Pheo woke up abruptly from the faint clatter of metal. Distant, muffled screams slipped past the natural silence of the desert night.
He looked out to see that the fire he had made to cook dinner was still alive. Getting up, he pushed off the worn mat he called a bed.
Pheo yawned as he slowly approached the entrance, clearing up rocks to see what was happening.
As he peeked through the small gap he had made, he could see that a fight was happening nearby.
People who rode horses surrounded a single man. He wielded a massive sword against them, swinging it around violently.
Pheo could tell that they were bandits, people who would rob others of their belongings. And most of the time, their lives as well.
Limbs flew and steel clanged as one man cut through them like weeds of grass. The man with the sword was tall, silent, and relentless.
His greatsword shimmered in the moonlight with each swing, stained with the blood of his foes.
It looked as if he had no problems with its weight, being able to swing it as quickly as Pheo would swing a knife.
Pheo watched as one by one, their body parts were cut cleanly. He stood there, hand resting on the rocks beside him, gaze locked.
The scene made him wonder on just how powerful someone could be from awakening their power. How huge was the gap between a child and an adult?
One of the bandits shot out a web using his powers. "Now!" He shouted out, prompting everyone to rush at the captured man.
He barely managed to get himself out before they all swung their blades at him. The clanging of steel echoed as they all struck him, all of them falling off the horses from the recoil.
He was unharmed, with no cuts or bruises from where they struck. The sound reminded Pheo of Beam, as if the bandits struck something extremely hard.
It's widely known that those who had unfavorable or weak powers from awakening become shunned. This leads to most of them turning towards things such as thievery.
This was one of the reasons why Pheo was so sure that the bandits were going to lose. But he continued watching, captivated by the fight.
He continued to watch as more and more of them started to use their powers. Waves of flame blew towards him, but they were easily blown off by a swing of his sword.
One of them had gauntlets appear in their arms, being able to grab his sword but wasn't able to deal a decisive strike before being cut in half.
As the fight continued, they thinned down until the last bandit was finally beheaded. Pheo started to close up the rocks and hide again until he saw something peculiar.
From the headless body came out a large spike that went straight for the man's heart. He barely managed to redirect it, making it pierce his body inches away from it.
More and more spikes came out from the corpse, all of them aiming for his vital spots. He used his sword as a shield, protecting his vitals but wasn't able to stop them from piercing parts of his body.
By the end of it, his body was riddled with holes. He fell down to the ground, the sand soaking up the blood that spilled out.
What a scary ability
Pheo's knowledge on the extent of powers was limited, he hadn't expected there to be one that activates upon death.
He always had questions on its nature, it's limit and reason on why they had them in the first place.
It made him stay up, waiting until dawn to go outside. Carefully, he went outside, scanning for any others before going to where the fight was.
As soon as he decided it was clear, he went and looted all he could from the bandits and hid the corpses from the skies.
Pheo didn't want there to be any signs of people here, nor did he want vultures to come and circle around the area. He thought that maybe he could use the bodies as bait for larger animals that roam the badlands such as coyotes or jackals.
After getting rid of the traces, he went to the man who wielded the greatsword. He was lying down on the ground face down.
The greatsword was massive, worn from time. It had multiple chips and dried blood stains. After witnessing how easily the man moved it around, he tried his luck on carrying it.
Giving it his best shot, he failed to even lift it. In the end, he decided to just bury it in the sand. Pheo checked the leather satchel he had, eating the dried meat and drinking what's left in the water skin.
Ngh...
Pheo jumped away hearing that the man was still alive. He checked his pulse to see that his heart was still beating. Looking closer, he could see that his wounds were slowly regenerating, the holes were slowly filling themselves up with flesh.
How..?
Before he could comprehend what he was witnessing, his ears picked up sounds of an engine close by.
Someone's coming.
Pheo quickly tried to pull the man to his cave, trying to hide any signs of life. It was hard for him as he was even larger than Warhound was when he wasn't transformed.
Barely managing to carry him all the way to his cave, he quickly covered the entrance with rocks. He left a small hole for him to peek through, watching as motorcycles combed the area.
One of them raised his hand, gesturing for the others to come to him. He stopped his motorcycle, getting down to see a trail. It was the one Pheo had left while dragging the man's body, an oversight that cost him.
I need to prepare
He started grabbing items that would be useful for when they eventually found his cave. Luckily, there were many useful things that the dead bandits had that he would be able to use.
As he equipped himself with what he needed, he turned off all the sources of light and waited in the darkness. The cave was dark, filled with silence until the sounds of the rocks shuffling could be heard.
"It should lead down here" A voice from outside could be heard as the light slowly revealed the inside. It took a while before they made the entrance big enough for them to fit inside. They went down one by one, waiting until all five of them were down before exploring.
"What makes you so sure he's down here?" One of them asked the person who noticed the trail, "There weren't even signs of a battle like you suggested"
He got out a flashlight and shook it on, "My tires were cut open by his sword. It was barely hidden in the sand, probably so that he could hide"
Pheo ducked to avoid the light as it shone above him. He was slowly going to position as they moved further in.
He quickly peeked out to see if there was anyone else outside, confirming that all of them went in before he started.
It's all clear
Pheo went back into the darkness, he broke off a stalactite and used it for his sling, shooting it at the back of one of their heads.
As he fell down to the ground, everyone looked at the corpse. This gave Pheo a distraction, using it to run into one of them and slit someone's throat with a knife.
"We're under attack!" One of them shouted, making everyone stand on alert for an attack. They covered each other's backs, making sure that there were no blind spots.
"Good luck attacking us now" One of them said, all three of them had their guns out. They constantly shone their flashlights around the area, but failed to find any signs of life.
"Hey, look at this"
One of them had found the man on the ground. They cautiously went closer to see that his wounds were moving, his flesh growing.
One of them got out their knives and stabbed him, watching as it slowly began to close itself. "What the hell?" The odd scene made them occupied, long enough that Pheo was able to go back to one of their dead comrades and swipe their gun.
He steadied his aim and quickly shot all three of them, shooting a few extra bullets to make sure they were dead.
The bullets he was going to have would be scarce, but learning from the fight he watched, he shouldn't take any chances with those who have awakened.
Lighting the fire back up, Pheo took his time looting the bodies that came into his cave. He was able to find many useful items, mainly for defending himself.
Some of the things he got from the bodies would come useful, especially for when unwanted visitors came knocking the door again.
Throwing the corpses out of the cave, he was thinking of where to effectively dispose of them. Leaving them alone to rot would spell nothing but trouble seeing that there were people already looking for the other bandits.
"Hey"
Pheo heard a voice call out from behind him. He turned to see that the man was awake, his wounds close to gone.
"Where am I?" He got up, looking around the area. He noticed that the belongings he had were now ransacked.
"Did you try to rob me?" He asked, looking at Pheo. His gaze was freezing, it made him feel anxious.
He pointed his gun at him, "It's a small price to pay here" He hadn't expected for him to be up so fast, especially when he was just stabbed a few minutes ago.
"I even saved your life" Pheo kicked one of the dead bodies he was bringing out, "These guys look familiar to you?"
He looked at them, recognizing the tattoo on the bodies shoulder. "I don't really believe a kid like you has the guts to stab someone"
Pheo shot at his leg, causing him to kneel down. "Wanna see me do it again?" He asked him, he knew that it would regenerate seeing his abilities so far. All he could do now was to try and look strong.
How the hell am I supposed to get out of this?
"I think I got the message" The man said, "So what are you going to do? Kill me, the guy who came back from death in a day?"
He looked calm, Pheo knew that he didn't see him as a threat. Either way, he kept his facade. "I need you to get out"
He quietly went out of the cave. As he passed by, Pheo grasped just how big he was compared to the people he fought. If he decided to have fought him, he would end up cut in half just like the bodies he cleaned up earlier that day.
"Wait" Pheo stopped him. He grabbed half of the gold he stole from the corpses and tossed it to him. "I'm sorry for stealing your stuff"
He had hoped that the gold was enough to come back to even terms with him. The man responded by nodding his head,
"What's your name again?" He asked. Pheo felt cautious, but knowing his powers so far he was sure it wasn't something that would bite him back.
"My name's Pheo" He introduced himself. "How about yours?" He asked back, curious to know more about him.
The man looked surprised at his question, as if he hadn't expected it. It took him a while before he spoke, "Adam" He told him before heading off.
Pheo sighed in relief, the atmosphere was more intense than it was when he fought with the bandits. Adam was definitely strong, his presence overwhelming.
It felt suffocating, it reminded him of the time he had fought Beam.
At least I had powers back then
He clenched his fists, trying his best to bring out that gold flame he had, but it never came. It was a mystery he had to solve someday. But for now, he'll have to work with what he knows.