章 2: Battle of the Bar.
"No one can make you feel inferior without your consent"
Deciding that he needed food and somewhere to stay, Jerome moved towards the main area of the town where he guessed there would be a few inns or restaurants he could get food. As he walked towards the entrance to the normal area, two thugs blocked his way, one of them drew their sword and said" Leave your weapons and clothes on the floor and we will let you live, we do not want to kill you if we do not have to."
Jerome just looked the two men in the eyes, the one to his left looked like this was his first time mugging someone while the one on the right had clear experience in doing this. They both had worn leather armour on and their swords looked like they had seen better days. He laughed to himself and said," Talionis, it is time to feed."
He then gently rubbed his stomach and a sword handle slowly came out of it, causing the thieves to begin to panic. Once enough of the handle appeared, Jerome ripped the long sword out of his stomach, howling in pain as the blade removed itself from him, he then admired the changes the blade had gone under during the thousand years he moulded it as his own tool.
The hilt of the blade was shaped like two snakes devouring one another in a frenzied state, the blade of the sword was long with a slightly curved centre, the right side of the blade was pure black while the left side was a deep crimson colour. Jerome slowly walked towards the two thieves who were now paralysed with fear, they had never encountered someone crazy enough to store their weapon within their own stomach when he was a few centimetres away from the thief on the left, the thief peed himself and fell to the floor.
The one on the right felt Jerome's blood lust and knew that at least one of them would have to die today, to meet the demands of their target. He launched himself at Jerome, who easily sidestepped the thieves blow and cut him slightly along the stomach. Falling to the ground, the thief turned to plead with Jerome but when he opened his mouth Jerome elegantly shoved his sword into it. Fear was the only emotion left in the eyes of the thief, Talionis then began to glow and the body of the thief began to rapidly become husk-like.
A gentle yellow glow entered the blade and slowly travelled down the sword and into Jerome's hand, he felt new strength slowly enter his body. Satisfied, he removed Talionis from the thieves head and searched his body and took everything of value off of it, including some money. He then turned to the other thief who was lying in a puddle of his own piss and said" What Familia do you belong to? Make a vow of silence and you may live, after you leave everything of value on your body on the floor, away from the puddle."
The thief complied and threw everything of value towards the feet of Jerome and said" I belong to the Soma Familia, I hereby vow on my life to never speak on the events that happened tonight."
Jerome collected the stuff off of the floor and thought 'The Soma Familia is another one that will need be eradicated then, no rest for the wicked huh.'
To the thief's surprise Jerome kept his word and walked past him and into the normal district in town, a building across the street from him caught his attention, as he approached he noticed the sign read as 'Hostess of Fertility, intrigued Jerome walked towards the door and as he went to walk through a white-haired kid pushed past him and sprinted out of the building, confused Jerome used his speed and caught up to the kid with ease.
Once he caught up to him he grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and dragged him to the side of the street and said" What is your name kid and what has got you acting like this?"
The Kid on the verge of tears said" My name is Bell and they are right, I'm not worthy of someone of Ais' talent or potential, I'm too weak to do anything for anyone. Why would she look at me?"
Jerome burst into laughter at what the kid was saying, he calmed down and said" So this girl is strong right?"
Bell nodded his head in response and Jerome continued" So instead of standing your ground and showing the strength of your spirit you ran?"
Bell again nodded his head and Jerome lightly smacked him on the back of the head before saying" You are coming back in there with me now understand? You are only as weak as people say you are, rise above your weakness, grow from their taunts, use it as the fuel to grow stronger. Do you understand? Eventually, you will rise above those who ridicule you but you have to put the effort in, no one will believe you however just laugh them off. Now let's go get something to eat it's on me."
Bell had no choice as Jerome forcibly dragged him back into the building, Jerome ignored the awkward and concerned looks that Bell was getting and pulled him into a booth, he then turned to a waitress and said" I will pay for this kids meal from before and whatever he wants now, I would like the house special soup."
The waitress turned to a large woman sitting behind the counter who lightly smiled and nodded her head, the waitress then walked towards them and asked Bell " Are you ok? What would you like to eat?"
Bell stuttered and said" I would like the same as I had before" In a quiet tone.
Jerome reached across the table at lightly tapped the back of his head again and said" Say it from your chest, you need to speak clearly so that the lovely waitress can get the order from you."
Encouraged by Jerome's presence, Bell took a deep breath and said" I'm ok thanks for asking, I would like the same meal as I had before thank you."
The waitress smiled at Bell and turned to Jerome and said" Thank you for bringing him back, my name is Syr Flova, what is yours?"
Jerome smiled and said" A beautiful name for a beautiful woman, I have no name but you can refer to me as 7."
Jerome looked at Bell and then back at Syr and said" The kid reminds me of when I first met my wife, helping him feels like helping my past self, he just needs some direction and then he will become as strong as anyone in this city bar me."
Syr blushed but before she could say anything Bell shouted" I will be stronger than you."
Jerome laughed and said" I look forward to the day, tomorrow we will go and train together in the dungeon, you will need some more energy for that. Syr do me a favour and double his order, thank you very much."
Syr nodded her head and retreated back towards the counter before disappearing back into the kitchen, the was silence between Bell and Jerome however it was not uncomfortable, A blonde girl approached the table and looked at Bell before saying" I'm sorry for what Bete said before, he was out of line, I would like to go with you to train tomorrow as well."
A look of happiness washed over Bell's face however Jerome's words caused him to shrink back " I assume your Ais right? I do not think you coming tomorrow is a good idea, you are Bell's goal and getting what you want too soon will hinder his progress. Thank you for the offer but we will be declining."
After initially looking sad at what Jerome had said, he looked at Jerome's face to see him smiling at Bell and winking at him, clocking what Jerome meant Bell smiled. It was true after Bell returned and showed strength, Ais came and offered to train with him, amazed Bell turned to Ais with a smile and said" Thank you for the offer but 7 is right, I would like to train without you for now, until I'm stronger and we can train as equals."
Ais smiled at what Bell had said and was about to respond when hoarse laughter came from behind her, a scraggly man erupted into laughter. When he stopped laughing he looked at Bell and said" Ais blessed you with an offer to train however you turned her down? Who do you think you are?"
Ais Turned to the man and said" Bete stop-"
Before she could finish her sentence Jerome loudly said" Can someone put their dog back on its leash? It seems to have gotten to the alcohol and all I can hear is it bark while it shits,"
The entire building went quiet as Jerome rose to his feet and walked over to Bete, he smiled at him and simply said" I'm only at level one while I assume you are a higher level than that, Would you care to have an arm wrestle with me? We could fight however I have a feeling that the lovely lady behind the counter would not like that."
Bete laughed again and sat down at a table with his arm up ready to accept Jerome's challenge, Jerome elegantly sat down and said" If I win you will apologise to Bell and act as our supporter tomorrow while we train, if you win I will be your slave for a year, agreed?"
Bete laughed and said" Sure, why not? Swear on your Familia crest?"
Jerome smiled and said" Sure"
They both did so and Jerome clasped his and Bete's hands together, initially, Bete easily overpowered Jerome but as soon as Jerome was about to lose, his arm began glowing a dark black light he slammed Bete's hand into the table with enough force to destroy the entire table. Stunned by his defeat, Bete just sat there in shock, completely sobered up by what he had just experienced.
Jerome then got up and said to the woman behind the counter" I will also pay for the table" As he walked past Loki he whispered "Loki ego vigilantes",
As the words entered her ears, she began to shiver, she looked at Jerome who just smiled at her and sat down to eat his dinner. Bell was looking at Jerome with amazement in his eyes, Bete eventually rose from his chair and walked towards their table before falling to his knees next to Bell...
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