Chapter 2: First Blood

Phuc pushes Kana on the ground. She covers her chest tightly and screams as loud as she can.

The man sits on her belly and punches the air out of her, causing her to shut up.

"No one is going to hear you, bitch!

Your previous husband chose a nice location. No one is around to hear you scream.

So stop harassing my ear."

Phuc starts caressing Kana's body, his eyes radiating the uncontrollable lust.

Kana closes her eyes, crying in silence.

"Go away, Blaze. Don't look…"

Blaze lunges at the back of Phuc and wraps his arm around the abuser's neck.

"Get your filthy hands off my mother!"

Blaze drags him back.

The kid is only sixteen and malnourished, but a fat couch potato has little to no strength to resist.

"What are you doing, boy?! Release me!"

Phuc tries to wriggle out but only feels the arm around his neck become tighter. He starts to cough uncontrollably.

Kana recovers from the hit and sits back up. She blankly stares at the two men, not knowing what to do.

"Help me, women! Help me!"

Phuc screams, his spit flies everywhere.

"This ends right now!"

Blaze says, his tone is calm and cold, his eyes filled with fury.

He has let this man cross the lines too many times. He has let him do anything he likes to his mother for too long.

Phuc needs to die.

Blaze grabs the knife on his waist and stabs it into the back of Phuc's neck.

Phuc struggles in desperation, his two hands reach out, grabbing air. Saliva spills out of his lips, a semi-transparent white fog flows out of his mouth.

That is Phuc's superpower.

He can blow white fog out of his mouth. Unfortunately the volume of the fog is limited to that of a cigarette blow, and the white isn't even that thick and can't be used as concealment.

"Hel…"

Phuc opens his mouth and intends to cry for help.

Kana grabs her torn blouse that is lying on the floor and stubs it in Phuc's mouth.

The man's eyes are wide open, his pupil dilates.

He can't believe the scaredy cat, always listening to his order, Kana, dares to do such things.

Blaze laughs like a demon and repeatedly stabs the knife into Phuc's neck. Blood spurts out like fountain rain, painting Blaze's shirt a crimson, deathly red.

The man isn't dead yet and is still trying his best to escape Blaze's grapple. His strength diminishes second by second, and all the muscles are slowly giving out.

Seeing the time has come, Blaze shoves Phuc to the ground and thrusts the knife into Phuc's right ear. His right eye pops out of its socket and rolls like a ball.

[You have gained 10 experience points!]

[Status window is unlocked.]

[Inventory is unlocked.]

[Quest list is unlocked.]

[Mission accomplished!]

[Reward is delivered to Inventory.]

[Please check inventory for further details.]

The transparent window pops up again.

As Blaze guessed, no one else can see it except him. Even his mother is completely oblivious to the weird hologram.

Kana breathes heavily but is weirdly calm about the situation. She carefully observes the bloody scene.

"This is bad, kiddo. They will come for us." Kana says.

"I will protect you, mother. I became an Awakened!"

Blaze gleefully says. He knows it may not be the perfect time, but it is a child's desire to share good news with their parents.

"Really? My god, Blaze! I'm so happy for you!"

Kana hugs her kid. Blaze is taller than her, but he squats down so she can hug his head like they always did.

Blaze is covered in blood, but that does not seem to bother Kana.

"If you have power, then everything is much simpler now."

Kana says.

"What are you thinking, mother?"

"Grab the shovel, kiddo. We're going to bury this pig."

Their house was bought by Blaze's father years ago when Blaze was around nine.

The house has a small, secluded garden at the back. This area is also in the middle of nowhere, and rarely anyone crosses by.

Even though there is still sunlight, Blaze and Kana decide to bury the corpse right away. The faster it disappears, the better it is for them.

Blaze and Kana drag the corpse outside the garden.

Phuc is extremely heavy, and they try for quite a while to successfully bring him outside. Then, Kana covers the body with a tarp, along with other garden utensils.

If someone is passing by, they won't be able to notice the body.

"Wash yourself and change your clothes, then put on garden gloves and boots.

If anyone asks, you tell them you're digging a hole for a new plant, got it?"

Kana says.

"I understand, Mother. And what are you going to do?"

Blaze says.

"I'm going to clean the pool of blood that pig left behind. 

We need to act fast, Blaze. Our lives depend on it."

"I'll understand, Mother. You can count on me."

Then the two separate to do their jobs.

Blaze washes quickly and changes into fresh new clothes. What's important now is to dispose of the corpse. He can have time for careful scrubbing later.

He puts on the yellow garden gloves and boots, grabs the shovel, and begins digging.

His heart beats fast like the frantic wings of a trapped bird inside the cage. Sweat runs on his face, and the sun shines on the back of his head.

Whatever happens, he still focuses on digging the hole.

A couple of cars run by a few times. Each time, Blaze feels like dropping inside a cold fridge. And each time, the car runs past without stopping.

Time passes and the twilight comes. The last light of the day slowly disappears behind the horizon.

Kana has come out of the house to watch the sundown with her son.

"When it's dark. We will put him in."

Blaze says.

Kana nods.

"You seem much more composed than I thought you would, mother. It's like you have done this before."

Blaze says.

"Me and your father have lots of tales that you don't know, kiddo.

In this godforsaken 'superheroes' world, one must do unspeakable things to survive."

Kana says, emphasize the 'superheroes' with extreme irony and contempt.

Superheroes? What a joke… Kana thinks.

"What's your superpower, kiddo?"

"I haven't tested it yet, Mother. I will try it out after this and tell you the result."

Blaze says, looking over to his 'Inventory' window.

[INVENTORY]

[Beginner's gift; The Weapon; Superpower Blindbox.]

The inventory is a grid-based window with icons of whatever he's currently possessed.

Right now, there are only eight available grids, and three of them are filled with icons.

The first grid is a red present box, the beginner's gift.

The second grid is a question mark, this should be the customizable weapon.

The third grid has a square golden chest with no keyhole, this should be the Blindbox.

Blaze doesn't know what will happen if he receives the super power, so he refrains from taking it right away.

He has heard about people who have a convulsion for their Awakening, some go to sleep for weeks to months.

He can't do that right now because he needs to help his mother get rid of this corpse.

"There's no rush, kiddo. Whatever happens, I have your back."

Kana says.

Blaze smiles.

He does not have that great of a life, but at least he still has his mother.

"It's dark. Let's bury the pig, Mom."