The Abattoir wasn't too far away from the odd job market.
Travelling in Bundy's car to the Abattoir only took ten minutes.
When he arrived, the first thing Lukas noticed was the different varieties of livestock ready to be slaughtered.
There were poultry, pigs, cows and even domesticated demonic beasts.
"Don't worry about those. I don't expect you to be handling them." Bundy tapped Lukas's shoulders as they walked by some domesticated demonic beasts that looked like deer and had fire horns growing out of their foreheads.
Bundy showed Lukas to his workstation, and he showed him the way to handle the poultry.
"Be swift and decisive. Any hesitation is torture to the livestock."
Bundy picked up one chicken, and with a swift move, he slit the throat of the chicken and let the blood out.
"Now, here's your turn." He passed the knife over to Lukas.
This was the test for Lukas.
Some just couldn't bring themselves to take life, and some were just too timid for it.
Lukas took the knife from Bundy and picked up a chicken coming down the line.
Bundy looked intensely at Lukas as he saw him raise his hand.
Slit.
Lukas followed what Bundy did, and the chicken thrashed around for a few moments before going limp lifeless as the blood was let out from its slit throat.
A familiar sound erupted in Lukas's mind.
[Ding!]
[Congratulations on Host's first slaughter.]
[Current Slaughter Points: 1/500]
[Host Level: 1]
[Bonus Package for Host Delivered.]
[Please Pick One Ability:]
[1. S Level Fire Ability]
[2. S Level Water Ability]
[3. S Level Wind Ability]
[4. SSS Level Physique Ability]
Lukas looked at the information panel in his mind and thought for a moment.
The S Level elemental abilities looked attractive.
If he chose the S Level Fire Ability, he would be on par with Patricia.
And even be more powerful than Jules Robertson.
But he hesitated as he looked at the SSS Level for the Physique Ability.
There must be a reason for it to be SSS Level, he thought.
And with what he was doing, earning Slaughter Points in the Abattoir, it might help him with that, and it wouldn't be so obvious to the others.
Lukas decided, and he thought silently in his mind, SSS Level Physique Ability.
A familiar sound erupted in his mind again.
[Ding!]
[Host Selected SSS Level Physique Ability.]
[Initiating Delivery...]
[10%...]
[50%...]
[100%...]
When it got to 100%, Lukas felt a surge of energy coming into his body.
He could feel his clothes tighten as his muscles bulked up.
His senses of the sounds and sights surrounding him heightened.
Lukas could see, feel and smell things he hadn't noticed before.
"Well done. Keep it up. I'll be at my station over there."
Bundy was impressed with what Lukas did, and he felt comfortable enough to let Lukas do his work alone.
Lukas nodded, and Bundy walked over to his own station dealing with larger livestock.
Picking up another chicken, Lukas continued to swiftly slash the knife at the chicken's throat.
Slit.
To his surprise, he slit the head off the chicken's body.
His increase in strength was apparent.
[Ding!]
[Slaughter Points +1]
He quickly adjusted his strength and continued his work.
[Ding!]
[Slaughter Points +1]
[Slaughter Points +1]
[Slaughter Points +1]
...
As Lukas gained Slaughter Points, he discovered that he got even stronger than ever.
Not only that, when the livestock struggled and tried to peck and claw at him, he realized that his skin was now tough and impervious to the attacks.
When he was done for the day, Lukas summoned the information panel in his mind.
[Ding!]
[Current Slaughter Points: 160/500]
[Host Level: 1]
It wasn't going as fast as he thought, so he thought about handling larger livestock the next day.
Maybe slaughtering larger livestock would give him more slaughter points.
"Here's your pay for the day." Bundy handed $30 for six hours of work done.
"Will you come again tomorrow?" Bundy asked as he was eager for Lukas to come by again.
It was tough for him to find someone suitable, and it would be a waste if Lukas gave up only after one day.
"Definitely." Lukas replied, much to the delight of Bundy.
Bundy's eyes opened wide at Lukas's response.
Finally, he was able to find someone up to the task.
"But..." Lukas said suddenly.
Bundy frowned at Lukas as he waited for Lukas to finish his sentence.
Was he going to negotiate for more money?
Bundy didn't think of Lukas to be so impatient.
"Is it possible for me to handle larger livestock tomorrow?"
"What?"
Bundy wasn't prepared for Lukas's request.
He frowned and thought for a moment.
Even though Lukas's performance had exceeded his expectations.
But Lukas might be getting too far ahead of himself, Bundy thought.
Dealing with larger livestock was much more difficult than handling poultry.
In the end, Bundy sighed and relented as he wanted to keep Lukas coming in for the job the next day.
"You can try, but if you can't handle the larger livestock, you have to go back to what you were doing." Bundy placed his hand onto Lukas's shoulder and said.
"Deal." Lukas agreed without hesitation.
With that, Lukas knocked off for the day, and he decided to go to the burger joint for dinner.
...
"Welcome, Lukas." The waitress in the burger joint welcomed him with a cigarette stuck to the side of her lips.
She narrowed her eyes and turned her head to the side.
Lukas looked in the direction and saw some familiar faces.
Patricia and the other students were also having dinner.
"Well, look who we have here."
"Is that who I think it is?"
"Look at him now."
Students murmured at Lukas's state that he was in.
They covered their noses at the faint stench of blood that was emitting from Lukas's body even though he had cleaned up after work.
To think that he was the only competitor to Patricia not too long ago.
Patricia glanced over at Lukas from afar.
"Why wouldn't you reply to my message?" She thought as she looked at the message thread with Lukas.
"How dare he snub you?!" Jules Robertson stole a glance at Patricia's screen, and he said to himself in anger.