The Snake Twins

Warren scolded Lucy for reaching the town alone and without supervision. Marika was still confused, how did this child even manage to fly to Malton City from their home? Only looking for him… and that is if she believed that, which she was having a hard time doing.

"Well! You are stuck with me, dummy!" Lucy answered back, sticking her tongue at Warren.

"Y-you little-" Warren grunted, angry at her attitude.

"You seem to be stuck with her now" Marika added, finding herself amused at the exchange between the siblings. "You cannot just let her return home by herself"

"See? Your new assistant is giving me the reason!" Lucy pointed at Marika, her face beaming in excitement that someone had given her the reason.

"I am not her assistant! Partners in crime!" Marika answered, with a wide smile on her face and her tail wagging.

"No, she was tagging along for a bounty, now we are parting," Warren said.

Marika's tail fell from its position when she heard Warren's denial of her proposal for a relationship. Having an ally as strong as him would make her life easier like nothing else. Having to run all the time after getting a hit was not something she enjoyed doing. Yet she chose the Thief Class Stone when she managed to get her hands on one, and her main source of XP was managing to steal stuff from enemies and sell them. That meant stealing from ruins, dungeons, and anything that was not glued or nailed, she could take it and try to make a profit for money.

Sadly, the pay she got from helping Warren did not count for her to gain XP. 520 Mulars translated to 5200 XP without any bonuses, each one corresponding to 10 XP. That was a level for her at this point.

[Class: Thief]

[Level: 4]

[XP to Next Level: 4120]

She could have used that level, each one made her stronger, faster, a better thief, and made her job at surviving easier. Since she was level 1, and even before that, she would steal little things. Now, she dared to take from Darel and his gang.

"You are boring," Marika said, puffing and pouting.

"I have my business to attend to," Warren said, "And I don't need people getting in the way. Just tell me where I drop you off and I will take you there"

I suppose that is that. Marika thought, surrendering. I guess I should still give the good news to Max and Cinthia.

Marika went to the back of the carriage, huffing a bit under her breath, after explaining how to reach a certain area of the dilapidated city.

The PDTU had the interior of the carriage completely separated physically from the rest of the exterior world. Inside, she could not feel that it was moving, but when she summoned the System screen with her mind, she managed to see the small message that indicated [Now moving] as a warning for the people inside. That is something she remembered from when she used to watch the ads with her father before he died killed by a paid hitman.

"I wonder if one day I will catch that son of a bitch myself," she said while walking towards her prize. It was a wishful thinking. One of the biggest reasons why she wanted to get a Class Stone, to begin with, was to become stronger. Sadly, her class was mostly suited for movement and evading combat more than going into it. Maybe another option would be preferable…

She held the slab of gold in her hands, looking at it with a smile on her face. How much for it? 2000 Mulars? 3000? Would she get more than one level? The idea made her happy. Maybe she could convince Warren to give her company to sell it where it is safe if she gives him a part of the selling price. She would still get the full XP credited to herself.

Let's check any changes from today She thought, and summoned the system menus with her mind. First, skills.

[Skill list]

[Skill points: 0]

[Skills bought]

[Hidden Pocket Lv0]

[Stun Gun Lv3]

[Disarm Lv2]

[Ignite Fire Lv1]

[Dodge Mastery Lv2]

[Puchaseble skills]

[Ricochet Bullet Sp2]

[Shadow Blend Sp1]

[Fast Reload Sp1]

[Nimble hands Sp2]

[Soft steps Sp1]

[Confusion Sp2]

[Poisson Sp2]

Ricochet and Fast Reload were new skills! They are normally unlockable through leveling. Higher level, more skills to purchase. And each level gives her skill points to use or save for better skills. But, she is going to check on her status in more detail, specifically Weapon Mastery.

[Weapon Mastery Progression]

[Guns: 3/99 01%]

[Bladed weapons: 1/99 55%]

[Spears/polearms: 1/99 0%]

[Bows/crossbows: 1/99 0%]

[Axes: 1/99 0%]

[Magic Weapons: 1/99 0%]

[Fist weapons: 1/99 0%]

That last shot with her skill managed to push her to level 3 Weapon Mastery of Guns! That meant a small increase in damage and that must have unlocked [Ricochet bullet]. Slowly but surely, she was becoming stronger. Soon, probably, strong enough to explore the outskirts to search dangerous places. Now, most of the skills she usually got from her class were mostly utility, but the ones that she could get from Masteries were mostly damage dealers! Even her class Inherent Skill, [Hidden Pocket], was to serve her class purpose, hiding a small object in a magical storage with very limited space that only she has access to.

So, she needed more training, more successful hits, and most likely a new gun to upgrade the one she was holding.

[.22 Defense gun]

[Atk 120]

[Acc 125]

Not the greatest. It has helped her, and she is thankful for her gun, but the weapon, that was already getting old, was not the best at dealing damage. Good utility, bullets were cheap, and did the job with her skills. But she still needed to get close to be viable.

"We are here" Suddenly, the front door swung open and Lucy peeked inside, causing Marika to jump from the surprise. Observing her current situation in the System took her the whole time they were traveling to her destination.

Lucy, by her side, saw the interior for the first time. The little girl was mesmerized by the size of the place.

"Gigantic, isn't it?" Marika said, smiling. She takes her bag and straightens her dress.

She left the carriage by the side of Lucy, who was still stuck observing with amusement the interior of the carriage. As she passes by, she puts a hand on Warren's shoulder and then pulls it down to leave.

"Take care! Don't think you are free from me, cowboy!" Marika said after jumping out to the street and then turning around to look at Warren with one hand on her hip and the other holding the bag with her prize.

"Hmmm," Warren grunted. He tipped his hat "Be careful out there" he said, and made the horse pull the carriage forward.

"Take care, Miss Marika!" Lucy waved back from the carriage.

Marika waved at her with a smile. Once the carriage was gone from view, she sighed and turned around.

She looked in every direction. There was an odd silence. That part of town was not noisy, but the lack of sound made it more eerie than usual. It was a sad sorry part, buildings that need repair, crumbling, general disrepair. And no one around. Usually there was people she knew about.

The place she was going into was a building that was not in a good state to be used for habitation. Broken windows, parts falling off, depressing to the sight. The only reason she was staying there was because it was free and plumbing, somehow, was still working.

"Max! Cinthia! I'm baaaack!" she said with a happy tone of voice as she entered the dilapidated building. She went in, surprised that there was no reaction. Maybe the two children weren't home or they were taking a nap.

She went deeper into the building. The place was silent and dark. They didn't have lights or electricity, normally at least, so she was used to that, but normally expected a candle. They had set themselves up on the second floor. In a decaying building that probably was a bad idea, but it made them feel safer at night.

As luck would have them, many of the other poor and homeless people around there knew them, so they felt relatively safer than anything else. Some of the older people that lived nearby already knew that Marika was kind of a troublemaker, but still knew her since she was turned into an orphan. So, if they needed something, or if they did, they usually had each other's backs.

But now, she saw no one around the building or on her way up. And that was making her anxious. Normally, miss Fresia or mister Gunther would say hi to her before she entered or in her way up. It was oddly silent.

"Hello?" She asked, feeling her tail's hair going up, and her ears were scanning for sound surrounding her. That is when she took out her gun from her [Hidden Pocket] and continued advancing, holding her weapon tight.

She passed through what used to be a door in better times, the portal that went into the unit they appropriate, and slowly made her way with her gun up, ready to shoot in case of emergency.

Then she turned to the place they had their main living room, and there she found them.

Max and Cinthia. A boy with spiky black hair and a girl with red hair, both 10 years old, tied together, back to back, in the middle of the room, surrounded by all the trash they have accumulated to make their lives easier in the small unit.

"Max! Cinthia!" Marika screamed and then ran towards them.

"Gotcha!" Someone yelled on her side.

She turned to the right, but not in time before she felt a hard and painful smack to the side of her head. Her whole world shook as the impact caused her to lose balance and fall to the ground.

"UGH!" She grunted in pain and confusion. Her body did not manage to stay balanced and fell to the floor, confused.

Then she heard steps behind her, and her attacker grabbed her hands and quickly but with precision tied them up on her back.

"L-let me go, you son of a-AH!" She complained when she got grabbed by the person and forced to stand up. The, she found found herself dragged towards a chair and forced to sit down on it. The bangs of her hair was causing her difficulties to see now.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't our favorite girl, Marika" a voice she recognized could be heard, and her skin started to crawl.

"W-what do you want, John?" She asked, raising her face to look at him and still feeling dizzy from the ambush.

"Look, the missy remembers mah name," said Jhon.

Around 4 men came into view from other rooms, a couple of demi-humans like her, and the other 2 humans. And then came a fifth one, one that she was hoping to not have to face ever.

John, one of the Snake Twins, leads of the Malton City Gang that led the criminal underworld in town. He was sporting a brown jacket and a big hat. In his chest a small distinctive badge in the shape of a card was there. If it wasn't for how dark it was, she could not see it exactly, but she knew what that meant. He was around her age, as far as she knew, surprising for someone turned into the leader of a gang, especially if he got that badge. Young and with bright red hair and green eyes. 

He got close to both children and was carrying a shotgun, and placed it too close to them for comfort. Then, as a way to threaten, he pumps it.

"Yah stole something from us, and then I heard you got Dale killed." Then he points his gun towards Cinthia. "This time that ain't going to stay, missy!"