Frizz paused, taking several deep breaths. A cold breeze rushed through, chilling the sensitive wound. The pain was bearable, but Frizz had admitted that without his perks, it would have been pure agony.
Frizz would be collapsed on the ground, bleeding and dying. "It's not bleeding anymore. That's good!" He whispered, his teeth chattering due to the cold night air.
"Please, heal fast!" He prayed, aware of the distress his injured state would cause to his parents and siblings. The sluggish steps continued. Frizz had one thing on his mind, and that was to head home.
"Status..."
[System]
Name: New Name
Level: 8
Experience: 50/160
Health: 30/39 (+8) [RF+2] [PP+6]
Mana: 36/36
Fatigue: 59/100 (somewhat exhausted)
Class: None
Physical Prowess = [somewhat exceptional human]
Magical Prowess = [average human]
Mental Prowess = [below average human]
Telekinetic Prowess = [novice]
Perks: [Serene Life], [Righteous Fury], [Reckless Approach], [Gluttonous Approach], [Telekinesis], [Alcoholic Advantage], [Peak Physicality], [Force Field], [Mark of Decrepitude], [Fast Healer], [Pain Suppression].
Talents: None
"It'd be nice to level up soon..." Frizz added while limping. The cold, silent road ahead was arduous. He slightly considered heading back to Mina and asking for help.
(No, better not drag her into this even further.) The sudden ruffle of a small bush caught Frizz's attention, causing him to put his guard up.
"You really do have powers..." A voice rang out as a figure revealed itself.
It was a man holding a submachine gun. An MP5 submachine gun. The sight of a firearm frightened Frizz. He gulped as he stepped back, preparing to run for his life.
Three men soon revealed themselves from behind the trees, slowly approaching Frizz.
Frizz, cornered, desperately held out his hands. Planning to send another telekinetic push. However, the four of them anticipated his reaction, causing them to swiftly train their weapons at him.
Frizz froze, facing the four quickly trained firearms. He was out of moves. There was nothing that he could do. (Shit, what the fuck.)
Seeing no other possible escape. Frizz surrendered, hoping that something would pop up from his system. The man in the middle slowly approached him, walking towards his back.
"T, come out!" the kidnapper from behind shouted. A tall, muscular figure stepped out from behind a tree, wielding a wooden baton. He was significantly larger than Frizz.
"Lights out!" the big kidnapper declared, swinging the baton down hard on Frizz's right temple. *Whack!* Frizz recoiled from the blow but felt no damage.
(My force field! Did it recover!? It hasn't been an hour yet! Did it regenerate a little?) He mused, still desperately looking for a way to escape.
"Huh?" The big kidnapper grunted, confused. "That was enough to break a face."
"Oh, right. You're not normal." The big kidnapper struck Frizz again in the same spot. *Whack!* The impact was more noticeable, but Frizz was still conscious. His vision blurred as a loud ringing filled his right ear.
"S-stop. Please..." he stammered.
"I said." The big kidnapper growled, tightening his grip on the baton. "LIGHTS OUT!" *Whack!*
Ten minutes later...
The soft hums of a vehicle engine and the chatter of the kidnappers were all Frizz could hear. He knew that he was being transported somewhere. There would be moments where he would slowly regain consciousness only to be sent back to a cold sleep via blunt trauma.
The kidnapper's conversations were a blur, though he heard that he was going to be held in an old warehouse. Frizz groaned as his body forced him to sleep and recover.
Twenty eight minutes later...
*Splash!* Frizz skittered upon feeling the cold water splashed, waking him up. His kidnappers snickered upon seeing the flails. For them, it was a joke that never gets old.
"Hey, wake up!" A voice boomed in front of Frizz. It came from the big burly kidnapper that knocked him out earlier. Frizz darted his eyes around. The space inside was large and had plenty of pillars.
Frizz yawed his jaw, aching from the several attempts to knock him out.
"He's awake," the big kidnapper announced.
Frizz scanned the area again. He was surrounded by several armed kidnappers while tightly bound to a chair. His limbs were completely restricted by tape. He pulled and tugged, but to no avail.
The fear of death enveloped, heart beating fast. This was a dire situation with no way to escape.
"Call him now."
"Alright." A masked kidnapper pulled out a smartphone and initiated a call. The phone rang for a moment before the call was accepted.
"You got him?" A loud, excited voice rang from the phone. The masked kidnapper switched to the frontal camera. "Yep, here."
"Figure out what he can do and keep your eyes on him." The voice from the phone ordered as Frizz spotted four of the five men he had defeated earlier, covered in bandages and with a furious expression plastered on their faces.
"Understood!" The kidnapper pocketed the phone and stepped back, letting their enforcer to deal with the hostage. The big kidnapper swung a cudgel, striking both of Frizz's thighs with a loud thud.
"AHH! Stop!" He pleaded as a quiet footstep approached. It was a man with a scar on his forehead. "How are you doing it? Those tricks of yours. How did you do that?" The scarred man asked in excitement.
"Are you an alien?"
Frizz panted, confusingly glancing at the scarred man. (What the heck is he saying?)
"Alien? No..." Frizz answered, hoping for some leniency. The scarred man's face soured, showing a hint of disappointment. The big kidnapper rolled his eyes and then struck Frizz's left forearm.
Frizz bit his lip, suppressing a cry of agony. "What do you guys want?" His question was met with a forceful blow to his left shoulder. "AHH!"
"We ask the questions here, not you." The scarred man retorted, lighting a cigarette. "Are you some kind of mutant?"
The whole room fell silent; this was by far the most interesting hostage they'd ever held. They waited for an answer, hoping for something extraordinary.
"No! I'm just a normal guy!" Frizz's answer wasn't received well by his murmuring kidnappers.
The scarred man looked at the big, burly kidnapper, nodding and authorizing the use of lethal force. The permission caused the kidnapper to smile, hurriedly putting on a brass knuckle and sending a punch.
"Ah-" Frizz's scream was cut short as the air was forced out from his lungs. He twitched while his mouth gaped open. The kidnappers watched his reaction, and after a few minutes, took off his clothes.
Frizz's bare figure was revealed. A visible bruise on the center of his chest. "You actually survived that, wow. Usually you'd be dead or vomiting blood," the scarred man noted.
"A strong punch with a brass knuckle should be enough to break your ribs, but..." The scarred man pressed his hand against Frizz's chest. "No fractures or bleeding."
(They're torturing me, testing my limits.) Frizz thought, panting. (There's no use pleading with them.) He darted his eyes around, scanning for an exit but only found the main entrance guarded with several armed, masked kidnappers.
The windows were pitch black, showing faint outlines of several trees outside. The warehouse was located in a remote place, away from the main road.
Frizz coughed, spitting some saliva, and counted the number of kidnappers present. (Fourteen... There are fourteen of them.) He paused. (Four of them have rifles, two on my left and right. All are aimed at me.)
The scarred man squinted his eyes, realizing what Frizz was doing, and scoffed. "Frizz, right? Four semi-automatic rifles are aimed at you, and at least five of us have pistols." The scarred man exhaled smoke at Frizz's face, managing a small smile.
"There are also several men outside. Trust me, you're not getting away."
The answer caused enough to sink Frizz's expressions. His weak hopes of escaping finally crumbled as tears began to slowly trickle down his dirty face.
The reality of the situation violently crashed at him; all he wanted was to go home and sleep. The system was also silent; there were neither any objectives nor rewards.
Then a familiar light and sound came.
[System]
New Objectives for New Name.
Escape: 0/1
Rewards: [Survivor] perk.
The sight of the notification gave Frizz a needed confidence boost. The fear temporarily blinded him to the fact that he has several perks and a powerful system. (That's right, I have a system.)
"This will all go away if you just answer us..." the scarred man stated with fake sympathy. "Why did you attack Baron?" (This is just a hurdle, an arc, character development!)
Frizz's eyes lit up. (I can do this.)
(Only I level u-) *Whack!* Frizz's thoughts were punched out as he was struck in the chest again. The sudden impact caused him to slightly relieve himself. The jeans he wore slightly darkened.
"Tell me!" The scarred man demanded as Frizz's breathing went erratic. Twitching and flailing at the chair, desperately reaching for air with tears trickling down his face. The scarred man gave him time to recover, impatiently tapping the buckle of his belt.
(Can't breatheeee.)
"Why did you attack Baron?" The scarred man asked while motioning for the big, burly kidnapper to prepare another punch.
"I did that because I could," Frizz blurted out the truth in a weak voice, still grasping for air. "I did it because I wanted to test my powers out...."
"I want to see!" The scarred man stated, placing a crumpled soda can on the floor by Frizz's chair. "Make it move, but don't try anything funny."
Seeing no other alternative, Frizz concentrated on the can and willed it to float with his mind. It lifted off the floor, hanging in the air, shocking his kidnappers. They stared in awe. Disbelief was written across their faces.
"Powers... superpowers are real, and you're the proof!" The scarred man muttered while staring at the floating can. "Wow, this is mind-breaking!"
(Despite hearing about it, it really is different when you see it in person.) The scarred man mused. "How are you doing this?" The scarred man expressed. His face was full of morbid excitement.