[1% LIFESTEAL] Chapter 163 - Dying Wish

Affinities were not made equal. 

Whether some could be called more powerful than others was always up for debate, but it was clear that they all had their strengths and weaknesses. 

And water was called the affinity of martial artists for a reason—and that reason could almost entirely be attributed to a single ability.

Freddy skied down the side of the mountain on crimson metal skis, a screaming Sophia hanging about his neck. 

Despite his bulky form, body density, and utter lack of knowledge on skiing, he made his way down the side of the mountain with ease. 

This was the work of his stage 3 Hydraulic Flex. 

It was usually only at the third stage that abilities started to truly defy logic. 

With “redirection,” his Hydraulic Flex made controlling his trajectory completely effortless. It took barely a nudge to make him go exactly where he wanted. And with his immense body density, he was moving really fast. 

Despite Sophia’s repeated pleas, he continued to speed up and even intentionally dove off steep cliffs. 

“I hate you!” she shouted.

He laughed uproariously in response. 

Despite their speed, it took them a while to reach the foot of the mountain. 

Once they were there, Freddy put Sophia down. She promptly collapsed into the snow. “Everything is spinning…”

The road wasn't that far from where they landed. As soon as they made it there, Freddy pulled out the motorcycle. 

Sophia took one glance at it and then looked back at Freddy. “I think I’m gonna walk…”

He picked her up and sat her down.

Before long, they pulled up to the Valhalla headquarters. 

She fell off the side of the bike and stumbled to the ground. After burning a spark, she scoffed. “Sure wish that did more for stuff like this…”

As soon as they arrived, several people spotted them and pulled out communication devices. 

Freddy sighed, knowing damn well what was waiting for him.

Not even a minute later, a furious Travis marched through the front door, followed by 7 assistants. 

The man’s golden hair shone with a supernatural hue, its curls twisting in beautiful patterns. His deep blue eyes were even more vivid in color after the third star. But the rest of his body hadn’t changed in any significant way. 

Such was the price of supplementing latent aura with extracts. The results of the ascension were far less dramatic than was usual for reaching the third star.

As soon as he spotted Freddy, he barked a few orders, chasing the assistants away to go and inform everyone who was out there still looking for Freddy. 

And then, after taking a deep breath to calm himself, he walked over to Freddy. “Where the hell were you?” he asked. 

“Hey there, big guy.” Freddy waved awkwardly. “Sorry for that.”

“Sorry?” The man barked out a dry laugh. His voice was a bit less high-pitched than it used to be, and it certainly wasn’t soothing at that moment. “You’re sorry? What the fuck is wrong with you?” The man pulled up right in front of Freddy. He was a bit taller than Freddy. “Where did you go?” he asked again.

“I went for a hike.”

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“Let’s just say I had to go immediately.”

“Would it have fucking killed you to at least say how long you were going to be gone?” Travis asked. 

Freddy smiled. Then, he pushed Travis away, putting a good deal of force into it. The man stumbled back. “No,” Freddy said. “It wouldn’t have killed me. You, though? Maybe.” He took a step forward. “I haven’t told you what I did after Thor died, but I did tell you that it left me a little mentally unstable. I told you to prepare for that possibility, didn’t I?”

Travis kept his gaze and then spat to the side. “And I told you to be clear with me on how much you’re prepared to participate in putting this shithole back together.” He marched forward and pressed a finger to Freddy’s chest. “You decided to get involved—no, you fucking promised you’d see things through until the situation was stable again! If you want, feel free to fuck off and let me handle the job you gave me in peace, but if you decide to get involved, at the very least don’t leave when we can’t proceed without you!” 

Freddy felt a deep urge to sock the man in his face, but he stood his hand. Something serious had to have happened for the man to act like this. It would be hypocritical for Freddy to take the right to act out due to what he’d been through and then judge Travis for acting out when he was also under a lot of stress. “I get it,” he said. “Something happened, didn’t it? Tell me what’s up.”

Travis took a deep breath and then finally stepped away. “Come with me. We have to hurry.”

Freddy waved Sophia off. She waved back lazily and then went to her room to rest.

They went to what used to be Thor’s office. Now, it was Travis’s office. And where it used to be a little messy, now there were piles upon piles of papers strewn throughout the whole room. Copies of contracts, records of the companies they took over, financial statements, warnings from the imperial bank, and so on made for one hell of an anxiety-inducing display. 

“The local real estate market has completely collapsed,” Travis said as he slumped into the chair. 

“What? What do you mean?”

“Word came out you forcefully signed local companies over. A few of the bitter assholes left spread a rumor that you’re going to sign over literally everything in Repentawa over to yourself. People started selling everything they had. Whole apartments are going for just thousands of bucks currently. Everyone is panicking. It’s a fucking disaster. The riots are getting worse by the minute and people are dying.” Travis looked him in the eye. “See why I’m pissed?”

“Yeah. Sorry ‘bout that. So what do we do?”

Travis turned and grabbed a couple of contracts off a pile, then handed them to Freddy. “Sign this and the worst of it will be over.”

Freddy scowled and then eyed the papers. He sat down and read through them, one page at a time.

By signing everything, he’d do a few things. First, he would declare Repentawa an independent legal entity. Currently, it was completely owned by him. By signing this contract, he would kind of disown the city, but then also retain exclusive right to control it as he pleased, so he didn’t actually lose anything in the process.

But that’s where the next contract came in. It was a contract between him—Freddy Cliff—and Repentawa. It included terms for how he’d be allowed to run the city.

First, he wouldn’t be allowed to force anyone to sign things over to him. Next, he wouldn’t be allowed to kill people for no reason. 

And he couldn’t privatize any part of the open public passage. This only applied to the passage people knew about, while the other one they could freely keep for themselves without a problem now that he owned the whole city.

There were a bunch of other small things he wouldn’t be allowed to do, but the gist of it was that he’d be denouncing most of the privileges he had as the owner of the city. 

And finally, there was a contract that declared that he wouldn’t raise taxes for three years, and that during that period, 100% of the taxes would be reinvested back into helping develop the city.

In the event that he violated any part of this contract, he’d be breaking the contract that gave him exclusive administrative rights over the city. Simply put, he’d lose the city.

“Yeah, I’m not signing this shit,” Freddy said.

“Thought you’d say that. But it’s not nearly as bad as it seems at a glance,” Travis said. “All the terms are written vaguely, so it will be hard to argue that you’ve broken the contract even if you do actually break it. You can’t ‘force people’ to sign something over to you, but how can anyone prove that you weren’t just very persuasive? You can’t kill anyone ‘without a reason’ but just being pissed off at the way someone looked at you is still technically a reason.” He was about to continue giving reasons, but he waved it off instead. “You get the point.”

“Right.”

“And,” Travis added, “most importantly, this contract still needs to be enforced by someone, even if you do break the terms.”

Freddy slowly nodded. “The adjudicator.”

“Exactly. And the man had given you this city for selfish reasons. Unless you really blatantly violate this contract, that man will let basically anything slide. The only clause that is written in clear terms is the one on taxes, but you’ve already expressed your desire to reinvest the taxes into the city anyway.”

“So basically, this contract is just bullshit that will let the people be at ease without actually doing anything?”

“Yes,” Travis said with a nod. “Pretty much.”

“Okay, then.” 

He still made sure to read every part of the contract to ensure there were no funky terms in fine print or something like that, but it was exactly as Travis said. 

He grabbed a pen that had a special ink within. Then, he imbued his essence into the pen and signed his name on the paper. It left a mark with his aura imprint on it as evidence that it was indisputably signed by him. 

As soon as he was done signing it, Travis grabbed it and ran out the room. The man would ensure that the news of the contract spread throughout the city and that the adjudicator received the original copy. 

“Well then,” Freddy said, peeking at the clock. It was still very early in the day. 

6:52 a.m.

“Right,” he said. “Be a while until the executions get started. I can probably go and take a nap.”

He left the office and headed to his room. 

But as he approached it, he found Lucas standing in his way. 

Freddy sighed at the young man’s heartbroken look. 

As Lucas spotted him, a clear expectation appeared in his expression and he rushed to Freddy. “Freddy,” he called, taking an urgent step forward. “Thank god you’re back. They’re gonna—”

“Execute your mum. Yeah. I know.”

“Oh you already know.” He sagged in relief. “Is she safe?”

Freddy simply stood there, expressionless.

Lucas’s face sank. “She’s safe, right?”

“Lucas…”

“I know you have the power to—”

“I don’t want to,” Freddy declared. 

Lucas took a step back. A hint of anger seeped into his expression. “Why?”

“I know how you feel.”

“You don’t even have parents!” Lucas shouted. “How the fuck would you know!?” 

“And why do you think that is, huh?” Freddy shook his head. “It’s because they left me.”

“Well would you want them to die for that, huh!?” Lucas’s head dropped. He bit his lip. “Please. This is between me and her. She did this to me. Let me handle this.”

“Lucas…”

“Just… please… let me handle this.” He wept. “Please.” 

Freddy sighed. “If any of my parents… be it my birth or adopted parents… I wouldn’t want any of them to die.”

“Please.”

“Even though they hurt me beyond imagination by leaving. I still wouldn’t want them to die.”

“So why…?”

“Because I don’t have the right to.” He put his hand on Lucas’s shoulder. The young man tore his shoulder away, but Freddy caught him by both shoulders and leaned in. “Do you have any idea how many people will see their family members die today? Do you have the slightest clue how many people betrayed us?”

“But my mum…”

“She is among them.”

“She has a problem.”

“There’s a point where someone who has a problem becomes a problem. Your mother crossed that line.” He paused for a moment. “She nearly killed you.”

“She didn’t know—”

“Please. Lucas. Don’t make that argument.”

Lucas hung his head, hiding his face from Freddy. A tear fell off his face and plopped to the wooden floor. “Can I at least see her?”

Freddy slowly shook his head. “Many want the same thing. If you’re allowed to do it, others will feel upset that they didn’t get the chance. And honestly, I don’t think you’d get the wholesome farewell you’re imagining.”

Lucas abruptly pushed past him, bumping into his side, and ran down the hallway. “So much for being a friend,” he barked through gritted teeth. 

Freddy watched the boy run away, an uncomfortable sadness descending upon him. “Whatever,” he said, turning around and entering his room. He lay on the bed, but no nap came. He simply stared at the ceiling, thoughts whirling through his mind. 

He was forced to grit his teeth to keep the madness at bay. 

***

“Please! I’ll give you the money! I know you want it! We can figure something out!” one of the last enemies of Valhalla begged, his arms tied behind his back and his usually slick hair messy and disheveled. 

Unhesitantly, Freddy raised his Sanguine Avenger, using the executioner’s sword for its intended purpose and beheading the man in one fell swoop. 

The head rolled off the raised platform, and the crowd looked on in trepidation. 

The sun was already starting to set. It was one of the few nice days Repentawa got in the whole year. A shame to have wasted it like this. 

They were right in front of the Valhalla headquarters. But not only Valhalla members were present there. There were many who had been brought to witness this. Mostly, it was the remaining members of the organizations Freddy, and, by extension, Valhalla had taken over. 

One person after another was brought up to the platform where they met their end. 

While it was nasty work, it was important for the executions to be public. And it was important for Freddy to be the one doing them. At least for those who had always been their enemies.

Once he finally finished his part, Freddy nodded at one of the men standing there and left the platform. 

That man, one of the speakers, went up.

Freddy walked over to where Sophia was standing. She turned to face him and asked, “You good?”

He shot her a strange look. “Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?” 

She shot back with a flat gaze. “You just killed a bunch of people.”

He shrugged. “Nothing out of the ordinary.”

She snorted and shook her head. “You’ve really lost your marbles.”

Travis noticed them and walked on over to where they were, standing by Freddy’s side. “Everything okay?” he asked. 

Freddy simply nodded. “Yeah.”

The man who had gone up to the stage finally started his speech.

Now that they were done with the last of their enemies, they were to proceed with the traitors. And the man held a speech before they started. 

The speech carried the message of unity in harsh times. The man spoke of the unforgivable nature of this kind of betrayal, and why none among those who’d be killed could be spared. 

It was a speech directed at those who’d be losing family members. Brothers, sisters, husbands, wives… children. Many among the traitors perhaps had a good reason to do as they did, or at the very least thought they did. But ultimately, the result was the same. 

Rather than the message they were sending, the speech was more about the message they couldn’t send during a time like this. 

Freddy was the owner of Repentawa. As such, he could do with the city as he pleased. He could even sell the city to someone else. And a greater force could make him give the city away. 

Both Travis and Freddy agreed that the adjudicator likely wouldn’t step in if someone more powerful forced Freddy to give the city up. He might step in to save Freddy specifically, but that’s about it. 

This city was as much a gift as it was a test.

It was tempting to believe that the adjudicator had pulled a fast one on Freddy by saddling him with the city, but in reality, he hadn’t been “saddled” with anything. 

Freddy was never forced to accept the city. And he could just sell it. And on top of that, if he wanted to, he could just leave the Northern Belt, which would make it impossible for anyone to transfer ownership.

But he wouldn’t do that.

This was an opportunity.

For Freddy, it was a chance to become unreasonably wealthy. For the city, it was the promise of a semblance of peace. 

And that was why they couldn’t send the message that treachery could be forgiven.

The traitors were brought out to a clearing. A number of Valhalla guards stood holding crossbows. 

With their heads covered by black cloth and their limbs tied up, the traitors were singled out. Then, the executioners fired a volley of arrows at them. 

It was obvious, just by looking at the crowd, who was related to which traitor. It was a tragic sight. But surprisingly, nobody, not a single person, tried to stop them. Perhaps it was fear. Perhaps they knew, deep down, that this needed to happen. 

Or perhaps, as was the case for Lucas, those who were most affected by what would happen simply couldn’t muster the bravery to watch.

Lucas’s mother—Hellen Black—squirmed as she was dragged away from the other traitors. Her mouth was gagged and her face was covered, so it was impossible to tell what she was trying to say, even though it was evident that she was trying to scream. 

She brought before the wall. A moment later, the guards raised their crossbows. 

“Fire!” the head guard shouted, and the rest pulled their triggers. 

Bolts pelted Hellen’s body. One hit her square in the head. A moment later, she fell. Then, she was dragged away as the next person was brought before the wall.

Freddy sighed at the sight. What did he even feel at that moment? Relief? Sadness? Vindication? It was hard to tell. But whatever it was, it didn’t exactly feel good. 

He turned to face Travis and then asked, “How’s the situation in the city?”

“Bad. But the news of you signing the contract is already being printed out and distributed. Now we just have to deal with all the people who regret selling their homes for pennies and now want them back. And boy are there many.” 

“I get it,” Freddy said. “No need to rub it in my face. And I already told you, I didn’t really have a choice.”

“And how often will that happen?” Travis asked, turning to meet his gaze. “Do I have to constantly worry whether you’ll suddenly vanish on me?”

Freddy shrugged. “I’ll be honest. Maybe.”

“I see.” Travis sighed. “I’ve done some thinking, and honestly, while it would be better to have you cooperating, I think we’d do just fine without you. You’ve done enough. Don’t feel obligated to stay here. You have the chance to leave the Northern Belt. You should take it.”

Freddy smirked. “Who said I want to leave?”

Travis glanced at him. “I’m serious.” 

“And so am I.”

“You know, as someone who grew up in the Northern Belt, I can’t fathom why anyone would want to come here, let alone why they would refuse to leave when they have the chance.”

“Thor refused to leave, too.”

“That’s different. And you know it.”

Freddy snickered. “Yeah. You’re right. I’m staying for selfish reasons.”

Travis blew air through his nose. “Of course you are.”

“And I’ve thought about it, too,” Freddy said. “All the fires hadn’t been put out yet, but for the most part, I think everything is on track to eventually getting better. I think I have a better way to contribute to rebuilding this city than to run around doing bureaucratic chores.”

“Which is?”

“Money and violence.”

Travis snorted. “Right. Of course.”

Freddy tapped Travis on the shoulder. “Hey, someone has to deal with the vultures. Also, you know, the more funds I can pour into this city, the faster things will go.”

“Just be careful,” Travis said. “There will be many who will come to take this city from you.”

Freddy grinned. “Good. They better hurry. Gotta farm that latent aura somehow.”

Travis chuckled at that. “How much do you even need for the third star, you greedy bastard?”

“You know how it is. The more, the better.” He smirked at Travis. “You wouldn’t be jealous, would you?”

“I envy you more than you can understand. But I guess I can settle for not having you as an enemy.” Travis looked over at Freddy with a complex look. “I can tell that something is wrong with you these days. You’ve got an… air about you. Whatever it is, don’t let it fester. You’ll regret it.”

Freddy stared into the man’s eyes for a long moment. Something within his gaze stirred, and Travis found himself looking away. 

“No worries, man,” Freddy said. “I’ll be fine.” He turned to Sophia. “Come on. Let’s go.”

***

“Surprisingly frugal for someone who owns the damn city,” Sophia said as she entered Freddy’s apartment. 

This was the first time he’d shown her this place. He’d been too busy with all the work around the city to make time for it.

“Yeah, yeah,” he said. “I’ll get a nicer one when the buildings stop burning down.”

“I’m kinda hungry,” Sophia said. “What’re we gonna eat?”

Freddy threw a food pill at her. 

Her smile grew strained. 

“What?” he said. “You ain’t getting delivery any time soon.”

“Don’t you have anything in the fridge?”

“No.”

“You know, you were onto something when you said you don’t know anything about how to enjoy your life.”

The two of them sat around, mostly just loitering and chatting about nonsense. There wasn’t much better to do. And frankly, Freddy still wasn’t in the mood for much of anything. 

“I have to say,” Sophia started, “this is a lot nicer than the room I had in Valhalla.” She sprawled on the couch. She closed her eyes and just remained there, humming a tune and tapping her leg. 

Freddy sat on the other side of the room. He looked down and a small, black shard appeared in his hand. It was the death-affinity shard Silver Heart left behind as his parting gift. He stared at it for a long moment, then looked over at Sophia. “Hey…” he called.

“Hmm?” she hummed without opening her eyes.

“I have to tell you something.”

///////////////////////////////

[AUTHOR'S NOTE]

Ello there, fellas! Sorry the late upload!

This is the first chapter since the book actually released. And yeah. It did really well. It pretty much completely changed my life. So hope y'all can forgive me for being a little distracted by everything that was happening.

As I've already previously mentioned, I was going to plot more or fewer books depending on how well book 1 did. That cap is gone. I have full intent to keep this running as planned originally. And I planned it to run for a very long time :D

But more than just that, after the release, I've felt my mindset about the story changing. Without realizing it, I've created a sort of mental block for myself. I couldn't bring myself to really invest myself to the fullest into a story due to the fear of disappointment. Not to say that I wasn't still trying really hard, but I've definitely been holding myself back.

I have no need for such a block anymore. The fear of disappointment is gone. I'll do my best. I'll try my hardest. I'll seek to improve with every new chapter I write. I'll reignite that spark and daring spirit I had when I was writing the first book of the series.

Other than that, we're back to regularly scheduled programming, I guess.

:D

And once again, thank you all for the support you've shown. Love you.

Cheers!