CHAPTER 4

Caleb shrugged off the person who tapped him. He looked around for the dude he was fighting previously, he was surrounded as well. The operatives pointed their polearms at him once more. He noticed some of them had a weird shape and were shorter. They seemed to have holes at their bases.

"You know your little fight ring here is illegal, son" one of the operatives said gently walking towards him while lowering his polearm "- someone could have gotten hurt"

"Yeah. The problem is, I don't own the place" Caleb said stepping back to give some distance

"That has nothing to do with me boy. You two are the only ones here for questioning"

That's when it clicked. Everyone else had escaped using the underground tunnel.

"I know where the rest are-" He began bargaining

"Shut up boy" the other contender screamed at him "Do you want to get killed," he said before some operatives pinned him to the floor violently.

"Now please, continue" the operative who came forward said to him after the other guy was subdued.

"You see, the thing is information is valuable" Caleb began "- and everything comes at a price"

"You're begging for your freedom and you still attempt to bargain with me. I admire your guts kid. Give me valuable info and I can guarantee more than your freedom"

"I'll need both our freedom for that price my good man" he said while pointing to the subdued man on the floor.

"You haven't even said anything y-"

"Beside the fight club building, there's a garbage bin. Green. Dirty as hell. Smells as badly as your uniform. It's not really hard to miss. When you see it, pour a little bit of magic into the latch, not that you have much-"

"Watch your tongue boy" the operative said to him while gripping his polearm tighter "I'm resisting the urge to cut you down as is"

"Feisty, aren't we?" Caleb said and grinned

"You do know denying an operative official is punishable by 2 years of jail term, right?"

"Of course, I didn't. Anyway, a door should form by the side of those brick walls. Push it hard enough and you're good to go" he said and smiled

The operative looked at him one last time as if trying to decipher if he was lying whereas Caleb was praying that he would take the bait. He signaled his men to let the other man go as his own end of the bargain. With reluctance, his squad let him off with a warning as they walked towards the crater the explosion had made. When they were almost at the dumpster, Caleb ran towards the other dude and grabbed him by his arm

"What are you doing fam?" he whispered to him

"We need to get out of here" Caleb whispered back

"What do you-"

"We need to leave now" Caleb said pointing at the guards who were currently infusing the dumpster with magic

"What are you saying? Speak English"

"We leave now" Caleb yelled

As Caleb screamed, on the other side of the street there was a mini-explosion. The dumpster had exploded after absorbing too much mana from one of the enforcers. The garbage inside had exploded, splashing on most of the enforcers except their captain who had conjured a shield in time. He looked at Caleb and the other lawbreaker running away towards the nearest alley using the explosion as a diversion

"That son of a bitch" he screamed

Caleb dragged a tired and worn-out man almost twice his size down corners while trying to run away from the operatives. He almost tripped on some cans as the weight behind pulled him down. He ran past some kids playing soccer as the ball almost hit him on the face

"Hey, watch where you're going snowflake" one kid shouted then stuck his tongue out

Caleb turned and grabbed the kid by his collar

"Why I ought to-" he began saying before he had an idea "You know what, you see this man I'm carrying, take him to your mom. She'll know what to do with him" he said to the scared kid who nodded before Caleb ran away

Caleb kept running as he could hear his pursuers behind him rudely shoving everyone and everything off their path. He ran as fast as his legs could carry him as he knew what lay in store for him if he got caught. He had regrets as to why he saved that man in the first place as he could have gotten even farther from the operatives. Suddenly he heard a loud bang from behind him. He turned around and notice something fundamental he overlooked. Those weird polearms they were carrying weren't polearms. Those were full-blown guns. Some of the operatives took aim and fired at him as he ran down the open street. Pedestrians took cover as the operatives didn't even care what happened to them. Such was the way the corrupted were treated in this world. Caleb felt something tug at his heartstrings as he turned around and saw the commotion he was causing.

He finally decided to stop holding back as he let the chaos flow into his hair, arms, and legs. He could feel his bones get harder, and his muscles get stronger. He felt like he could crush a boulder with his arms. One of the operatives shot him but the bullet seemed to slow down compared to the ones he had been shot at with previously. He turned around and cursed silently before running towards the operatives ready to knock them out.

"What the hell just happened to him?" one of the operatives screamed as he saw Caleb dashing towards him

"Why the hell does he have those paws on his arms and feet? And why are they glowing?" another screamed before he knocked them both out with a kick to their heads

Caleb backed off for a moment before surveying the area again. He had five of them left with their commander. He had activated his mimesis and his physical capabilities had shot up. His arm from his fingers to his elbows had transformed into a white tiger's, same with his feet from his knees down. His hair glowed white as the tips flickered like white flame tongues. He dashed towards another set of operatives and punched one of them in the stomach before giving the other one an uppercut before he could react. One tried piercing him with his polearm but he grabbed it and broke it with his left arm before kicking him away. Another tried knocking him in the head but he blocked it with the broken polearm of the previous officer. Before he could punch that officer, their commander pushed him aside and caught Caleb's punch

"So, this is what you were waiting for" he said trying to hold the punch

"I'd rather not use this…Captain" Caleb said and chuckled

"Who said I was the captain" he said before Caleb punched him in the face. He took two steps back before brushing the bruise aside.

"In that case, I could beat you without feeling too bad about it" Caleb said before taking his usual boxing stance