by Pegaz
“Okay.” John took a deep breath. “Well, where do I start? I suppose I should start by saying it outright. The last girl who loved me died because of me.”
John used to live in London with his parents in a small apartment. His dad was a truck driver, and his mom was a cleaner at a school. It was a hard life with the gangs, drugs, and violence of the city centre, but John did his best to stay away from them.
When John was eight years old, his parents died in a car accident. He had no family other than them, so he was put in an orphanage home. The first night inside the home, most of the boys roughed him up. Even against impossible odds, young John still fought back, but it was one on fifteen…
However, from that night onwards, no one there messed with him again.
A few years later, he left school and tried working inside a steel factory, hauling steel car bumpers to get welded by machines. After that day though, he decided he didn’t want to labour that hard. He asked around and got a “job” as an enforcer for a loan shark. His job was to make sure the customers paid on time, and he was good at it.
His boss stayed clear of the gangs and drugs, so John followed suit. However, some of his friends from the orphanage home joined a few different organisations, which meant he had connections there. His friends came to his boss for a quick loan from time to time too.
When John turned twenty-two, his boss was arrested and charged with many crimes. They couldn’t pin anything on John though since he made sure he left no clues while working. Seizing the opportunity, John took over his boss’ role as he had his notebook too. It had all his boss’ contacts and debts recorded in there, so John smoothly transitioned into the role.
It wasn’t long after becoming the new boss that he met Lisa. She was 5 foot 7 inches, had long brown hair down to her hips, thin eyebrows, and brown eyes with small glasses. It was love at first sight.
John went up and talked to her. He said he was a banker, and they hit it off from there. They dated, and as they both worked during daytime, they fell into a routine of work during the day and spending time together at night. This went on for a few months.
When Lisa found out the truth about his occupation, she was angry. John had lied to her, but he explained everything. He lent money to people who the bank refused, charged them almost the same as banks and gave them the same time to pay it back. It was an illegal bank, but with competitive rates. The only difference was, if you didn’t pay it back, they wouldn’t take your home. Instead, they’d take your health.
John had hundreds of customers with loans ranging from just a few thousand to tens of thousands of pounds. If he collected them all at once, he’d have more than a few million. However, as all were used, on most days, he didn’t have more than a few thousand in cash.
He told Lisa that he would get out of the business soon and then settle down with her. It was then that he popped the question with an engagement ring. After a moment of contemplation, she said yes.
John gave his business to a friend from the orphanage that had the right connections. The man he picked was in a gang but was only a low-level member. He could buy his way out if he wanted.
However, the man’s rival gang didn’t see it that way. They saw that their rivals were getting a stable business that could bring them a lot of money, and that would be trouble for them.
They killed the man who John had picked and would have killed John too if not for his considerable reputation. Most gangs in London wouldn’t touch him.
Fearing him, they went after Lisa to threaten him. They only intended to kidnap her, but something went wrong in the abduction and she got shot.
John was devastated at her death. He sat in his home for weeks on end with no energy. All he did was drink and drink, until one day, the police came and told him there was an arrest on Lisa’s killer. John mustered the strength to go to the police station. He heard the whole confession of the killer. From then on, he felt like a mountain was on each of his shoulders from the guilt.
There was a court hearing to sentence the killer to prison. Inside the court, John rushed out of the seating area to where the defendant was and beat every part of him. It took six security guards and police men to get John off the killer. By the time they did, the man’s face would never be the same.
John was locked up, but they went lenient on him because of the circumstances. He was only sentenced for a year in prison for Actual Bodily Harm. He should have been sentenced for at least five years and charged with Grievous Bodily Harm, but the police felt his pain. Some even said they saw nothing.
When John got out of prison a year later, he was twenty-four years old and had lost almost everything to his name. He went to the gang leader of his dead orphanage friend and made a deal.
John gave the leader everything. Money, contacts, clients and more. In return, he needed to wipe out his rival gang within six months, including the man in prison who killed Lisa. It was a win-win situation for leader, so he agreed.
Six months later, the news around the country showed one hundred and seventy-eight people murdered in one night around London and twenty-nine people in different prisons. They linked all the men and women to the same gang and the police questioned rival gang members.
John saw the news and smiled. It was his first smile in almost two years. Packing what little he had left, he travelled to the north, where he worked as a forklift driver until he died of a heart attack fourteen years later.
‘Ding!’
Emotional state back to normal.
John sat there, stunned. The guilt he had been feeling for twenty-two years had disappeared.
That’s it? Is the guilt gone, just like that? John didn’t know what to think, and for a few minutes, he was stunned. Suppose, it is time to move on. A lifetime was measured at twenty-one years back on Earth, so I have mourned for more than a lifetime. He looked at the woman with Immortal Eye, catching a glimpse also of her teary expression.
???
Rank: 2
Level: 2
Sin: 0
Oh, she’s one of the few immortals in this party. Even the princess was mortal.
“How come you are friends with the princess, anyway?” The abrupt change of subject shook the woman, as John asked. “You’ll outlive her since you’re immortal.”
The woman still had a few tears in her eyes from hearing John’s story.
“How did you know I’m an immortal?”
John smiled. “Secret skill of mine.”
“My master said that sometimes, it’s good to be friends with mortals since you will relearn the value of time,” she said in a steady voice, sniffling and wiping away her tears. “Mortals have much less time, so… they live every moment to its fullest.”
“That’s true, what your master says.” John nodded. “Since we’re only Rank 2, we’ve only got a longer life than mortals. We should try to live every moment to its fullest too.”
“What are you trying to say?” the woman caught on, batting her eyelashes. “You want to go hunting together to keep each other safer?”
John grinned at the woman. “Isn’t going on a date with me a much safer alternative?”
Chapter 29
Coincidence?
For the first time, John took note of the woman’s facial features. She shared some of the same traits as Lisa—the thin eyebrows, turned-up nose and thin lips. However, her hair was long and in a shade of a deep red, while her face was decorated with a set of cool green eyes. She was wearing a blazing red dress that stopped at her knees, simple yet elegant. Her hair was in a half-ponytail, most of it spilling over her shoulders.
“What happened to ‘I don’t deserve her affection’, then?” The red-head chuckled a catty laugh. “You don’t deserve hers, but mine is okay?”
“I had an epiphany,” John said smoothly. “I think I’ve mourned enough.”
“I might be safer on a hunting trip alone with the way you’re looking at me.”
“That so?” John play
ed along. “Too bad, would have been fun.”
“Why do I feel you’re not disappointed enough?” She put her hand on her hip.
He stared straight into her eyes. “I don’t even know your name.”
“You don’t deserve to know my name.” The woman turned her head away from John.
“That so?” John chuckled. “I guess I’ll go find that guy who was harassing you. Maybe, he knows your name. And if he asks where I’ve seen you, then I guess I can exchange information.” John grinned and climbed off the balcony.
The woman snapped her head back at John with knitted brows. “You wouldn’t dare.”
John paused. “Oh, I dare.”
“Why would you want to do all of that just for my name?”
“Because I want to know. I’ve got nothing to lose.”
“What about your honour?”
“Have none.” John shrugged. “I’m shameless.”
The woman gawked. She could tell John was playing, but she’d never met someone who was so extensive about it.
“Fine,” she said. “But you’ve got to tell me something about you in return. My name is Sarah Hughes.”
“Nice to meet you, Sarah Hughes.” John’s face lit up. “I’ll call you Sarah if you don’t mind.”
“So, tell me,” Sarah’s eyes locked with John’s, suddenly becoming icy, “why did you kill all those people in the tournament? Don’t you feel that life should be valued?”
The sudden serious question surprised John. He was shocked for a moment, then began to laugh.
“What’s so funny about my question?” Sarah’s voice was steady.
“First of, that was two questions.” John’s laughter gradually died out. “But I’ll answer them both. Your first answer is because I knew they had killed at least once in cold blood before the tournament.”
“And how do you know that?” Sarah’s eyes narrowed. “You didn’t even know them.”
“Secret skill,” John smiled. “For your second answer… I’ve heard something like that before. It’s more of a question of what your conscience can handle rather than the value of a life.”
The woman opened her mouth to protest, but John raised his hand in stop her from speaking.
“Hear me out. If a person has killed ten people, would you kill him to stop him from killing more?”
“No.”
“What about a hundred people?”
This time the woman paused for a while before answering, “No.”
“Then, at what point does the value of that person’s life not outweigh the lives of people he has killed? A thousand? Ten thousand? What about a whole planet?”
“I don’t follow you.” The woman put her finger to her lips, thinking.
“Would you let the man live, knowing he would kill a whole planet’s worth of population? Would it weigh on your conscious if he killed a whole planet’s population, and you could’ve stop him? Would you be proud or guilty of the fact that you had saved a planet’s population by killing him instead? I, for one, would feel proud of it rather than guilty.”
There was a pause, and Sarah’s gaze became ever-icy and cold.
“Those who claim that every life is valuable,” John added quietly, “haven’t experienced the hardship of life. They haven’t experienced the hate you can feel toward a person who has taken something from you, especially if you can never get that thing back.”
With that, John stood up on the ledge and finished the wine in his glass before placing it down. He turned to look at the redhead.
“The only reason I came here was for the free food, but meeting you was worth coming here in itself,” he tried his best to smile at Sarah, aware that she probably disagreed with everything he’d said. “Please tell the princess that I’m sorry, as I’m unable to return the feelings she has for me. Sarah… hopefully, fate allows us to meet again.”
John took a step back and dropped off of the ledge.
Sarah almost screamed. This is the third floor and the man she spoke with didn’t even carry a blade to fly on! Even the strongest immortals below Rank 6 would get hurt from a fall like that if they’re unlucky. She rushed over to the ledge and peered down. There was nothing down below. No noise, nobody on the floor… She checked that the guy who was harassing her was gone, then went back inside.
Outside, John peeked out from under the balcony, smiling.
Dramatic exit to leave a good impression? Check.
John was hovering under the balcony. Making sure the coast was clear, he went to the side where there were no windows and flew up to the roof. After gathering his bearings, he flew to his hotel.
Sarah talked to the princess just as John had asked. The two of them were sitting at a table in the throne room when Sarah looked up. Her master entered the room and made a beeline for her. A little startled, she stood up and did a little bow. Her master beamed at her and nodded.
“I’ve come to fetch you,” he said. “Your relaxation went well, I hope?”
“Yes, it went well, master. When do I train again?”
“In the morning. You’re only a few months into your training, but you needed the rest. It wouldn’t do to have your mind break in the process.”
Sarah smiled and nodded. She turned to the princess and said goodbye, walking out of the palace with her master. The two boarded the master’s sword and flew into the air.
“Anything happened while you were with the mortals?”
Sarah thought of John. She only knew his first name because he was the champion. “I met an interesting person. His strength should be like mine, but he has so much more experience than me. He won the tournament with a single attack, and I still do not understand how he did it.”
Sarah explained what happened in the tournament, how John won by clicking his fingers.
“I’ve never seen an attack like that. Maybe, it’s something to do with sound? When he clicks his fingers, he’s pushing Life Power into the sound waves?”
Sarah shook her head and her master stroked his beard.
“I would have liked to meet this man.”
“I wish you could,” his pupil said, “but he jumped off the third-floor balcony and disappeared with no noise whatsoever. He just… disappeared.”
“Hmn… you need to be careful,” the older man’s voice was stern. “While he’s friendly now, I can tell that he’s much stronger, just like the other man you encountered.”
“So, I have one more rival to overcome.”
Their speed increased, and Sarah changed clothes to stay stable on the sword. It was a green-and-red-coloured Anti-Assassin clothes.
Chapter 30
4.5 Million
The next day, John went back to the flower shop and bought a hundred of each type of plant seeds that could survive without sunlight. He was planning on making a farm to test his theory. He wanted to find out if plants that grew deeper underground would absorb more Life Power.
After purchasing all those seeds, he asked where the best library was. The biggest library in this kingdom was behind the royal palace. It was a pay-per-day place, to John’s pleasure. Each day cost £30, so each week was £210 and each month was £840. John had no trouble affording to stay there for as long as he wanted. All he needed now was to know how many books there were.
Motivated, John went to the library. Once inside, he was utterly shocked. The library was far grander than any other library he’d visited. The building was completely white with smooth, marble walls. The ceiling was coloured gold like in the palace too. Rows of bookcases that were over 40 feet high travelled all the way down to the end of the room. The room itself was square-shaped, the bookshelves flawlessly lined up with the pattern of the room.
Taking it all in, John made his way to the reception desk. He paid for three months upfront. He got a card with the number ‘84’ on it. The number would drop automatically at midnight. When it reached zero, he was out of time.
When John reached the middle of the room, he spun 360
degrees and counted forty-five bookshelves in total. Each one could roughly hold 100,000 books, depending on the size of the book. That meant there were about 4.5 million books in this library.
With a silly smile on his face, John picked up the first book on the nearest bookshelf and started reading. He didn’t even bother sitting down. With his Mind’s Strength skill maxed out, he could skim the book and the information would be imprinted in his mind. Other parts of his brain would digest it, so he could understand it thoroughly.
For the next six months, John lived inside the library. He ate food that he had in his storage, which still tasted pretty great. During this time, he read all 4.5 million books that the library had to offer. He read about different ores, plants, herbs, monster cores, immortal creatures, cultivation techniques, battle techniques, martial arts, languages, divination, memory manipulation, technology and much, much more.
The system had rewarded John eight times throughout these six months, mostly when he was reading on how to fly using the sword. The books showed how to pick up speed and travel a lot faster, so he got 5 points in Force’s Accelerate skill, which completed the skill. He also got 3 points in Force II’s Speed skill.
When John read the cultivation techniques, he realised they were all either basic or slightly advanced, but none would actually help him. The history, however, he found interesting. He read about the different sects throughout the universe—there were millions of them. It even had descriptions of the Rogue Sect. They didn’t know the name of sect but somehow managed to get a bit of information on how it worked.
The #1 Assassin’s sect in the universe is very secretive, and even after thousands of years of information gathering, we haven’t been able to get the name of the sect.
However, a traitor of the sect roughly 350 years ago managed to describe their mission hub and how they select their targets. It was then that the blood oath activated, killing him before he managed to say anything else.
The book then described the mission hub and even the codes they used. John wasn’t worried since knowing this bit of information was irrelevant in the bigger picture. What were they going to do? Change the name or number of the planet and hope the assassins get it mixed up with another in the mission hub?
