Chapter 5: Travel
'Four months…'
It couldn't be said how odd it all felt living in such an unfamiliar place that long to Alfred. He had spent all of his original life, if it even was the first one his soul controlled, in the same area. The wonder, sadly, had only partially cooled Alfred's mood. The fury he still feels thinking about the torture he went through and the thought of that lunatic's heart still beating seem to be a permanent stain upon his psyche that may last even if the memory of it fades.
One thing is for certain, his pain still hasn't returned.
As a result from the aforementioned torture, Alfred experiences some sort of new feeling in its stead. It is inexplicable due to it being a new category of feeling. It's not just normal touch (of which his has slightly numbed and partially been replaced by this "sixth sense"), or how you can be tickled, or how you can feel pleasure, it is completely different.
Other than that, his plans so far have been going smooth enough. He now isn't a walking corpse (which doesn't mean he isn't too skinny for his own good), and has actually figured out what he looks like.
Alfred is a small, almost ghastly boy with blonde hair leaning towards white (all probably side effects of malnourishment). His skin was deathly pale, almost enough to see his veins (he only knows this because he could see them before, his complexion improved over the four months). There was only one thing more eye catching than his straight golden locks, and that were his eyes. They look bejeweled.
Along his rehabilitation routine he was able to find some information about this new world he is living in.
'Steampunk…'
This place seems to have some form of odd power linked to steam. All aspects are completely and utterly overpowered compared to what was possible on earth. Weapons utilizing it could be compared to futuristic railguns in terms of raw power. Any technology is instantly enhanced and passes what it should be capable of when steam is used.
This is only what he could infer from conversations he overheard about the conflicts going on in the city, all of which centered around some issue regarding steam.
On his location, all he could figure out was names and where he was in right now. This city is called Aviar, and the area he has been in is called the Keoppip Bazar. Other parts of the city are the Genaizalt, the Mafozalt, and the Corpozalt. He could infer that the Corpozalt was probably run by corporations and the Mafozalt was run by the mafia or some sort of organized crime, but he couldn't figure out definitively what the Genaizalt was run by.
'I've got zero fucking clue how I'm going to get out of this shithole, though.'
Even if he knew what the places were called, he had no map currently or money for transportation. The majority of decent jobs won't accept him due to his age. The ones who would are most likely connected to human trafficking or are going to force him into some sort of slavery.
"*Tsk*" Alfred clicked his tongue. 'You know what? I'll just find a map today. Yeah.'
Outside of the alleyway Alfred usually camps in is a marketplace. Statistically some person should have access to a map that he can use.
As luck would have it, one old man had a few (from what he could tell) that he was selling. Alfred took the opportunity to steal two from a bag under the table without anybody noticing, or at least not caring to step in.
Once both were secured, he scurried off into a tight alleyway to escape the area before the old man noticed. There was another square with decent lighting where he could inspect the two. The first map was obviously not one for the city, it was most likely one for the surrounding area/state (since it was just names and land). The second one had what he was looking for.
"Weird…"
'I don't think I remember any totally circular cities on Earth. This will be easy to navigate at least."
The city is made up of three (technically four) sections. The "Genaizalt" was located in the third of the city (kind of cut up like a pie) at the top left. Another is at the top right third (the "Mafozalt"). The last one is at the bottom third and is the "Corpozalt".
'I'm probably at the edge of the Keoppip Bazar section due to me being able to see the wall. Good thing this map is detailed, or I wouldn't be able to figure out where.'
Finally Alfred had a goal for the day, at least. He was to migrate into the Mafozalt and get work.
He trashed the first map and folded the second.
"Feew~"
'If I start now, I will make it past this dreaded section before nightfall. There, it should be better than this dumpster fire.'
…
~
...
'Five hours of walking and I'm still not there! Damn, I really fucked up with that prediction.'
It was already nightfall, but Alfred still wasn't in the Mafozalt. He had been walking at a decent pace for the aforementioned five hours without getting there. There were some changes in the environment, though. Namely the obvious movement of organized crime.
'I'll just continue on till I get there, I see the beginning of it.'
He had to tread carefully for the past hour and a half due to the gangs. This is the main reason for the miscalculation. It wasn't perfectly executed, but the people here are really volatile and desperate. Enough to where they'll pick on an obviously orphaned kid if they had to.
Alfred could figure out on his own what the Mafozalt would be like, and if it was anything worse than this place in between, then it wasn't a place where he wanted to stand out… yet. Before he reached that zone, it would be best to get supplies to help out while in the Mafozalt.
To his right was a seemingly popular but dangerous bar.
"Weapon… food… covering…"
He snuck in behind a larger group entering without being caught by the sleepy bouncer.
One drunkard turned back to his group after staring at one of the waitress' ass, "And *burp~* as I w-wasss sayin'... umm… that littl' sshiit! I'll killl him toonighhtt~!"
*Slam!*
'Dumbass… First item located.'
He was already in HSM and was taking in tons of information.
<
A scrawny fool, "Fuck man I messed up…"
A con man, "-ow did you manage to pull that off…"
A thug, "Pay up, or I'll…"
A tough guy, "... take this outside? You'll regret that…"
A wife, "...he's dead…"
Hitman, "...kill...."
Fatass, "...full…"
>
'Another! That'll be thrown out back.
'And here, someone left their coat under a table, decent enough with it being dark and how thick it looks, it'll be getting really cold soon judging by the weather lately.'
Alfred started off with inconspicuously retrieving the coat and put it on. It was really big, but he just rolled up the sleeves tightly when they got to his wrists. Next he followed behind a small group walking out and swiped the gun not before distracting the table by tossing a bottle on the other side so it would break. 'It even spilled some alcohol onto one of the members, even better.'
"Ahh ssshi-*Hickup~*hht. JJ, calll f-for a waitress…"
'I assume that lowlife had this thing loaded.'
The last part was to either wait for that waist of food to be thrown out, or to grab anything decent out of the bin.
'And with my coat (finders keepers), I'll blend in okay, at least more than I do now with these busted-up rags…'
That wasn't needed anyways. It seemed as if a fair few homeless people like to camp out at the trash of the bar. Most were quite sluggish, probably from drugs, so they were unable to react to the huge (relatively) meal that Alfred instantly swiped as soon as the clerk closed the door. They wouldn't take long to notice, though, so he returned to the street while eating it to continue walking.
"(Mumbles) it shouldn't take long until they noti-"
"HEeey! Wh-ho tookk mah gunn?! You d-deadd m-meat!"
"On que." he scoffed.
Alfred took one last look at the drunkard from the bar stumbling out helplessly yelling out into the slightly packed street full of people who couldn't give a rats ass about his stolen gun. They were all thinking the same thing, actually: 'Why the hell did you leave it out in the first place?'
This was one mistake Alfred won't make, because 'I'm not a stupid lowlife.
'Nobody will know I have one 'till there's a hole through their brain.'
With that finished, the journey continues.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone