmer voice replies.

  "We will break their legs too!"

  Even in my agony, I can understand why nobody came looking for me. That dangerous duo must have taken care of them, and if that brutish girl isn't joking, then they must have also crippled them.

  I crack open one eye to find my attackers already towering over my aura-less body with weapons at the ready. The giant hammer in the hands of the ginger girl tells me all I need to know about who shattered my aura.

  "What… the fuck? Just… why?" I rasp out, writhing on the floor.

  "Well, you are a bad guy, and we beat bad guys, duh." She states, as a matter of fact, causing me to gre at her.

  "Is it because I am a faunus?" I ask in blind anger.

  "Uuuh what?" Pinky tilts her head in confusion.

  "Fucking racist bitch…"

  I don't know why I am even pying the race card against them. My injury doesn't let me think straight and whatever is legit to avoid getting my legs broken.

  Her partner in crime quickly steps in with a deep frown on his face, clearly not happy with my accusation. "You were working with the faunus gang in fighting a rival group. They even called you their trump card. That's more than enough evidence against you."

  Fucking assholes…

  "Fuck you, they embroiled me in this mess against my will! Of course, I will fight if it keeps my skin safe!" I shamelessly lie to their faces. Well, it's not exactly a lie, since I voluntarily came to fight that bastard. But it was only because I needed a way out of this ghetto.

  An awkward silence soon follows.

  Nora, if I heard her name correctly, turns to her companion and scratches her head, looking confused. "Oops?"

  "Expin." He demands as he holsters his weapons on his belt… somehow. Now that I am getting a better view, his weapons have quite the interesting design, simir to mine, but they have sharp edges instead.

  I stare at his pink eyes in silence for a few seconds before shifting my gaze to the matching pink girl and sighing. At least the pain is subsiding. "Just give me a moment... if it weren't for my aura, that fucking hammer would have shattered my ribs and punctured a lung or something."

  "I'm sorry," the bubbly girl apologizes, no longer as cheerful as before.

  I slowly drag my body towards the nearest wall and use the surface to push myself up from the floor and take a sitting position. "Whatever… Long story short, I was kidnapped and dropped into this ghetto. Those assholes you beat up outside held me hostage and pitted me against another asshole with an unlocked aura. Obviously, I won the fight, and I was happy that I earned my freedom. Instead, I'm rewarded with a hammer to the face." I finish my story, gring at the girl.

  "Renny?" She slowly turns to look at the boy, who also looks conflicted.

  I sigh in relief. Their troubled expressions already tell me they aren't psychotic bastards and that my legs are safe.

  "I apologize. We shouldn't have acted so fast. Is there anything you need help with?" Renny finally speaks up.

  "Just help me leave this fucking pce. I really hate it here," I say, gesturing around the room with both hands. But as soon as I move, pain shoots through my chest and I instinctively wrap my arms around myself, wincing.

  "Oh, that's easy! Come on, let's catch the bus," the girl says cheerfully. She does something to her hammer, and it transforms into a big but short gun, which she then straps onto her back.

  I blink in surprise. "… What?"

  "The bus, you silly!" She reiterates while approaching with a big smile, "It will take us to Vale super fast!"

  The slums… have public transport? Why did nobody tell…

  Scar, you fucking lying piece of shit. I will shave your entire fucking head if I ever see your stupid face again. Only I know the way out. Fucking lies.

  "Can you stand on your own?" the pale boy asks, his concern pulling me out of my murderous thoughts.

  I take a deep breath and hold it for a few seconds, only abruptly releasing it in a coughing fit.

  "Kinda. I need some time to recover, but I don't think I'll pass out... little help?" I sheepishly extend my right arm. With my aura broken, my regeneration isn't that effective despite the numbers showing a technically healthy status.

  At least inhaling and exhaling isn't burning my lungs like before, but I still can't breathe properly.

  "Giddy up!" the very out-of-pce, cheerful ginger girl excims, somehow hoisting me onto her back for a long piggyback ride.

  "I'm not a horse…" I grumble, wincing at the jostling pain.

  "And be more gentle, dammit!"

  -Neo Politan-

  "Please! Give us a five… NO… three days, THREE!"

  There are times when she wonders why she even bothers giving them a chance to make up excuses. They only repeat the same words every single time, which removes the excitement and proves that they are all the same.

  "I swear we will recover everything from those animals!" the useless thug fruitlessly promised. A quick gnce around the room told her more than enough to realize how impossible it would be to even recover a single piece.

  Their strongest member was practically dead on the floor, and a random huntress had crippled most of their members, if their cims were to be believed.

  Roman was right to send her to clean up the mess, despite how much she disliked the idea of a boring, menial task. She'll poke him to death!

  "Please, tell Torchwick to give one st cha-" She didn't even give him the chance to finish his sentence, using her boot to stomp on his head to finally shut his bbbering and hearing the satisfying crack.

  One down, a couple more to go.

  She calmly rested her umbrel on her shoulder as she walked further into the room, looking for the rest of the trash. To her amusement, she spotted a couple of thugs dragging themselves away, their legs mangled beyond repair.

  But she couldn't deny the thrill of the chase. That random huntress had unknowingly set her up for a great cat-and-mouse game, and the kitty cat was hungry!

  A sly grin crept across her lips as she prepared to pounce on her next target. But as she got closer, she stopped herself and pulled out the spike from under her umbrel. But it would be boring to just stab him. Closing one eye, she aimed for a specific part and threw her bde, burying deep into his back.

  Another little mouse was eaten.

  It was undeniably fun, but she knew Roman would scold her if she didn't gather some information first. Fortunately, her DumDum had set up hidden cameras throughout the warehouse. With a quick download of the camera feed, she could resume her games.

  Pulling out her scroll, she quickly scrolled down to the app she needed and entered the security pin to gain wireless access to the database. As the video loaded, she took a moment to pick up her weapon and toss it in a different direction, eliciting a shriek of terror from somewhere in the room.

  They couldn't hide from her, and she would gdly let them know.

  As she watched the video on her scroll, she felt a surge of excitement. Those idiots were trying to pin the bme on the huntress for their failure. But how much of it was actually true?

  Just as she was about to find out, something unexpected caught her eye. There was someone else in the fray - her exotic kitten. The sight of him taking down the big muscle head all on his own was both surprising and exhirating. Sure, he had a few hiccups along the way, but in the end, he emerged victorious.

  To her surprise, he even dispyed his aura and sembnce, revealing a unique storage sembnce of sorts. It only made him even more exotic in her eyes, and she couldn't help but pout.

  She should have ignored her DumDum and put a colr on him back at Kuo Kuana.

  She changed channels, and a grin crept into her lips as she saw him saw him brutalizing that useless thug.

  The thought of her exotic kitten's mysteries filled her with excitement. He was a big box of surprises, just waiting for her to unveil each one, one by one.

  But her excitement was short-lived as she watched the huntress in action. The hammer-wielding girl brought her soon-to-be kitten down, revealing that the idiots were at least half right - the pink girl was clearly a huntress in training and she wasn't alone.

  She quickly changed the channel on her scroll, her frown deepening as she saw the pinky girl carrying him on her back, but she knew she had a job to finish. She cropped the video to extract the important bits before reaching out to her only contact.

  Neo was practically done anyway. She should give Roman the heads up.

  Neo: Done.?Roman: Fantastic. Found something interesting??Neo: Yep.?A grin spread across her lips as she clicked the send button with the video clips attached. She couldn't help but imagine Roman's reaction when he saw the footage. She wished she could be there to witness it in person and maybe even snap a picture or two.

  But she needed to finish her task first.

  -Ma'iq Rakhan-

  "How can people call this a bus? That looks like a military truck!" I point out the offending objective. I assumed they took me to a military outpost or something.

  I still don't get it. The vehicle looks inefficient to transport people from point A to point B. It has very few seats and those seats are divided by metallic walls, making communication between passengers virtually impossible. But that doesn't faze those two, who look at the vehicle again and shrug.

  "Is it a bus, though?"

  "You really see nothing wrong with it?" I ask and they shake their heads, making me sigh in defeat. "Either way, thank you for taking me out of there."

  "Is okay! That's the least we could do after that…" The ginger girl trails off, looking down in embarrassment.

  "Fuck up? I can throw that under the water, you apologized after all. By the way, what are your names? We didn't have a proper introduction, not like the bus gave us the opportunity."

  I didn't even saw the driver.

  She immediately jumps to opportunity with a grin, "Nora Valkyrie!"

  "And my name is Lie Ren." The calmer member introduces himself.

  "Well Nora, Ren? I'm Ma'iq Rakhan. It's a pleasure meeting you both." I extend my right open hand. Nora doesn't waste time to take it with both her hands and shake like there is no tomorrow. She has a powerful grip. "Just don't make a habit of meeting people by smashing their faces." I pull away my hand from her and give Ren a firm nod.

  Showing off her very active nature, she grabs her partner's hand and drags him in the opposite direction, "Let's go, Renny!"

  I watch them disappear after crossing a sliding door, bypassing everything, and I think someone is already following them. Nora might have gotten themselves into trouble, which I don't want to get involved in.

  Unlike them, I follow the assigned pathway to leave the station.

  "Excuse me Sir, are you registered?" A deep voice stops me in my tracks, making me turn around to see a tall man dressed in a blue uniform, a matching blue hat that looks more like a helmet, and a rather big silver badge on his chest.

  So this is the famous Vale Police Department.

  "Registered? Why would I need to do that?" I ask, rather confused.

  The police officer clears his throat and pulls out a scroll. "You come from the young district. We must make sure you are registered to avoid criminals infesting the streets. It's a quick process, it won't even take a minute."

  I freeze in pce. "Shit…" I can hear the old hobo cackling in the distance for being proven right.

  "Oh, you aren't." He presses something on his scroll before putting it away. "Don't worry, just come to the census office and we will add your profile to the database and ask a few questions."

  I bit my lip, my mind gripped with fear, but I dispel those thoughts. I shouldn't be afraid since I have done nothing wrong.

  "Lead the way, officer." I drop my shoulder in defeat and sigh. Today felt endless and it might get even longer. Call it a gut feeling.

  But I won't make it worse on purpose.

  I only hope that this questioning doesn't take hours.

  Spoilers ahead, it did.