Rio didn't look back at the black car because he didn't give a damn about the Iron fist gang for now
He quickened his pace in order to reach the park as soon as possible.
He decided to take a faster route and turned into a narrow, trash-strewn alleyway.
When he was halfway to the park, he stopped on his track.
Then the man he had suspected from the iron fist gang showed himself.
He was tall, lean, and wore a high-end combat vest that cost more than Rio's apartment.
His skin had a strange, greyish tint which made him look less human.
"Going somewhere, Scum?"
Rio's eyes narrowed under his hood.
He recognized the owner of the voice immediately.
It was Varkas. In the old timeline, Varkas was a D-Rank hunter with a Stone-Skin ability.
He wasn't a top-tier hunter, but to someone like Rio, he had been a god.
Varkas used to rent Rio from the debt collectors, and used him as a live practice dummy for the local underground arena.
Rio would cough out blood on those nights he was being used as a dummy.
"Varkas," Rio said.
He could now hear the system identifying Varkas as a threat.
"So you remember me? Good," Varkas chuckled and crackled his knuckles.
"Garen came crawling back to the boss crying about someone who poke him through a wall. Personally? I think he just tripped on his own feet and made up a story to hide how pathetic he is. Or maybe you found a high-tech stun-gun on the black market?"
Varkas stepped closer, his grey skin catching the flickering light of a broken streetlamp.
"The boss is annoyed, Rio. Garen is in the hospital with a broken rib cage . That's expensive. And since you don't have the gold to pay for it, we're going to have to find another way to settle the debt."
Rio didn't move. He felt the heat in his gut rising. [Wrath Overflow: 18%... 19%...].
He needed to vent this energy, but he also realized something. The System didn't just multiply his output; it multiplied his intake.
If he hit the ground in the park, he would just be wasting the power. But if he let an Awakened hit him...
"What kind of way?" Rio asked, his voice intentionally shaking a little. He needed Varkas to commit. He needed the bully to feel superior.
Varkas grinned, a cruel, stony expression.
"The boss thinks your sister is a better investment now. If you're dead or crippled, she becomes 'collateral' for the medical bills. She's young, Rio. She'll work off Garen's hospital stay in a month at the Red Lantern district. It's a win-win for everyone but you."
The mention of Ellie made Rio snap.
The red border around his vision flared into a blinding crimson.
[Warning: Rage Spike Detected.]
[System Strategy: Counter-Strike Available. 1,000x Retaliation Ready.]
No, Rio thought, clenching his fists so hard his knuckles turned white. Not yet. If I hit him now, he'll just die with one punch, and I'll still be overflowing with energy. I need to unload this energy and he seems to be perfect.
"You... you can't touch her," Rio stammered, playing the part of the terrified victim.
He stepped back, tripping slightly over a pile of trash.
Varkas laughed out arrogantly.
"Watch me, scum. After I break your legs, I'm going up there to teach your sister another round of lessons."
Varkas charged forward.
He didn't use a weapon because he didn't need one to fight a scum like Rio. His entire body was a weapon.
He swung a massive, grey fist aimed directly at Rio's face.
Instead of him to dodge, he stood perfectly still and allowed Varkas to punch him.
The sound was like a sledgehammer hitting a concrete pillar that refused to bulge.
Rio's head snapped back, and his feet skidded an inch across the pavement. But he didn't fall nor had a bruise.
[Damage Absorbed: 50.]
[Conversion Applied: 1,000x.]
[Charge: 50,000...]
Varkas paused, his eyes widening. "What? You're still standing?"
He didn't wait for an answer. He began to rain blows down on Rio's chest, shoulders, and stomach.
Thud. Crack. Thud.
Each strike from a D-Rank stone-user should have been enough to kill a normal man ten times over.
Rio stood there, his arms hanging loosely at his sides.
He felt the impact of each punch, but the pain was being swallowed by the System.
It was like being hit by pillows. Each strike was being converted, sucked into the "Wrath Reservoir" and stored as raw, vibrating potential.
"Is that the best an 'Awakened' can do?" Rio whispered.
Varkas roared in frustration. His ego was being bruised worse than his fists. "You're a dead man! I'll break you in half!"
Varkas pulled back his leg.
His skin turned from grey to a deep, obsidian black.
He channeled every ounce of his mana into a single point. This was his signature move: the "Stone-Shattering Kick." It was designed to break through the heavy shields of tank-class hunters.
"Die!" Varkas screamed.
He delivered a monstrous, spinning kick directly into Rio's ribs.
The air pressure from the kick blew Rio in the alleyway ten feet into the air.
The sound of the impact was deafening, a sickening CRUNCH that echoed off the brick walls.
But the crunch didn't come from Rio's ribs. It came from the air itself being compressed.
Rio didn't move an inch nor made a grunt. He stood there, his hoodie fluttering from the shockwave, looking down at Varkas's foot as if it were a minor annoyance.
Above Rio's head, a bright, digital red counter appeared in the air, visible only to him. It was climbing so fast the numbers were a blur.
[Charge: 1,000...]
[Charge: 2,000...
[Charge: 3,000...]
[Warning: Accumulation at Maximum Efficiency. 1,000x Return is Overloaded.]
Rio slowly raised his head. His eyes were no longer human.
They were two glowing pits of veiny, dark crimson.
The "Overflow" was gone, replaced by something much, much worse. He felt light and could jump over the moon.
He looked at the sweating, terrified Varkas, whose leg was still pressed against Rio's side.
Varkas's face had gone from arrogant to pale as he realized that he wasn't hitting a man but a God.
Rio smiled. It was a dark, predatory look that made the stone-skinned hunter's blood turn to ice.
"Is that all you've got?" Rio asked softly, his tone backed with malice.