Chapter 15: People like us, we are only rats!
The forest was cold as the wind blew the dark green leaves of the redwood trees.
As Yeshua walked in the outskirt of the forest, he saw the group of people and stopped at a safe distance where he could still talk to them.
Yeshua did not really care about the others but the man in the middle made him wary. Yeshua could feel the blatant killing intent from him as the man gazed at him.
The bestial instinct Yeshua got already changed his perception of his surroundings. Though he was not considered an expert yet, he was not an ordinary human anymore.
"So, you're the boy who has the guts to cross me? Heh," said Grey with anger in his rough voice.
"Technically, I did not cross you. I just accepted a job and was implicated by someone's mistake." Yeshua was really annoyed by the situation. After transmigrating as a monster and survived it, he was plunged into another situation that he needed to risk his life.
(Come on! Can someone take a break and not plan my death? Do you hear me, Death? Get a life, you bastard! Oh, you're actually trying to get my life!)
"Heh. You have courage, boy. Don't waste my time. Where's the package?"
Grey wanted to get the package first before he thoroughly dealt with this boy. Now that he met the boy, he could feel that he was different but he was still confident that he could deal with him. Yeshua was still new to his power and Grey had higher soul temperance, so Grey could feel the power of his soul.
"Well, about that... Can I just pay for it? You see, I really lost the package because of some accident. I am not trying to keep it for myself. If we can settle this peacefully, isn't that better?"
Even until now, Yeshua was still hoping that he could settle the matter without fighting. If they did not fight, then it meant that he did not need to risk his life. He could quietly get stronger and proceed to Eden. Wouldn't that be better?
But it seemed that Grey was not a fan of his suggestion. Grey's face darkened when he heard Yeshua. Hearing that Yeshua did not want to give the package back completely enraged him.
Grey did not believe Yeshua. The package was not just important but its content was also expensive. He thought that Yeshua was just trying to keep it then sell it.
"Pay me? I don't believe you. Maybe, you're just trying to delay me and you have a different plan. I don't want to listen to your nonsense, boy! Give the package back or you'll regret it!"
Grey did not want to think about it anymore. He did not care whatever the boy was thinking. He would just beat him and torture him.
For Grey, Yeshua was only a boy that he could overpower. He was confident that he could deal with him. Why did he have to further talk with the boy? Grey would just grab him and force him to give him the package. They would see then if Yeshua could still keep the package after being tortured by him.
But of course, Grey's savageness was also affecting him. If he just thought about it, Yeshua was weaker than him. How could Yeshua have the guts to go against him and even show up to make a deal with him? Isn't Yeshua committing suicide?
However, a person's thinking was most of the time affected by their emotion and limited understanding. Even Yeshua was the same.
Seeing that Grey was not accepting his suggestion, Yeshua already felt that he did not have a choice but to fight.
Grey did not think that the men he brought with him would be able to deal with Yeshua. At the same, he already wanted to vent his anger by beating the boy. Grey charged towards Yeshua with his stout muscular body. His steps dug through the soil as he ran with so much force.
Seeing Grey charging, Yeshua hunched and prepared to dodge.
Grey reached Yeshua and raised his two arms. He bashed them from overhead with enough strength that a normal person's head would be crushed once hit. Yeshua felt that the passive boost they had was different. His body was flexible and strong that it was good at dodging and burst attack. Grey's passive boost gave him a strength that felt heavy and hard. Receiving Grey's attack was not a good idea for him.
Yeshua dodged the overhead bash as he stepped to the side. Yeshua felt the ground tremble when Grey's hammer like arms crashed on it. Yeshua was at the side of Grey, so he took the chance while Grey was recovering from his attack.
Yeshua pulled his fist and smashed it towards the head of Grey. Grey had a heavy strength but he was slow. The side of his head was hit by Yeshua and he grunted in pain as he stepped back. The punch enraged Grey that he charged at Yeshua.
Grey was slow but his continuous punches and charges overwhelmed Yeshua. Although Yeshua could dodge the attacks, Grey was charging at him despite receiving his counterattacks. Yeshua's attack was not enough to damage Grey's hard and heavy body.
Alas, as Grey was more experience than Yeshua, one of his attacks reached Yeshua. His shoulder bash could not be dodged by Yeshua anymore, so he raised his arms in defense and received the attack. Yeshua felt like being hit by a boulder as his body was blasted away. If he was an ordinary person, that attack was enough to explode his body!
Yeshua felt his bones creaked and his arms faintly trembled after landing a few feet away from Grey.
This was only a battle of two Alterers in their human form but the gang members watching could not help but tremble as they saw that each attack crashed the ground and burst the air. They thought that if they were the ones receiving any of those attacks, none of them would survive!
Grey looked at Yeshua in front of him. He felt that he had higher strength so he insisted to subdue the boy using only the strength of his human form. But the boy was slippery as he dodged all his attacks and even hit him with counterattacks. This really enraged him and hurt his pride as someone who felt superior.
Grey was already reaching his thirties. Since he became an Alterer late, his cultivation also advanced slowly. At the same time, Grey did not have a strong mind and will since he was easily affected by savageness. This made it hard for him to maintain his Alter Beast causing his cultivation to slow down.
Seeing someone younger than him by almost a decade, made Grey more enraged. He worked hard for someone just to become an Alterer. It took him years to reach this stage of power but he could not even subdue the boy in front of him.
"I envy you, boy. You stepped at this stage of power this early. If I were just as lucky as you, then I would have been much more powerful."
Yeshua became confused when Grey suddenly stopped attacking. The raging man calmed down and talked to him with such seriousness. But Yeshua could see in Grey's eyes the boiling anger he was suppressing.
Grey was really envious of Yeshua. They were the same people who lived in poverty but Yeshua became an Alterer much younger than him. Grey felt it was unfair. How could this boy who needed to receive a job from his small gang had a chance to become an Alterer? Why did he not have this luck when he was at Yeshua's age?
This envious thought and the rage of humiliation when he failed to defeat Yeshua amplified the savageness affecting his mind.
"Do you know how many things I had to do just to reach my strength? Did you experience groveling to people above you and swallowing your grievances just to carry favor to them? I tell you, boy! Poor people like us, we are only rats scavenging for the leftovers of this world's masters!"
When Yeshua heard those words, he could not help but be reminded of some memories.
He remembered the father who worked hard to raise his son. Despite his injured body, the father still risked his life and entered the wild forest to hunt. That father even sacrificed his life to save his son!
He remembered the gloomy boy laboring just for a couple of copper coins. That boy even risked his life by going to the forest to forage herbs. Despite the hardships, the boy still strived to survive and continued to dream!
He remembered the young man who worked hard to earn money just to buy a genome potion but was kidnapped because he was weak. But even in his dying moment, he did not want to give up his dream of going to Eden!
Indeed, this world was unfair!
Grey might think that Yeshua did not understand as he thought that Yeshua's young age made him unable to experience enough hardships but Yeshua completely understood it!
That was why Yeshua would not let himself be subdued in this battle. He was going to fight to survive and live. His path would not end here!
The two Alterers seemed to come up with the same intention as they prepared themselves to unleash their Alter Beasts!
The first battle of Yeshua as an Alterer was going to happen.
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