“Where’d you run off to?” A loud voice came from behind Koda.
Koda turned around in surprise, staring straight at the burly figure of Old Bram.
His surprise turned to disgust.
“You… you’ve been feeding a nightmare creature, haven’t you?” Koda asked, his thin hands curling into fists.
Old Bram sighed.
“So, you ran off because you went down into the cellar?
Makes sense.” He said, walking closer.
Koda surprisingly didn’t take a step back, instead, he stared straight at Old Bram with a glint of hatred in his eye.
This was it, this is what he had to do.
If he was able to take down a potential awakened as an aspirant, not only would this nightmare end, but his rewards would be astronomical.
“Yes.” Koda said, heart racing as adrenaline filled his veins.
“And?
You’re going to try and oppose me now?
It’s much too late, everyone is already infected.
There isn’t much you can do now, as the only person immune to this infection, I was so kind as to take you in as my apprentice.
And this is how you repay me?
Despicable.” Old Bram said with mock disappointment in his deep, grading voice.
Koda’s eyes widened but he didn’t let the revelation distract him, he needed to have a clear mind.
“No amount of kindness can forgive what you have done.
Look around, can you still call these people humans?” He said, pointing around at all the half dead villagers dragging their feet thoughtlessly.
“The more infected humans, the stronger it will become.
It needs this so that it can leave.
If you join me, it will spare both me and you.” Old Bram said, grinning disgustingly as his cheeks split open to reveal even more sharp teeth.
Koda stared in disbelief.
Old Bram was definitely an Awakened and the only idea Koda gained was that it involved eating and that was from the fact his mouth just became three times larger.
Shaking his head, Koda’s eyes remained steadfast.
“No, I won’t join you.” That’s when his eyes shot open wide, a feeling he had never felt before suddenly gripped his whole being.
‘What… What is this?
I really REALLY feel like I need to move…’ Koda thought to himself before… Old Bram’s fist flew forward.
It was a lazy swing, the kind of punch thrown by someone who didn’t think losing was possible.
The butcher’s massive arm carved through the air with enough force to kill any ordinary person, but Koda had somehow already moved before the first reached him, slipping under it awkwardly and stumbling past Bram’s side.
Not fast enough to look impressive, but enough to keep him alive.
His fist smashed into the side of a wooden pole, splintering wood apart in an explosions Bram glanced at the destroyed pole, then down at the thin boy beside him and hummed thoughtfully.
Koda immediately drove his elbow into the man’s ribs.
It was a very weak strike, his bones felt sharper than his muscles.
The blow landed with a dull thud against layers of fat and dense muscle that barely shifted beneath the impact.
Old Bram looked more confused than hurt.
Then the butcher hit him with a brutal backhand.
Koda once again felt the attack coming before Bram’s shoulder even turned.
Something twisted inside of his stomach, a sick tightening gut instinct that screamed danger.
He ducked on reflex and the giant hand tore through the air above his scalp.
Koda scrambled backward through the snow, breathing heavily.
Old Bram’s monstrous grin widened slowly.
“Well then,” he muttered.
“Aren’t you a slippery one?” Koda didn’t reply.
His fists stayed raised despite the dull ache in his bones.
He hated this man.
The butcher stood there like some swollen beast wearing human skin.
Bram took a step forward.
Koda stared at him, watching him.
And before Bram even moved, Koda knew what was coming.
It was a punch coming from the left.
Koda moved, the punch narrowly missing him.
Bram’s huge hand snapped towards his throat exactly when Koda had expected it to, but Koda twisted outside the grab and slammed a punch into the butcher’s monstrous jaw before retreating again.
The strike barely turned the man’s head.
“Right, okay then.” Bram said with a sigh, his smile fading.
Snow exploded beneath Bram’s old boots as the enormous man crossed the distance between them instantly, far faster than someone his size should have been able to move.
Koda’s gut screamed.
Down.
He dropped down without thinking.
A swipe ripped the air from where his head was just moments before.
Then came a knee.
Koda twisted sideways early, but not early enough.
The knee smashed into his fragile ribs and sent him skidding across the frozen ground.
Pain flooded his body immediately, something was broken too.
Koda rolled desperately as Bram stomped down where his skull had been a second earlier.
The boy forced himself upright, clutching his ribs as he staggered backwards.
“Shit… of course this would happen to me.
Maybe I should’ve spent my money on something that could’ve helped me, like formal training!” He growled beneath his breath.
His body felt heavy.
Maybe this would’ve been easier if he wasn’t so damn hungry!
He was starving.
Truly starving.
Every moment burned through what little strength he had left and old Bram looked like he could fight for days.
But Koda could somehow anticipate every attack.
A hook grazed his cheek and tore some skin.
A kick clipped his thigh hard enough to nearly collapse his leg.
A grazing elbow slammed into his shoulder hard enough and numbed his entire arm.
But he remained standing.
No matter how many blows landed, he managed to avoid all of the fatal ones.
Old Bram finally stopped pressing him.
The Butcher stared at Koda with narrower eyes, less amused than before.
“You have no training and only have a talent related to immunity, so why can’t I hit you properly?
Must I really use my weapons on a weak little brat like you?” Bram said slowly.
Koda wiped blood from his mouth.
“My… I have a Strong Gut.
I suppose that also includes my Gut Instinct.” Bram barked out a laugh.
“Your gut?” The moment the words left his mouth, Koda felt danger once again.
He needed to move.
He threw himself sideways just as Bram exploded forward with even more speed than before.
The butcher’s fist obliterated the wall behind Koda in a shower of frozen stone.
Bram had been holding back.
He was most certainly an awakened, yet he wasn’t using his Aspect nor any weapons.
Koda’s heart pounded violently.
Before his gut could tell him anything, Bram hurled him through an alleyway.
Koda crashed shoulder first into the ground and rolled quickly through snow and debris until he slammed into a wall hard enough to cough blood.
His vision blurred.
Bram slowly approached again.
“Do you know what starving dogs do?” The Butcher asked casually.
“They bare their teeth.
Makes them feel a whole lot more dangerous.” Koda pushed himself upright, shaking.
He stared up at Bram with his teeth bared.
They were sharp, like that of a wolf instead of a human.
Koda needed to try, he needed to.
If he didn’t try, there wasn’t any hope.
There wasn’t a chance of victory.
He lunged.
The butcher’s fingers closed around empty air as Koda stepped inside his reach and drove two stiffened fingers towards Bram’s eyes.
The old man jerked back with a curse.
Koda immediately followed with a punch to the throat, then another to the nose, then a desperate elbow into the side of the jaw.
They were very weak strikes, but accurate.
The butcher staggered.
But before Koda could escape, the old man’s hand flew forward and clamped around Koda’s face.
Then, he was lifted completely off the ground.
His feet kicked uselessly in the air while Bram’s fingers crushed against his skull.
“There you are…” Bram growled softly.
Koda clawed at the man’s wrist, struggling for breath.
Then, something changed.
KA—BOOM!