Not backing down

Tied, seeing both children in the middle with a shotgun aimed at their faces. Marika knew she had to pull something out of her ass to manage to get out of this situation. But the worst part was John, who decided to pay her a visit.

"I didn't know I was so important that you had to visit me, John," she said, looking at him through the bangs of her hair.

"Smug as always," John answered, keeping the shotgun on the faces of both children.

Max and Cinthia were little children that she had been taking care of for 5 years, when she was orphaned and thrown to the streets. She met them when she was having a breakdown, and they seemed as lost as she.

"I swear, you do something to them, there is no telling what I am going to-UGH!" One of John's minions slapped her. Instead of backing down, she returned her sight to the attacker and hissed at him.

"You won't do nothing," John continued, and raised the shotgun over his shoulder and got closer. One of his goons gave him the bag that Marika was carrying, and he pulled out the golden slave, laughing while holding it.

"Do you even know what you stole?" He asked, lowering himself and placing his face close to her, she could smell his breath. He did look his age, weirdly enough. Young, ready for action. How he managed to get to this position, as a leader of a notorious gang, was beyond her. "This thing," he continued, "is our ticket that got my brother and me this." He shows her the badge, a 2 of Diamonds. "So, you stealing it is not part of our plans."

"So? You have it, now leave us alone," Marika.

"Well, if you just gave it up so wigglingly, I would be inclined to let this pass." He starts to play around with his shotgun, takes a couple of steps back, moving the weapon to different positions, many of them aiming at her face. "But you got Dale killed, ya know? That ain't flyin' with us… but lucky for you, Marika, I kind of like you." He crouches again, smiling at her, "So, I want to keep you alive. You have been taking hits at us, mah brother might not be as smart, but I decided to keep tabs on yah, missy. And that is not counting when we found yah sticking it up to those Largon boys from the south of town a couple of weeks ago, heh?" He laughs, and everyone else of his goons does.

Marika grunted, having him that close was both gross and annoying. "Keep me alive, tche…" she scoffed in his face, "and for what?"

"Think of it as a scouting proposition." he stands up and takes a few steps back. "I want you in my ranks."

"And if I say no?" She asked, trying to continue being defiant.

"Welp," he aims the shotgun at the feet of both children and presses the trigger.

"NO!" Marika yelled.

Pieces of rotten wood from the floor jumped as the pellets from the shotgun pierced through it. Both children were okay, but it was a clear attempt at scaring her.

"You son of abitch, I will fucking kill you if you do something to them!" she yelled, her ears were glued to the scalp of her head and the hair on her tail was up. "What makes you believe I would like to work for a scumbag like you!?"

"That is the pretty part of this deal," John added, "You do as I say, or they get it." he then pointed the shotgun once more at them, and both children were trembling, scared, and confused.

"M-Mari! Please!" Yelled Max, trying to keep her sister safe, but even he was crying.

"I'm scared!" Yelled Cinthia.

"Don't worry, as long as you do what we say, they will be safe." He starts to walk to the exit. "They will give you your first order, bye-bye…"

John walked out of her view with the slab in his hands, and his steps disappeared as he got away down the building. Meanwhile, one of his henchmen, a big burly one, grabs the children on his shoulders, picking them up with no issue.

"Release me, you damn orc! I will kick your ass!" yelled Max, recovering his bravery.

"Don't worry, I will solve this!" Marika yelled.

"Shut up!" one of the henchmen hit her with the back of his hand.

The hit stings like the other two she has received. "Stop hitting me in the face!" she complained.

The man took both children away, Max screams and Cinthia's cries slowly went faint until she could not hear them.

"Okay, I will untie you now. If you try something funny, it won't be pretty for you or them," warned the man, as he reached with a knife behind her and cut the ties that were keeping her bound to the chair.

"Whatever," she answered, checking her wrists and rubbing them, feeling the pain from having them tightly tied.

They explained the target. Marika knew it was a losing proposition. They would give her only a 20% of what the target prize was going to be and keep the rest. That was going to slow down her progression immensely, and she was not having it.

But what should she do? If she attempted any move, it would mean to cause pain to Max and Cinthia, for who she has always been trying to work hard. The only reason she started to steal stuff and become a burglar was because she could not land a job, and the offers she was receiving to work on certain profession were a big no for her. She either got a job that fed them or she did crimes on a city with no law.

5 years ago.

"W-what do you mean?" she asked, afraid and confused.

She was standing in what used to be his father's office in their house, the light of the sun was against the person she was talking to, sitting on the desk. They lived in another city, far away from this one. It was a more developed one, with better living conditions. She remembers how good her life was, her father was a leading scientist that did conduct research on the System itself and figuring out how to exploit it. His discoveries led him to become a renowned researcher.

About her mother, she did not know much. Only that she was a very special woman before she parted ways. Her exact date of death was something she did not know, but she never found any photos of her on her father's stuff. That was a big mystery.

Which leads to the situation she found herself years ago.

"That's right. I don't need a stepdaughter now," said Kiara, her stepmother. Her father married her a couple of years back, and she has been insufferable. She was a beautiful red-headed woman with an incredible body in her 30s. Mature, alluring, a pain on Marika's ass back then, and her father was blind enough to fall for her. "Now that I own what was his, I don't need to act like I tolerate you."

"You cannot do that!" She screamed, "The will my father left said that everything belongs to me now!"

"By the time you turn 18" she smiles, a wide one that showcases her lips, "Until then, I am the one dealing with the finances, and then I take everything."

"You think I am not going to fight for what is mine?!" Marika said, taking a few steps forward.

"I know you will. You always defied me, your nature is to be a rebel and a pain," she said, and then snapped her fingers. "That is why I am getting rid of you before you turn 18."

Suddenly, someone managed to sneak behind Marika and place a bag made of cloth on her head, obscuring her sight. She was not allowed to see for several days, maybe weeks. Only allowed to take the bag off to eat. All she can remember during that period was that she was thrown into a vehicle of sorts and moved towards. With time, the place inside was a mess that she could only smell.

Then, they removed the bag and threw her outside and parted away, not before removing the bag from her head.

She spent days hungry, lost, trying to figure out what was happening, how she ended up in this situation. Many times she did not have enough energy to even cry. The dress she was thrown with was a destroyed mess, the only memory she had of her past father.

That was the first time she stole something. She has been a couple of days without eating anything, and she managed to take a piece of bread from a store in town. She ran towards an alleyway and started to eat it. It was the most delicious loaf she had ever eaten in her life, managing to calm her hunger. All she needed to do now was to worry about her thirst.

"I caught you, you little piece of shit!" Someone caught her, it was the baker, and he immediately punched her in the face.

The pain from the beating she received was still etched on her memory, each punch still stinging on her mind. She was still surprised she survived without medical attention, as her whole body ached after getting punched repeatedly in that alleyway. Pain, insufferable pain, a reminder that her past life was now gone.

Days later, she was sitting on the road, crying once more, still with marks of the beating on her whole body and sudden pains. How the demi-human has managed to survive so far was a mystery for her. When suddenly, she heard crying.

"M-mommyyyy…" she heard from a nearby road.

The curiosity got the best of her. Then, a couple of men came running from that direction, looking back but darting out of the place, holding a bag in one hand and a gun in the other. When she turned the corner, that is when she saw them.

Two children, a boy and a girl, crying over their dead mother, who was on top of a pool of her blood. She quickly understood what happened to them.

"N-no! Mommy! Don't leave us like dad!" said the girl. "Please, move! Stand up! Don't go to sleep like him."

She somehow missed the gunshot. Even with the system, thanks to what her father explained to her, if you don't have a class stone it was as good as having only 1 HP. Anyone who had theirs was capable of killing anyone if it did not exist.

She bites her lower lip, seeing them suffering. Both children were trying to wake her up, shaking her, crying, yelling for her to react. But it was too late, she knew that. How old were they? 5 years old at the time. Poor children, thrown into this messed-up world and city.

"Hey," Marika called their attention. Both children looked at her, confused, and she could see that they were afraid she might try to do something to them. She was older and a stranger after all. "Want to come with me?"

She was barely holding on to herself, but she did not want to leave 2 children to fend for themselves. By their clothes and her mother's she could that they were poor. They needed repairs, or just outright replacements, but they obviously could not afford them. Now, they were like her, children thrown into a dangerous city, where they had to find a way to survive.

Although they did not want to leave their mother, they ended up agreeing to join her, but they directed her to what would become her new home and community for the next 5 years. She took care of them and became better at stealing without being noticed, mostly clothes and food. And then, just recently in the present, she got her Class Stone, allowing her to become better at stealing, now going for money and not just the basics of survival.

And now, in the present, she was thrown back into a situation where she was not given any option but the one forced into her. Going down the stairs and then out of the building, accompanied by a bunch of henchmen of the most dangerous gang that she had avoided so far. If she had not gotten greedy with her last hit, she might not have been in this situation.

But she was not going to let them take away what was important for her, not like this. Those children depended on her, she was going to fight for what she cared about, to take back what was hers by right and by fight. But just shooting her gun was not going to go well, she needed someone to help her.

She needed Warren, and she knew how to find him again.

The sound of the hoofs from a horse and a carriage was being heard as they came out of the building. There was no signs of John anywhere. When she looked in the direction of the sound, she saw it, and she knew she made the right move.

And lady luck was on her side.

Warren stopped the carriage a few meters from them and jumped from the seat and slowly approached them with his hand close to his revolver. Lucy was nowhere to be seen.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Asked one of the henchmen, facing Warren. All of them, seeing the threat in his brown eyes and posture, they got ready for a fight, pulling out guns, knives, swords, and maces.

"I have some business with that lass there," he said, pointing towards Marika. "Don't get in the way"

"You are soooo slow, Warren!" she said, smiling. She takes out a knife from her [Hidden Pockets] and starts to play with it, "You know? I believed you were more perceptive!"

"You stole my knife, I want it back."

The moment she placed her hand on his shoulder was not a sign of goodbye. It was the moment she managed to take his knife without him noticing. For a moment she thought he was going to notice sooner, but he did it in the perfect moment. She knew he would want it back; it was an excuse to meet him once more, and it played in her favor.

"Sure!" she said, "retrieve it if you can."