Continuous Refusal I

"Ugh. Those bas***ds were wicked till the end. Who, in their right mind fights a twenty-year-old with a group of bas***ds over eighty in number?" Insults after insults poured out of Luke's mouth as he made his way back home. His clothes had been cut all over but luckily, he had a spare shirt in his bag which he was currently wearing.

"A warning might not be all they need. I know my limit right now. I'll have to build more stamina since I ran out of break just past the middle of the battle. With some more stamina training, I could probably take on all of them at once. I only survived because I had short intervals between the three fights even though the first two were quite easy. If the boss had joined at the beginning of the last battle, I would be speaking with my mother right now." Luke spoke about the battle like he had been a warrior all his life. He analyzed his weak points, hoping to work on them when he had the chance.

He walked home wobbly. His body would succumb to the tiredness at any moment, but he forced his foot forward, and then the next and the next, never stopping.

When he got back to the building he called home, he sighed. Now he would have to climb stairs in his condition. 'Hehe, shit. I'm f**ked. If walking forward made me feel like I would collapse soon, walking upward might kill me. But I can't stop here. I'll just faint when I get to the door or something.' Luke shivered when he remembered he lived on the top floor.

He moved his first foot up the stairs and his eyes were already seeing triples. He held the rail of the stairs, his saving grace, and never let go. He just raised one foot after the other and continued going up.

Soon, he arrived on the top floor and walked like a corpse all the way to his door.

Knock. Knock.

Then he fainted.

"I'll be there soon." Obed responded from within the room thinking it was the food he had ordered.

"What the hell is this? Did you run into a pack of wild beasts when coming back from work?" He shouted but the person on the floor in front of him had gone very very far. This best friend of his always did irresponsible things.

'I'll just take him in for now.' Obed held Luke by the leg and pulled him into the apartment.

He placed Luke on a couch in the sitting room and then, he took off Luke's cloth, leaving only his underwear, and commenced the treatment he knew. He applied alcohol to the surface of the injuries and cleaned it with a white towel. "That should do it." He had wrapped Luke in enough bandages to scare the poor man to death when he woke up.

"He'll need food to recover his strength. His injuries are not life-threatening after all. If I'm right, that bas***d will probably wake up once he smells the food." Obed walked over to the kitchen to make some food for Luke.

Sure enough, his theory was proven.

The delicacies landed on the table one after the other as Obed set the table for them to eat.

The aroma of the food woke up the unconscious Luke who had gone far away.

"Gasp. Where am I?" He asked as he slowly rose but fell back on the couch. His eyes were covered, so he couldn't see around.

"Oh, esteemed one, welcome to the afterlife." Fear gripped Luke's heart when the voice answered him. "No, no, no. I can't be dead right now!" Luke shook his head.

"We have prepared a feast for you and the others. Please make your way to the dining hall." The voice replied.

"Send me back to the world of the living!" Luke demanded.

"Pardon, but I have no authority over that. I am merely a servant to welcome you all." The voice replied.

'Why the hell does this voice sound very familiar?' Luke asked himself. He gathered all his strength and raised his hand to touch what was over his eyes. It was a warm towel. He removed it and saw a familiar face laughing wildly.

"You bas***d. Why in hell would you joke with the afterlife?" Luke yelled but Obed just continued to laugh.

"Who was it again that fell for the joke?" Obed asked.

Luke felt like stabbing this Obed in the eye socket. "Just shut it. Help me bring the food over here. I can only move my hands right now so I can't go over to the table."

"Yes, Oh esteemed one." Obed bowed and chuckled before leaving Luke's side.

He returned with two dishes in his hands, dropped them close to Luke, and went back to bring the rest.

As they ate, none of them muttered any sound but Luke's chewing was enough of a sound to frustrate Obed.

Obed couldn't bear it anymore and yelled at Luke. "Hey, eat more like a patient!"

"I'm eating like one. They eat how they want and don't get reprimanded. Isn't that right?" Luke replied.

"Yes, oh esteemed one." Obed retorted.

"Just wait till I'm all healed up, we'll have a showdown to see who is superior." Luke yelled and pointed at Obed.

"So what happened to you that made you return in this shape?" Obed finally asked the question he had been eager to ask.

"Remember the Forever Gang?" Luke asked and Obed nodded to express that he knew them.

"I got into a brawl with them." Luke said.

"You got into a fight with one of them?" Obed was curious and terrified of their revenge. On his own, he could probably take on half the members because of his enhanced body resulting from years back in their school days but he couldn't fight the full gang if they ever had an encounter.

"Nope." Luke shook his head.

"Their leader or probably the whole gang?" He asked again.

"Both to be exact." Luke shook his head with a smile.

"That's what I thought. It would be… the hell did you just say?" Seeing Luke shake his head, he believed that was not the case but Luke's words meant that he had taken on the whole gang and their leader.

Luke's face brightened considerably. "I wiped the whole gang." He confirmed Obed's disbelief.

"Their leader, Car something was gonna introduce himself after I took on the entire squad but I just stopped his introduction and fought with him. The injury he gave to me on my shoulder was painful as hell. Ah, his name was Khar Alshon." Luke explained.

Obed was sweating profusely where he sat down. His food wouldn't go down his throat no matter how many times he gulped. He was well aware of the name of the gang's leader.

Khar Alshon was a criminal convicted for multiple robberies and assaults. Retired military personnel who was removed from duty because he tended to go crazy during missions and attack both friends and foes alike.

Luke was saying he knocked him out cold after taking on the entire gang. That wasn't possible for him to believe but he knew Luke wouldn't lie over such a matter. Obed was certain he could win a one-on-one battle with Khar but not after fighting the entire gang.

"So you've become a crazier monster." Obed smiled.

"Nope, I'm still Luke. I seemed to be on the path to awakening." Luke finally confessed. He couldn't keep it from Obed and there was no harm in telling it to his only friend.