章 69: Chapter 69- Fatigued.
Jim's snores soon became audible while the injured Wilson was already unconscious. Shorty looked at the sleeping duo in disgust. These two were too careless. Especially the wind ability user. Did they think that a stupid cage formed from a small paper card was enough to hold him down? These idiots just made his plan five times easier. The strong one was badly poisoned and was currently unconscious. Although he was no more in danger, with the risk of death looming over his head now gone, he was still too weak such that his vigilance would definitely be at an all time low and anyone or anything could easily get rid of him.
And as for the one who caged Shorty with a talisman, Shorty intended to dose him, tie him up and make him open the space bag in his possession.
'I will make him open and give up everything in that bag. Then, I will decide if I want to kill him slowly or quickly. Perhaps, I will make my decision based on his response to my orders. If he is slow, I will make his death slow and if he is fast, his death will be likewise fast. hehe... Maybe I can even get him to sign a life contract in exchange for his life.' Shorty fantasized in his head as a small smirk appeared on his face. A life contract was a 'one time use' type of contract that binds a person's life to another. When a contract is signed, the contract owner has the ability to transfer any injuries on him to the contracted and if used to the right way at the right time, it could even save one's life if used properly. It could be said that the contract owner has another life. To explain better, take for example, A is the contract owner and B is the contract signer. If A is in a life and death situation and manages to activate the contract, all the injuries, will all be transferred to B, the one who signed the contract. It was the kind of contract that was never legal because it could be forced on someone if the disparity in strength was wide enough and it usually ended with someone dying. But then, it was never made officially illegal either. Probably because those in power were using it as well. After all, it was really a great tool for escaping death. Too bad it could only be used once before one had to buy another. Shorty clenched his fists tightly.
*dong*
He struck the cage once. He was baffled. He looked at his right fist which he used to punch the cage. What was with this sound?
*dong* *dong*
He struck the cage twice. His face twitched. Seriously?!
*dong* *dong* *dong*
He struck the cage thrice.
"What the f*ck?" Shorty asked. He was furious and felt insulted. He was the powerful shorty..
ahem..tall hunter. His ability was superstrength with a slight variation. He could harden his body till he was harder than stone and if he so wished, he could even harder now his body until he was as hard as reinforced steel, although it came at the cost of his stamina. That was why he chose not to use it in the fight against these two who were currently sleeping carelessly on the white, unmelting snow, under the night sky, in the wild. He was already too tired before meeting and attempting to murder....ahem... send them on their way and he was conserving his nearly depleted stamina. Turned out to be a somewhat harmless, yet annoying mistake. And now, he was trapped.
He activated his ring to bring out his favorite weapon. Nothing came out. He was shocked. How come? He could feel the connection with his spatial ring but why was his sword refusing to come out? Was this cage having a space-lock function.
"Sh*t!" He cursed. He realised he did not have any other choice.
He closed his eyes and activated the ability cells in his body. The visible part of his stocky body immediately began to show signs of his skin changing colour to a deep brown color.
Suddenly, Shorty roared and raised his hands, joining and interlocking his fingers. His skin seemingly melted and joined both hands together above his head. The melded hands then changed colors until it was the colour of metal as it vibrated violently.
Shorty roared and swung his hand on the cage.
*BAAAAANG!*
The cage shook and vibrated a little. Then, it was calm with not even a single dent on its surface.
The impact was less than eventful with an obvious explanation for it; insufficient strength. The cage's slight vibration was as if saying Shorty's punch was too weak. The cage was perfectly fine but Shorty was not. His hands broke apart. His bones twisted and bent. He winced in pain and yelled out expletives, as he panted from both pain and exhaustion. He wanted to sit but was unable to. The cage was not in any way spacious so, he leaned on the wall in fatigue. That simple yet supposedly destructive move had depleted all his remaining stamina.
He was just too tired from all the stress he had put himself through, and although it was normally not comfortable leaning on the cage bars like he did, Shorty still fell asleep.
**************
At this time, Vox was negotiating with Old Rock, an old businessman wanted in seven different cities for fraud. He was a money counterfeiter who had made waves in his ability to scam people into selling very valuable items and sometimes beasts to him by paying in fake currency. He was a small legend in the southern region of the kingdom for having succeeded in scamming the rich nobles, leaving them almost broke and still managing to escape the cities they were in charge of, unscathed. Because of him, all the nobles of the whole southern region had come together to push the kingdom to urgently form a common currency with a sign that helped to differentiate between real and fake currency. This successfully put Old Rock out of business. If not, perhaps he would currently be wanted in more than seven cities.
Anyway, all that happened about three decades back and after nearly dying from the head hunt caused by a massive bounty on him, he decided to instead set up a small legit bar business with a link to the black market in the beautiful rebel city, Tiger City.
"Come on Old Rock, you can't possibly treat me like this..." Vox complained bitterly.
"Watch me!" Old Rock answered. The scowl on his wrinkled face made him look more beastly than manly.
"I am the major reason your bar is making so much money."
"No you are not. You see those beautiful ladies over there? They are the reason. Your insane masochist business is just earning me a little extra commission." Old Rock was not going to lose out in a business argument against this kid that had just recently entered the business world of service provision. Tsk, still an inexperienced amateur.
"But my only childhood friend is coming soon..." Vox grunted in complaint.
"So?"
"He needs a place to stay."
"He can stay at the apartment..." Old Rock said after a short pause.
"Really?" Vox was elated.
"Not for free!" Old Rock said with a raised eyebrow.
Vox's elated expression dropped. He knew that everytime Old Rock's eyebrows were raised like that, there was a not so palatable condition involved. He still chose to ask.
"What's the condition?"
"You will pay with a fifty percent extra commission for at least three months. Until he is able to pay for himself." Old Rock said. Fifty percent extra meant he got a total of sixty percent of Vox's earnings.
"What? That is fraud."
"No, it's not!"
"Yes, it is!"
"Fraud is me making you sign a contract without letting you know the details so I can legally cheat you out of your money. This is me giving you a fair condition."
"Fair?" Vox repeated. "This is obviously unfair!"
"No, it's not."
"Yes it is."
"Unfair is me giving you a condition without any way out. I'm already giving you a way out. For example, you can choose to rent from outsiders and I won't even fuss." Old Rock explained. Vox wanted to argue but he was always short of words when faced with smart people.
"Fine!" He said as he gritted his teeth in phantom agony. He walked out of the bar feeling cheated but without an urge to revenge. It was a unique feeling Old Rock gave him everytime they made a deal. He hated when he was cheated and usually found a way to get back at them, but when it was Old Rock cheating him, he would just ignore it after a couple minutes. No vengeance of sorts.
And till now, he still did not understand why.
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