Right fist, right fist, left fist; Ivan dispatched a few of his pursuers with well-timed attacks to the temples. He used these attacks to incapacitate six men. There were a total of 21 people who were all men in the instigated crowd. Some of the men understood Ivan's attack and decided to come at him cautiously.
Since none of them had a gun with them, they decided that it was better to fight the young man with hand-to-hand combat. The Thief-class character didn't take the opportunity to flee. He decided to witness the fight, feeling sure that Ivan would eventually get a rough beating.
Ivan found himself surrounded. He wasn't experienced in fighting, so he didn't know whether to attack first or wait for them to attack.
'If I were a bit agile, I would have initiated an attack and not stand here feeling cornered,' Ivan thought.
He took a boxing stance and was tracking every assailant.
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Innate ability unlocked: Quick feet.
Description: You have the ability to react with high, quick bursts of acceleration. This ability comes as a result of your improved agility.
'Speak of the devil.' A grin spread across Ivan's face.
He attacked one of his assailants. He dashed forward, draughting a right cross punch. The assailant fell for it and raised their left lower arm to block the attack. Ivan faked the attack and went with a strong left-hand punch on the assailant's diaphragm. He knocked the wind out of the attacker's lung. The attacker fell to the ground, desperately gasping for air.
The attack happened too fast for the other attackers to react. Before they could react, Ivan had taken down another assailant. The other muggers desperately rushed Ivan, hoping that they could use their numbers to overwhelm him.
Ivan easily took all of them down. He didn't focus on hitting them on their temples. He delivered powerful strikes to either their temples, their diaphragm or their crotch. The men lay on the ground, some of them in pain, some of them desperately gasping for air and also in pain, and some of them unconscious.
Ivan had managed to keep track of the Thief-Class character. The character hadn't moved from the spot where he stood spectating the brawl.
Ivan turned to look at the character. He said to the thief, "Hand over the phone."
The thief was still in shock. He watched the helpless bodies of the men he instigated. He quickly recovered and regarded Ivan. The thief smiled with smugness.
"That's impressive. You are trained in combat," the Thief said.
Ivan didn't say anything. His instincts warned him that the thief was trying to start a conversation to know more about him and possibly make him lower his guard. The thief who kept smiling waited for Ivan to say something but was disappointed.
"You don't seem to talk much," The thief said and slowly paced to the left. "I'm sure that you have guessed that there is something unusual about me. Yes, you are correct. You see, I was lucky to obtain a class card earlier today during the flood. I accepted the class that came with the card and I became a special character
"My class is Thief. Although it's inferior to the criminal class, it's still something. For this reason, I feel smug. This is because, as a thief, I am innately well-versed in the art of evasion, and that's why you couldn't catch me.
"So don't feel bad after I eventually escape this alley with your girl's phone. Wait, is she even your girl? You don't seem like the guy who could pull in such beauty."
Ivan had been calculating in his thoughts on how to capture the thief. He needed to get closer to the thief and get a hold of him. He remembered that the innate abilities of a martial arts class character included enhanced grappling.
He was presented with the opportunity to get closer to the thief. The thief has instigated him to become angry. It took Ivan a lot of effort to restrain himself from mindlessly lunging at the thief. He took off his hoodie. He had worn a hoodie to the hangout because nighttime came with a severe drop in temperature. It could be as low as six degrees Celsius at night.
He held his hoodie in his left while he genuinely put on a scowling expression. The thief's smile broadened.
The thief said, "I was right. You are indeed a virgin. A real man wouldn't let a lady walk in a vulnerable position."
Ivan seemingly mindlessly lunged at the thief, wanting to ensnare him with a bear hug. The thief rolled away from Ivan's grasp with his innate contortionist ability. This reaction was within Ivan's expectations, and that's why he came prepared. He initiated Quick Feet and slipped his shoulder away. His shoulder was serving the thief as a support while he contorted.
The thief lost balance, giving Ivan an opening to attack. Ivan used the hoodie as a cane and whipped the overconfident thief on the head. The hoodie wrapped across the thief's face with whipping force.
The thief shrieked. His left eye, nose and mouth were caught in the attack. Before he could stabilise. He felt a piercing pain in his diaphragm and subsequently in his crotch. He yelled like a madman and called for help. He felt like the pain was going to kill him. The pain was so overwhelming that he had forgotten his assailant, Ivan.
Ivan searched the thief and found Daiyu's phone. He used her phone to call the police. Soon, the police were on the scene. Some policemen were busy questioning residents who lived nearby while another batch arrested the helpless drug peddlers who lay on the ground. Ivan and the thief were also taken to be detained. Ivan's case was just to be detained for investigation. Daiyu would have to visit the police station to clear her friend from being labelled as a criminal.
Shortly, the street returned to its calm atmosphere. Meanwhile, Daiyu waited at Ivan's door for him to return, but he didn't show up. She left and found a call booth. She used the booth to call Roger, and subsequently she called Chioma. She informed them about the recent development. They were all worried for Ivan. Chioma had to hire an Uber that took her to pick up Daiyu from a predetermined location.
Daiyu spent the night at Chioma's place.