Chapter 20 - In a bit of a pickle.

Jamaal took a step back, looking around for an exit. However, unfortunately, there was only one. And that exit was currently behind the man.

He readied himself for the fight, knowing there was going to be one and took a deep breath.

"Hey old man, don't do this." He said, more of a warning than a plea.

"Oh? Hehe, you think begging will get you anywhere?" The man grasped the knife and cackled once more at the man, grinning murderously.

"Give me all your money! Then we'll be even. If you don't... Well, we'll have dinner together!" He viciously licked the knife's edges, leaving cuts on his tongue as the whiteness of the weapon dyed red.

"A cannibal?" Jamaal thought, taking another step back as he summoned his sword, knowing that this battle would be hard. He didn't have experience fighting humans. Sure he had fought beasts and all, that still didn't compare to humans who had more intelligence and strength.

"Sir... I recommend you turn around and walk away." Jamaal once again spoke out, glancing at his status and notifications for a moment, perhaps something could be of use at this moment.

[Ding! You have gained your hidden title due to a meddling Amerlyn!]

[Ding! You have successfully met a branch System of the Main System, for that, you gain 50 EXP!]

[Name: Jamaal

Level: 4

Class: None

Title: Overlord Survivor

Experience: 50/200

Health: 240/240

Mana: 8/8

Stats:

Strength: 12

Agility: 9

Endurance: 7

Intelligence: 6

Stat points: 5]

[Skills:]

Fireball ]

"So the title has been added now," He noted before glancing at the spell he had.

"Maybe this won't be so hard." Jamaal summoned a small fireball and looked at the cannibalistic thief.

"I warned you!" The fireball flew towards the skinny bag of bones at lightning speed, making contact.

"Boom!" Smoke rose from the epicentre of the explosion, a sudden burst of heat hitting the teen smack in the face. Unfortunately though, before the boy could celebrate, a familiar cackle appeared.

"How strange! A boy that has access to spells and can use them with such precision? That is certainly interesting!" Around the man was a boiling transparent liquid, covering him like armour.

Misty steam rose from around the liquid, causing the surroundings to become slightly blurrier.

"Lucky for me! I can use an element too!" The man sprinted forward, dagger pointed straight at the neck of Jamaal, ready to pierce his gullet and exit from the other end.

Jamaal lowered his body and moved to the right though and dodged the knife, grabbing the saggy, wrinkled arm which held the knife and twisting it.

Or at least tried to, despite putting as much strength as possible, he couldn't even make it budge. In response to this, Jamaal immediately let go and jumped away, sending another fireball spiralling towards this opponent of his.

However, the sound of it crashing into anything did not appear. Instead, there was the sound of water dripping nearby.

"Pitter Patter." That sound of dripping water turned into rain. However, there was something strange with the rain and, that was the fact that it was only raining at one point, in one area. The area where the water was quickly forming puddles was where Jamaal was standing.

The teen looked around, the man who had been attacking him now just leaning against the dirty, moss-covered wall as he whistled.

The rain became harsher and louder, causing Jamaal to shiver from the chillness it gave. He tried to take a step forward yet the boy could not. It was as if he had lost the strength in his legs.

"Crash!" The sound of lightning arrived, winds seeming to pick up as the surroundings seemed to darken with the arrival of black, deathly clouds.

"W-what?" He was utterly confused about the phenomenon that was occurring and tried to move once more.

He failed once more, making him cry out.

"You! What do you want? Why are you doing this?" The teen quickly asked, deciding that the only thing he could do to get out of this was to try and convince this person to let him go.

"Oh! Cause! You have to boil the meat and cleanse it before you cook it, you know!" The man cackled for the fifth time that day and just continued to watch the show.

That left Jamaal stuck with no way out and a timer that was running out.

"Goddamnit, think fast, what do I do, how do I get out?" He began to think of multiple situations in his mind, ultimately though being left with nothing.

"Wait!" His mind began to turn cogs and quickly, he decided to experiment something.

Next to his face, a fireball that gradually kept growing and getting bigger appeared, the rain around the flames evaporating suddenly as misty steam seemed to spread around Jamaal's vicinity, slightly restoring some body heat.

The boy then made it fly around the alleyway like an eagle, it soaring through the skies.

"Maybe I can..." He then turned the fireball towards the skies, summoning two more and doing the same.

"A signal, maybe I can get some help!" He sped them up while clenching his fists tightly, trying to get them as high as possible so people could see it from a distance.

"Boom!" Eventually, they exploded, smoke rising from their self-implosion and making the teen's location known to the village.

"HAHA!" It was then a laugh came from the grandpa.

"You think anyone will come here?! You must be so dumb!"