- Luring Out
Early morning...
The morning breeze washed through the sleeping figure, lying atop the roof of a building and under the shade of a satellite dish, sleeping soundly.
*Achoo!* Frizz sneezed, jolting awake. Horror dawned on his face. "No!"
"Damn, I fell asleep," he exclaimed, instantly standing up and scanning his area while checking himself for anything wrong. (Nothing's wrong.)
(I waited for them to spring up, but they never showed themselves.) He thought, levitating in the air and planning to head home.
[System]
<⬪ Daily Talent Creation and Acquisition Mechanic ⬪>
Today's Talents: Refreshes in 18 hours.
⬪ 『Aura of Radiance』 Deal 1000 magical fire damage: 0/1000.
⬪ 『Aura of Failed Magic Casting』 Receive 1000 magic damage: 0/1000.
⬪ 『Aura of Respite』 Provide 2000 Healing: 0/1000.
⬪ 『Aura of Malevolence』 Intimidate 1000 times: 0/1000.
(Damn, today's talent prerequisites are tough.) Frizz mused, reading the requirements. (Should I call on Divine again? Will she even help considering what happened last time?)
"I'll deal with this later," he declared, heading home via flight.
Twenty minutes later...
Frizz was almost home, taking the scenic route for some much-needed relaxation. "The view up above is really distracting."
He landed at the second-floor veranda, opening the door and heading inside. (It's quiet...)
(Are they still sleeping?) Frizz questioned, heading to the living room and pausing as he saw the rummaged and wrecked inside of his house. "What!?"
Fear and horror enveloped him, his heart beating fast as his breathing became erratic.
"Weng!?"
"Ryan!?"
"Dad!?"
Frizz called out to them, checking their respective bedrooms one by one but to no avail. Two of his siblings and his father were missing, nowhere to be found.
He was about to head outside until he noticed a small note on the refrigerator door; on the note were the words scribbled, 'We have your family bitch. Come meet us at the warehouse where we had fun. -Chudo.'
Frizz's face morphed into an expression he never showed before, an expression of pure anger and frustration. This time, his perks did little to suppress his growing anger.
His face darkened as every piece of furniture inside the house started to float; his fists clenched and surged with electric current, burning the note in his hands.
*Boom!* Frizz instantly shot upward, breaking the ceiling and leaving a huge hole.
⟐
The abandoned warehouse reeked of filth and dust, filled with a large group of people. The old building was coated in grime, inside and out. Most noticeable were the several dozen people inside.
Weng was one of those people.
Weng struggled against his restraints, but he couldn't shift it. A blindfold covered his eyes, and a tape silenced his mouth.
Beside him, he could hear the unmistakable grunts and groans of his younger brother and father. They were in the same predicament.
Everything had happened so fast. He hadn't even been able to process what was happening. One moment, it had been a sleepy night, the next they were being raided and kidnapped by masked men.
The older sibling cursed himself, unable to do anything. (Frizz... was this because of you?)
⟐
"Where is he?" A young man with a phone in hand asked himself.
The whole warehouse was swarming with several armed men; the outside was packed with parked motorcycles and cars. Men with high-powered rifles manned the scaffolding inside.
The physical toll of staying up all night were showing. They had expected their target to arrive late at night, and now some of the men were already complaining about the lack of sleep.
"Alright, listen up everyone!" A voice stood out from the rest, a younger man holding a phone close to his ear, awaiting orders. "The boss wants us to kill this piece of shit, no matter the fucking cost."
"So do your best to kill this asshole; whoever deals the final blow will receive eighty-two thousand pesos!" The young man screamed, invigorating the crowd.
The crowd of drowsy armed men cheered upon hearing the cash incentive, furthering their determination to see the job through to the end. However, among the cheering crowd were also scattered yet lingering doubts.
"All this for one guy?"
"Why are we waiting for one guy to come here? We'll just gun him down."
"We've been here since last night, and there's nothing."
The young man stepped down from the makeshift pedestal, away from the cheering crowd. The phone close to his ear muttered, giving orders.
"The moment he comes, kill his family instantly. Teach him the consequences of messing with us." An elderly voice commanded as the young man eagerly nodded, heeding the orders.
"Yes, sir. I will update you when we're done."
"Good, if you succeed in doing this, you will be my new right hand. I have a feeling you can do better than the last one."
The elderly boss promised over the call, inside a luxurious one-man prison cell. The soft breeze of the electric fan from above provided a cool comfort as the television televised an old telenovela, a rerun.
The young man grinned in excitement, his ambitions within reach. "Yes, boss. I will not disappoint you."
The call ended, and as the young man was about to check his pistol, a sudden loud boom from above roared. The already broken roof was dismantled; a lone figure hovering from above presented itself.
Several men were struck by the falling debris, injuring them.
⟐
[System]
New Objectives for New Name.
Save your kin: 0/1
Defeat your enemies: 2/40
Rewards: Enough experience to advance.
Frizz hovered from above, wincing in anger as he spotted his family in constraints. No one had offended him this much before; any thoughts of reason were lost. "YOU PIECES OF SHIT, I'LL SEND YOU TO GOD MYSELF!"
Upon his roaring, a powerful telekinetic gust breezed downward, staggering several men.
"Guard plus lesser power plus surge plus dash plus flower burst!"
[Righteous Fury] perk is active.
[Windy Dash] perk is active.
A wide explosion of pretty flowers burst from Frizz, providing a momentary distraction to the crowd below as they stared in awe and were in a trance.
His perception of time surged; everything around him was moving in almost slow motion. He descended below and picked up his two brothers and father, placing them just outside the warehouse.
Frizz crossed his arms in front of him, flying through a window and ramming through three men and destroying the scaffolding above. *Bang!* *Tzzk!*
The scaffolding collapsed, falling onto a few unlucky men. "Shoot him!" The young man declared, breaking from the pretty trance and training his gun on the levitating figure.
*Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!* *Bang!*
The whole crowd broke away from the trance, hearing the gunshots and spotting that their three hostages were gone.
A relentless barrage of bullets came at Frizz and he flew away just as his perception of time normalized. "There will be hell to pay!"
Frizz held out his hands from above, placing the warehouse inside his hand, and pushed his telekinesis to the absolute limit with the intention of collapsing the whole building.
[System]
« Telekinesis soft weight limit overreached! »
« Utilizing mana reserves. »
Frizz's whole body quaked in pain; despite the utilization of his mana reserves, the target building was too heavy and huge. However, the pain was suppressed due to his perks; he pushed on despite the limits.
The armed men inside felt the whole building shake; dust and other debris started to fall; to them, the building was about to collapse. They hurried toward the exit, sprinting at full speed.
*Crack!* Both hands cracked, the attempt to destroy the building was difficult, and all he achieved were fractured bones and a bloodied nose.
*Huff!* *Huff!* He panted from the exhaustion, only managing to rattle the building. Undeterred, he shot forward at the entrance. Landing in front of the fleeing men.
"Surge!"
Frizz charged at the several dozen men, preparing to fire. *Bang!* He was hit in the forehead, but the forcefield absorbed everything.
He continued to charge forward with his flight, mindful of his speed, still subconsciously holding back. Ramming through each and every one of them while trying to dodge the barrage of gunfire.
*Bang!* He was hit in the hip.
*Bang!* In the chest.
*Bang!* In the mouth.
*Bang!* In the groin.
The guns couldn't affect Frizz; his force forcefield had gotten stronger, able to withstand bullets. The ambitious young man could only watch as his men thinned, endlessly rammed by the fast-flying figure.
(I was going to be a right hand today; this was my chance to prove myself. I am not going to let some flying dick ruin this!) He thought, spotting the hostages in the distance.
The young man grabbed one of his men, leading them to the spotted hostages.
The gunfire stopped, replaced with the grunting and gasping of numerous downed men. Frizz paused, looking at the battlefield.
(How long was I ramming at them? I don't remember.) He thought, glancing at his bloodied forearms.
(I must've been at it for quite some time.)
"STOP!" A loud voice shouted from the left side; it was the leader of this operation, the ambitious young man. "Take another step and your little brother gets it."
Frizz's face morphed into anger once again, gritting his teeth together and glaring fiercely upon seeing two men training a gun on his younger sibling's head.
"Hmmmp!" Ryan muffled, weeping through the blindfold as his father and Weng tried to free themselves from the restraints.
"Don't you think that's unfair?" A feminine voice asked from behind the ambitious young man.