Chapter 11: Jeff vs Lucas
Jeff slowly raised his sword as approached Lucas.
"Kid." Spat Jeff coldly
"I'll give you another chance"
For Jeff's random ramblings, Lucas only had one answer.
"Go eat shit!"
As soon as Jeff heard Lucas's response, his expression collapsed.
Seeing as the boy refused to listen to reason, Jeff was left with only one option!
Force!
Without hesitation, Jeff fiercely swung down his sword at Lucas.
However, Lucas was already prepared for this.
Quickly raising his short sword, Lucas entered into a defensive stance.
"Bang!"
A thunderous sound erupted as metal clashed, causing a shudder to run through all of Lucas's body.
You see, even though Lucas had absorbed some crystals, increasing his strength and constitution in the process, that still wasn't enough.
The full difference between a developed man and a growing boy was shown as Lucas was forced back, not by a lacking skill or ferocity, but by pure strength.
The direction of this fight soon became apparent, as Jeff sent blow after blow hurtling in Lucas's direction
But Lucas wouldn't let these thoughts get to him.
If strength wasn't an option, then he could only focus on skill.
Every strike of his would have to contain a finesse that Jeff simply couldn't match.
Lucas's eyes narrowed as he deflected each attack sent his way, his killer instinct locking onto Jeff, tracking his moves and slowly luring Jeff into his own momentum.
'Now!' Thought Lucas
Lucas had noticed a minor flaw in Jeff's attacking pattern.
It was brief and fleeting opportunity that occasionally showed itself when Jeff pushed forward.
Lucas was sure that if it wasn't for his increased perception from absorbing some attribute crystals, he would have never been able to spot such a small gap.
But he did now, and this gap was all he needed.
Lucas dashed forward, his short sword raised to slash at a moment's notice
'This is it! My Chan-'
"Bang!"
Before Lucas could realise what was happening, he felt his world spin as a powerful knee went straight into his gut!
Lucas instantly collapsed onto the floor. His body shook as he was left writhing in pain whilst Jeff slowly pulled back his knee.
Lucas looked up to see Jeff looking back at him with a cruel smile on his face.
"What? Surprised?"
"You didn't think I would really leave a gap for you to so easily attack me?"
"Naive boy, you're too naive!"
As Jeff watched the boy roll onto the floor, he didn't feel pity
No, what he felt was a sense of empowerment!
Jeff could be described as a physical freak.
At 6ft9 you would expect someone of his size to be somewhat lanky, but he was packed to the brim with muscles.
No matter what he did, he just seemed to pack on muscle. His genetics were simply so good that it would make any gym bro curl over in envy.
At first Jeff loved this.
His sports coaches loved him, and everyone in school either loved or feared him; he was practically a king!
The problem came for Jeff when he was done from school.
You see, Jeff never put effort into his education. Why would he?
He would always have people helping him with his grades and besides, his future as a professional athlete was basically set in stone.
But soon his behaviour kept getting him into scandal after scandal, causing all his sports offers to drop him.
So when he was thrust into the real world with his subpar grades, Jeff found himself struggling to find even a place to work.
Eventually Jeff managed to settle down in a low tier menial job, but he always felt unjust
A weak small individual would boss him around, curse at him and sometimes even slap him and what could he do? He could just sit there and accept it, all because that man paid for his wages.
Why!
Why should he follow orders of some weakling?!
If it were ancient times, he would crush these people like bugs! He could have them all kneeling at his feet!
But because of some stupid laws he had to submit, he had to bow down to and be controlled by people with only a fraction of his strength, but now no more!
Now he was in a world practically made for him!
Now he was free!
Turning to look towards Lucas, Jeff smiled as he slowly walked towards him, his sadistic urges slowly taking over.
He crouched down to the boy, lifting his head up by his hair.
"Now I'll ask you again. Get your little sister over there to heal me. Don't make me go and ask her myself because If I do…"
Lucas didn't know why but, as soon as Jeff mentioned his sister, his groggy mind seems to stir awake.
He quickly clutched the dirt on the floor before in throwing it in Jeff's eyes in a last ditch effort.
Annoyed by this, Jeff quickly waved his hand to clear the dust. But this was enough of an opportunity for Lucas, who quickly sent a punch into Jeff's nose!
"Bang!"
"Arghh!"
Jeff couldn't help but roar as the fiery sensation assaulted his nose.
Eventually, his bloodshot eyes locked onto Lucas once again
"You little shit! I was actually gonna give you a chance, but now you've fucked up! Today you'll have to die!"
Jeff was furious.
The kid actually dared to hit him! In his fury, Jeff had lost the little technique he had and swung his giant sword madly in all directions.
But Lucas didn't sit by and watch. As all this was happening, Lucas quickly scrambled to his feet, desperately reaching for his short sword.
Retrieving the sword, Lucas completely changed his direction, now he was charging straight at the Jeff with an overwhelming murderous intent!
But although he was still recovering from Lucas's sneaky blow, Jeff wasn't helpless.
Seeing that Lucas even dared to approach him just angered Jeff even further. Without holding back,
Jeff swung down like a berserk beast, but even this wasn't enough to slow Lucas down.
Swiftly approaching Jeff, Lucas quickly swung out to meet Jeff's attack.
"Bang!"
The difference in strength was once again made clear as the force behind Jeff's attack sent Lucas's sword flying through the air.
But to everyone's shock, even this wasn't enough to stop Lucas.
Lucas didn't stop moving and completely ignored the fact that his weapon was sent flying and charged forward at Jeff!
Flustered, Jeff tried creating space between the two, but Lucas was just too fast and nimble for him
Slipping in between Jeff's sword strikes, Lucas wrapped his arm around Jeff and roared!
His muscles bulged and his face flushed as Lucas used his entire strength to flip the giant of a man over his shoulders and onto the floor!
"Thud!"
The earth shook from the heavy impact of the collision, but Lucas wasn't done!
With his eyes glowing with murderous intent, he quickly retrieved Jeff's sword whilst staring at him emotionlessly before plunging the sword at his throat
"That's enough."
Before Lucas's sword could fully pierce Jeff's throat, a hand grabbed the sword.
Instantly recognising the man, Lucas turned around, his eyes glowing with anger
"Why did you only decide to interfere now!" Roared Lucas as he glared at Leon
"We're you blind? Didn't you see the early fight?"
Lucas was furious!
In his eyes, Leon had only decided when it was clear that he was the winner.
But Leon simply brushed off the boy's anger as he spoke.
"I only interfered once you were about to kill the man. I would have done the exact same thing if it was to happen to you."
Sensing his chance, Jeff turned towards Leon
"S-Sir" stammered Jeff
"That cruel boy! He refuses to let his sister heal me even though we're in the same group!"
Although Jeff was putting on a pitiful appearance, internally he was laughing.
The boy seemed to have crossed the line of this vicious man in front of him.
All he had to do now was play the victim and everything would be smooth sailing!
Well, or so he thought
But the next words from Leon were enough to leave him speechless!
"Okay, so what?"
"P-Pardon?" stuttered Jeff, not believing his ears
Leon's cold eyes just looked down on Jeff.
"You decided to fight, and you lost. Your only option is to follow the rules of the victor, in other words, you'll pay the boy"
Jeff wanted to argue. I mean, what was this bullshit!
He was clearly the victim in this situation and yet here he was receiving such cruel treatment!
But just as he was about to complain, he locked eyes with Leon.
"Gulp!"
Those eyes! Those emotionless eyes!
It was almost as if what Leon was looking at wasn't a human being. Instead, those eyes were more fit for someone who was looking at a pile of wood.
All Jeff saw was a complete and utter lack of emotion.
Jeff was certain that the man could lop of his head if he refused to comply.
In the end, Jeff could only suck up his pride and walk up to Lucas.
As he walked, he could see the irritating smirk on the boy's face, but Jeff just stifled his irritation as he stretched out his hand.
"Here boy, there's the 10 attribute crystals you wanted."
Seeing this sight, Lucas's irritating smile only widened.
"I'm afraid to tell you, but due to the severity of your new injuries, the price of healing has gone up! Now it'll be 30 attribute crystals please and thank you!"
Hearing this, Jeff scowled.
"Now boy, don't push your luck! How can you-"
But before Jeff could continue, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
Instantly, his body froze.
"Pay the boy the price."
It was a simple instruction, but the tone of the voice sent shivers down his spine.
Rummaging around in his pockets, Jeff brought out the remaining attribute crystals and handed them over to the boy.
As soon as the crystals entered his hand, a wide child-like smile appeared on Lucas's face.
But Jeff couldn't share in his pleasure as a hateful grimace appeared on his.
Those were all the attribute Crystals had on him!
With this, the gap between him and the strong could only grow wider.
As these thoughts were running in Jeff's mind, he suddenly felt a gold wave of energy wash over him.
Instantly, all the bruises and wounds on his body began to itch as they slowly disappeared.
Seeing this sight, Leon nodded before turning to the rest of the crowd.
"You've all heard the boy's terms."
"If anyone wants to be healed by his sister, you'll have to pay the price. Of course, if anyone has a problem then they can always try to settle it with him. I won't interfere. Just know that if it's not settled now, then this rule will stand."
"I won't let anyone contest this after this point!"
As everyone heard Leon's words, they turned to the creator of this rule to see Lucas glaring at them with a fierce expression.
They had seen the heartless boy almost kill a man.
No one was foolish enough to challenge him again.
Slowly, the injured people ended up walking towards Leon with a bunch of crystals in hand.
But before they arrived, Lucas spoke.
"There's no need for that many crystals. The standard price is only 10 crystals. The increased price was due to some... special circumstances."
'That boy!' Thought Jeff, practically boiling with rage
It's clear now that He had been playing him for a fool! But eventually Jeff managed to stifle his irritation and walk some distance away.
But it wasn't just Jeff who was harbouring some nefarious thoughts.
As Lucas watched Jeff leave, a cold glint could be seen in his eyes.
That man, that brute, had actually threatened his sister!
As Lucas watched him, he could feel his rage rising, and it wasn't the hot-blooded, crazy kind either. Instead, it was an ice cold rage, one that gave him the vision of a cold silver blade slicing across Jeff's neck and ending all his problems right then and there.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone