Starting from the next day, Victor began his training. He practiced every morning and then headed out to scavenge for food and supplies.
This routine continued for three days. During this time, he obtained several talents by killing animals.
He also discovered that the talent drop rate was not 100% for creatures weaker than himself.
Consequently, Victor abandoned his dream of becoming a god by farming cockroaches.
Victor spent the next few days hunting until he finally collected 10 Vitality (White) talents.
He fused them together and gained a green talent: Robust Constitution.
Immediately, a warm feeling spread to his head. The jagged cut he had been hiding under his hair began to itch and started pull together.
Victor went back to his hideout to rest. Feeling much stronger, he checked his status.
Name : Victor Kross
Age : 12
Talent : Scavenger (White), Pain Tolerance (White), Language Comprehension (White), Dirty Fighting (White), Robust Constitution (Green), Iron Gut (White).
Victor checked the description of two new talents.
Iron Gut (White) : Congratulations! You can now eat a three-week-old boot soaked in industrial runoff and only feel a slight tingle in your throat. It's the ultimate "fine dining" skill for someone whose grocery store is a literal mountain of garbage.
Robust Constitution (Green) : Look at you, moving up in the world! You've graduated from 'squashable bug' to 'annoying stray dog.' Your skin is finally thicker than a wet paper towel, and your wounds actually stop leaking before you pass out from embarrassment.
Victor was already used to the system's attitude, so he ignored the sarcastic description and closed the window.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps reached his ears. He instantly became vigilant, moving sneakily toward the gate to peek outside.
Victor saw three people scavenging nearby. It was odd this area had been picked clean and scavengers usually never came here.
One of them suddenly spotted Victor's hideout. "Hey, check out that place," he called out to the others. "It looks like some scavenger's hole. Maybe we can find some supplies inside."
The other two nodded and started walking toward the hideout.
Victor had pulled back into the shadows the moment the first man looked his way.
As he heard them getting closer, he gripped the rusted knife he had found in the garbage yesterday.
With his other hand, he reached down and grabbed a handful of sand from the ground.
He tucked himself into a dark corner, hiding in a position where they wouldn't see him the moment they walked through the door.
The three men reached the hideout and stopped. They didn't rush in; instead, they began circling the exterior, checking for any signs of life.
One of them pressed his ear against the wall, straining to hear even the slightest movement.
Inside, Victor stayed perfectly still, suppressing his breathing until it was almost silent.
After a tense moment, the man pulled back. "Looks like no one is inside," he whispered to his companions. "But let's be safe. You two walk in front and I'll cover your back. That way, if someone is hiding in there, you two can handle it, and if someone tries to jump us from behind, I've got you covered."
The two men in front nodded, gripped their weapons, and slowly stepped through the entrance. Victor, pressed against the dark wall just inches away, tightened his grip on his rusted knife.
As soon as the first two men entered, Victor threw the handful of sand directly into their faces.
One man reacted quickly, but because the space was so small, he had no room to move. He squeezed his eyes shut just in time. His teammate was not so lucky; the sand hit his open eyes, blinding him instantly.
Victor lunged forward and swiped his knife across the blinded man's throat. He immediately tried to strike the second person, but the man had already opened his eyes and managed to block the blade.
Seeing that his attack had failed, Victor quickly jumped back to create distance between them.
The man he had slashed collapsed to the ground, clutching his neck and struggling for air. Hearing the sounds of the struggle, the third man who had been covering the rear immediately rushed into the hideout to join the fight.
The man saw his teammate struggling on the ground, but he didn't stop to help. Instead, he looked at Victor with a vicious glare and shouted, "Brat!"
He immediately charged at Victor, joined by his third teammate who had just rushed in. Now, Victor was facing two angry scavengers at once in the cramped hideout.
The two scavengers lunged at once, their faces twisted in rage. The lead man swung a rusted pipe, while the third man tried to flank Victor in the cramped space. Victor didn't retreat.
The pipe slammed into Victor's shoulder with a thud. Normally, his collarbone would have shattered, but because of his [Robust Constitution] it resulted in purple bruise.
Victor grunted and drove his rusted knife upward. The blade sank into the lead man's jaw, the jagged metal grinding against bone before piercing through the roof of his mouth.
The man's scream turned into a wet, gurgling choke. Victor twisted the handle, ripping the blade out sideways and taking a chunk of cheek with it.
The third scavenger, seeing his friend's face fall apart, swung a sharpened piece of rebar at Victor's head. Victor ducked, the metal whistling an inch above his hair. He reached out and grabbed the dying man on the floor, dragging the heavy, body up to use as a meat-shield.
The rebar sank deep into the corpse's back with a fleshy squelch.
Victor surged forward before the scavenger could recover his weapon from the fallen body.
With a swift, brutal motion, he drove his blade into the man's side. The scavenger collapsed, gasping as the life drained out of him.
Victor didn't hesitate, delivering a final blow to ensure the threat was neutralized.
The hideout fell into an eerie silence, broken only by the sound of Victor's heavy breathing. He stood amidst the fallen, his clothes stained and his body aching from the impact of the pipe.
Three lights emerged from the corpses, visible only to Victor. Suddenly, the system prompted
[ Brute Force (White) ] acquired.
[ Vulture's Instinct (White) ] acquired.
[ Nen Aptitude: Natural Talent (Green) ] acquired.
Victor didn't focus on the talents immediately instead, he stared at the bodies. This was his first time killing human. He thought he would feel something guilt, fear, or maybe even a sense of power but there was nothing. Just a strange, hollow emptiness.
Outside, the sky began to rumble. The dark clouds of Meteor City finally broke, and a cold rain started falling.