Chapter 2: Echoes of Brotherhood
It took Kael close to two hours to gather everything that he needed for Avalon.
After he was finished inspecting everything that he got, he started moving towards the center of the junk shop, showing extreme signs of familiarity with the entire surrounding.
If it were anyone else, they would undoubtedly easily get lost in this place with how everything almost looks entirely the same. It was like a desert, minus the sand and replaced with countless junk and debris.
As he mentioned earlier, before becoming successful in Avalon, he would often visit different junk shops to earn enough money to meet his daily needs and continue living his life. To be more exact, he used to be a scrapper for a living.
But he had already left all that behind ever since becoming successful in Avalon. After all, he can earn more in a place that still has countless resources available for the taking.
"I didn't expect I would have to use this skill again," Kael couldn't help but smile.
Along the way, he set up some traps in preparation for his grand plan this evening and also hid his bag with all the unnecessary items stored inside a few meters from the exit so that it wouldn't hinder him during the entire operation. Needless to say, he stored it somewhere he could easily access during their escape.
A a few minutes of walking later, he finally found what he was looking for this entire time.
Without wasting any time, he found a spot to secretly hide and quietly settling to observe the situation unfold.
Looking in front of him, he could see a group of five burly men had gathered around a lone figure chained to a chair.
Looking at the man on the chair closely, it was quite evident that he had just gone through a beating by one of those five men, or possibly all of them took turns beating him up.
"It was just like he said," Kael murmured to himself as he recollected some pieces of his memories. "Now then, if I remember correctly, someone I also know should be showing up to help him soon."
To tell the truth, his presence here wasn't really required. Because even without him, that man tied to the chair would still be able to escape alive with the help of someone close to the latter. Although, during the process, the man would end up losing something that he'd regret for the rest of his life.
He is here to prevent that from happening.
At the same time, he has another goal in mind.
"Lawrence," Kael couldn't help saying the man's name.
That was the name of the man tied to the chair.
Lawrence was one of his loyal companions throughout his adventure in Avalon.
Together with Lawrence and a few other brothers he met in his journey, they formed an organization known as the Cabal of Cards.
This was his original intention when he came to this place. To gather the brothers of the Cabal of Cards at this early stage.
Originally, the Cabal of Cards was formed one year after everyone first entered Avalon. All the members were friends whom he had met on his adventure.
It was through extreme persuasion and negotiation that he was finally able to make them all agree to form a group. As a result, they had a hard time competing with other groups that were formed earlier, as they lost a considerable amount of time in the process of creating the group.
He deeply regretted not establishing the group sooner. If only he had decided to start early and gradually built up its members over time, the Cabal of Cards might have stood a better chance against the larger factions of Avalon and secured a stronger position.
"That will change today!" Kael grabbed a slightly rusted military knife from his waist. This knife was one of the items he found during scrapping.
This dull knife would serve as his first weapon to change his fate and create a brand new one.
Not long after, just as Kael had anticipated, a shadowy figure emerged on the opposite side from him, silently making its way toward Lawrence.
"Sneaky as always, Jayem," Kael smirked.
Jayem, another loyal companion in the Cabal of Cards. His role was an assassin in the group. This was naturally given, seeing how he easily traversed through all the difficult obstacles without getting detected by the five men. Moreover, this skill was developed over the years as he constantly protected Lawrence in the dark from the countless dangers they faced in their lives.
Why exactly?
Well, Lawrence and Jayem were a duo of swindlers. One lives in the light, while the other exists in the dark.
To be more exact, Lawrence was a businessman who handled all business transactions. Seeing as how he is now bound to a chair, it's needless to say what kind of transaction exactly.
And every time their operation fails and Lawrence gets caught, Jayem will always come to save him.
They carried out similar operations for years, constantly shifting identities and relocating from one part of Rustfall to another to hide from their previous victims.
Unfortunately for the duo, their operation right now would turn out to be their final operation, since something wrong was about to happen here tonight that would change their lives.
Currently unbeknownst to Lawrence and Jayem, the area they were in was actually being monitored by a drone connected directly to the local gang's headquarters.
While the five men had failed to notice Jayem's approach in the dark, the headquarters had already been alerted, thus reinforcements were now on their way.
And this is exactly where he would step in to prevent such misfortune from taking place.
"Time to begin," Kael smiled mischievously before covering his face with a mask. It doesn't hurt to be extra careful, right?
In the next moment, he kicked a single piece of debris that had been propping up the entire pile he was hiding behind.
*Bang!
As if some sort of trigger was activated, the mountain of debris started widly shaking.
Without any hesitation, he swiftly leapt backward to avoid being caught in the collapse of the mountain of debris as all of it soon came cascading down toward the group in front of him.
*Rumble!
Like a mini tsunami, all debris crashed toward the direction of the five men and Lawrence.
However, just like what Kael had expected, the falling debris caught the five men's attention easily. And in response, they swiftly distanced themselves to avoid getting hurt.
Luckily for Lawrence, his position was already far enough that a single debri only touched one of his feet.
"It seems like your brother is here," One of the five men muttered with a wicked smile on his face. In the next moment, he pulled a gun from his waist. "Everyone, stay sharp and keep your eyes on our surroundings!"
The rest of the four men quickly followed suit and took out their respective guns.
Jayem wasn't actually Lawrence's brother by blood, but after years of working side by side, most people simply assumed they were. In truth, they were indeed brothers, not by family, but by bond.
Contrary to what the five men were expecting, Lawrence knew like the back of his hand how Jayem operates. The latter would never do something that could attract a lot of attention, even if it's meant to deceive the attention of his target.
"Someone else is here," Lawrence muttered under his breath as he quickly surveyed his surroundings to find the person who was helping them.
On the other hand, Jayem didn't waste this opportunity as he lunged forward towards the closest of the five men to him.
Getting caught in a surprise attack, the unfortunate man was quickly subdued by Jayem.
Nevertheless, this still caught the attention of the remaining four men.
"Shoot him!" The supposedly leader shouted as he pointed his gun at Jayem's direction and started pulling the trigger.
*Bang! *Bang! *Bang!
Bullets rained towards Jayem's direction.
With ease, Jayem simply used their companion's body as a shield from the incoming bullets, while at the same time, he counted all their shots to determine when exactly to make his next move.
Jayem was already used to something like this, so he didn't feel the slightest bit of hesitation about causing someone else's death.
"Now!" Jayem yelled after all the shooting died down, immediately hurling the bloodied and lifeless corpse of their companion at the gunmen before darting in from the flank.
That shout also acted as a signal for Lawrence to make his move.
*Clang!
Lawrence easily freed his hand from the chain. Quickly after, he grabbed the chair he was once sitting on and hurled it towards the direction of the four men.
*Bang!
One of the men kneeled in pain while one of his hands reached for his back as if he wanted to grab the pain and throw it away. Albeit that was clearly impossible. It was simply a natural reaction from the pain.
This caught the attention of the three men as well, and one of them turned towards Lawrence before grabbing a military knife from his waist and pointing it in his direction.
Lawrence didn't have any other weapon aside from that chair he just threw, so he was now left completely defenseless after that.
Seeing the military knife from his hidden location, Kael's eyes turned as sharp as a blade. He could still remember vividly how Lawrence described what happened to him that day.
"After Jayem emptied all their bullets, one of them became desperate and grabbed his military knife from his waist. And without any hesitation, he swung it straight to my neck…" Lawrence sighed with regret. "I would have lost my life back then if I hadn't sacrificed my right arm."
"Not this time!" Kael roared.
With a precise throw, Kael hurled a piece of debris towards the man wielding a knife.
*Clang!
Kael was no longer as strong as he was in the past, but his throw still hit the hand that held the military knife. Albeit it didn't disarm the man. It simply flung his hands slightly to the side.
However, it was more than enough for Lawrence.
Without a second thought, Lawrence ducked down and grabbed a handful of dirt from the ground, and threw it straight away towards the man's face.
A common knowledge for everyone who lives in Rustfall is that the soil in every junk shop was different from any other place since it's mixed with different kinds of minerals, and one of those minerals that is abundant, especially in Rustfall, is copper.
Originally, copper dust was no different from sand. They are tiny pieces that could irritate the eyes. But the copper dust in Rustfall was different. They are sharp and much denser, even as tiny particles, and if thrown precisely and with enough strength, they could easily blind someone.
"Ahhh!" The man screamed in pain as he dropped his military knife and covered his eyes.