Absorption

At the door

"I...! I almost died! Shit! I thought I'd be gone because of you! Why in the world are you holding a knife!"

Ian trembled before he opened his mouth and started to blame Liam. He was so frightened that he almost pissed on his pants.

"Hey! Calm down! I didn't know that it was you outside, okay? I'm sorry." Liam apologized.

"What the f**k! So if it wasn't me here in this door, you're gonna kill that someone! Really nice Liam. "

"Ehm. I-It's not like that it's just that I had a weird premonition... Hm? Wait a sec."

Liam stopped mid-sentence when felt that the eerie feeling was still there so he turned his gaze outside but he can't see anything because of the pitch-black darkness.

"Perceptiveness. Crystal Vision."

Liam whispered to activate his skills.

The 'Perceptiveness' skill would greatly increase his perception which would be able to sense the people outside, then he activated Crystal Vision skill to see things more detailed and clearer.

Liam looked around outside for a while and saw three people outside. They were all a guy, based on what presence he felt. All of them outside was wearing a black hoodie with a creepy mask covering their whole faces.

The two guys were hiding behind the bushes by crouching which only revealed their upper part of the body while the last guy with the clown mask was leaning his back on a broken street lamp.

The guy on the street lamp was holding a dagger in his right hand and a moment later, he turned his head on Liam's direction.

Liam was startled when he saw the man with a creepy clown mask was looking at him. He a sharp gaze stabbing him from inside the clown mask.

Ian also looked outside when he saw the startled expression of his friend Liam but he didn't see anything outside besides the silhouette of a man in the broken street lamp. He thought that it was unusual but there was nothing to be troubled about.

And he didn't realize that his thoughts were definitely wrong.

At the same time, the two guys behind the bushes suddenly stood up and walked stealthily in the direction of the clown-masked guy.

The eerie feeling that Liam felt was getting worse and worse by time so he pulled Ian inside the house as he quickly closed the door.

Ian was stupefied from what Liam had done just earlier since he came until now.

"What the hell are you doing now? Don't tell me you've gone crazy after becoming into a 20 years old guy?"

"Call the police and go to my room upstairs."

"What are you talki-" Ian tried to ask Liam but he suddenly felt a chill ran down his spine after looking into the eyes of his friend.

It felt somehow different and frightening at the same time. This was the first time Ian have seen Liam with this kind of personality.

Liam soon opened the door again, he saw the three guys walking halfway towards their direction.

At the same time, Ian glimpse outside again and was terrified when he saw the guys walking forward to them with creepy masks which were hiding their faces.

"Now, Ian!"

Ian immediately went upstairs when he heard Liam's shout with a serious expression. He really wanted to help Liam to push the guys away but he felt something different in his tone and his eyes that made him followed what he said without a slight hesitation

"Accurate Throw."

As soon as Ian went up to the second floor, Liam activated the Accurate Throw and threw the kitchen knife half-spun aiming at the right shoulder of the guy in front of the other.

"!"

Before the guy could even react and dodge the knife, it had already pierced through his shoulder.

"Aaahkk!"

The guy that was hit by the knife that Liam thrown, made a pitiful cry and sat down on the grass floor. He didn't know how a kitchen knife could badly hurt a well-trained man like him, and above all, it was thrown by an unknown kid who seemed to be a college student.

The other guys were shocked and dumbfounded when they saw their companion crying in pain because of a mere kitchen knife but they soon regained their senses.

The guy with the clown mask who was holding a dagger in his hand, kneeled on the floor in one knee to look at the other guy's wound.

The thrown knife was deeply pierced inside the guy's shoulder that even the tip of the blade can be seen at the back of his shoulder. After seeing the severeness of the wound the clown masked was taken aback.

'Hm...? I thought that this kid was just the target's friend and classmate... What is happening now...?'

If he hadn't known that the guy who threw the knife was the classmate and the friend of their target, he would definitely assume that the guy who threw the knife was either an expert in throwing knives or a well-trained military.

The last guy was the only one standing. He was walking slowly towards the direction of Liam.

"Hey, kid. Where's your friend? I am just a thief in a group, which is good and has nothing to worry about. But! If you don't give him to us... or more precisely to our group, I'm afraid that something bad will happen to you sooner or later." The guy who called himself a thief threatened Liam with a calm voice.

"I don't care and don't you dare move!" Liam is preparing to fight as he shouted at the thief.

Liam did a fighting stance that he saw from an old manga. A sideways and a wide stance. His body was turned sideways and his left foot is in front of the right foot but with a big gap in the middle. His right hand was placed near his chin and his left hand was in front, slightly higher than his shoulder.

He may look like a tough one to fight but inside he was really nervous and doesn't know what to do. This was his first fight in a long time and he got nothing on his hands to scare the guys outside so he just made up a fighting stance.

He checked the system. The Athletic skill would deactivate in 5 minutes' time.

He was now more nervous than earlier.

After a while, Liam then closed the system. His facial expression suddenly changed after looking outside. He was surprised and slightly frightened as soon as he saw that there was no one in the area of where the thief was standing earlier and now he was currently running fast towards him.

"Shit!" Liam took a step backward as he saw the guy who suddenly appeared in front of him.

WHOOSH

The thief's fist flew towards him but he dodged it by a hair's breadth.

The thief tried to kick him but he was nowhere to be seen in his sight, then a baseball bat was flying to his face.

He blocked it with his left hand but because it was thrown by Liam with the Level 2 'Accurate Throw' skill that he just activated, the impact of the bat was great.

"URK!"

Liam moved forward as the bat hit the thief, then he kicked the thief's abdomen. The thief immediately jumped away from Liam and now they were in the living room.

The thief turned his body in front of Liam and take a few steps back to make a good stance but before he could do it, Liam was already running towards him with his fist aiming at the guy's face and he tried to block the fist with both of his hands.

Liam saw the thief's defense so he stopped and took his fist back, then he took the chance and kicked the thief's side once again.

The thief tripped and fell over to the glass table while he was stepping away from Liam but he stood back up again.

They both looked at the glass shards and glanced at each other for a while, then the thief started to pick up some of the shards with his black gloves while Liam was still running towards him.

The thief threw all the glass shards at the currently running Liam.

Liam saw the shards flying towards him, then he crossed his arms to protect his face. Some of the shards pierced and wounded his arms and some even managed to get through and wounded his face.

He had so many wounds on both of his arms because of the shards and thick blood was starting to pour from all of it. Even his face didn't avoid some shards and had a few scratches.

However, that didn't stop Liam from attacking the thief. He punched his stomach, kicked his crotch, then hit his face with his elbow.

The thief lied down on the floor, struggling in agony and soon, a moment later, he immediately lost consciousness because of the pain and fatigue.

『 The skill [Athletic] has been deactivated. 』

『 The skill [Crystal Vision] and [Perceptiveness] has been deactivated. 』

Liam heaved a sigh of relief, then he checked the system. His stats decreased because of the fight earlier. His HP was 76, MP was 2 and his Stamina was down to 62%.

"Now is the right time to test my Appraisal skill." Liam activated the Appraisal to see the thief's stats.

『

Name : Anthony Rendon

Leve: 13

Job: Thief

HP: 23

MP: None

Stamina: 34%

\[Stats\]

Strength: 10\+

Dexterity: 10\+

Intelligence: 8

Endurance: 9

Perception: 6

\[Skills\]

Passive Skills:

\> thiefing master Lv. 3

\> Hand Fighting Techniques Lv. 1

Active Skills:

\> Stealth Lv. 1

』

"So obviously, I can't still see a stat level above 10. And apparently, it's because of the 'Appraisal' skill's current level. But damn! This guy is a really good thief. I will assume that he learned the Stealth skill by being a thief for a long time. If I could learn that skill, the System will maybe amplify it and then I can be invisible, and then I can scare people, and then I can sneak into the girls bathro...er too bad I can't."

Liam kept revealing his thoughts and was daydreaming about the things he would he do if he got the 'Stealths' skill but suddenly, the notification from the System echoed again.

Liam opened the system and after checking what's in it, he was really surprised.

『 The task [ Beat up a person to the point of being unconscious.] has been completed. You gained 2 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points.』

『 The task [ Activate 5 different skills at the same time.] has been completed. You gained 2 Stat Points and 5 Skill Points.』

"Holy shit! T-this is... just amazing! I didn't know tasks work like this. I didn't even check it once and I already completed it. And the rewards damn!" Liam was in awe because of task completion and task rewards.

DING!

『 The prerequisite condition has been met. The [Skill Absorption] skill has been learned by the host. 』

『 The [Skill Absorption] skill lets a person absorb one skill of another person and learned it. It can be activated if that person is beaten unconscious or killed by the user. 10 minutes cooldown. 』

"Absorbs w-what?!" Liam read it three times already but he really can't believe it.

"S-stealth! I need that skill!"

After getting to know how to do it, Liam immediately walked near the thief and tried to place his right hand on the thief's head.

As soon as he placed his hand lightly on the top of the head, the notification from the system popped up.

『 What skills would you like to choose? 』

『 Random. P // Thieving. P// Hand Fighting Techniques. A // Stealth. 』

"Stealth!" Liam said excitedly.

『 The process of absorbing and learning it will be finished in 5 minutes. 』

"It's so damn easy! Oh, wait. I'm gonna go asked Ian, if he knows about these three guys."

Liam was excited about his skill that he completely forgot something.

'wait... three guys?'

As he came into realization, Liam felt a presence behind him so he quickly turned around.

He saw the clown-masked guy standing.

The guy immediately kicked Liam's stomach as he stood up.

Liam received a critical hit yet he still tried to stand, but even before he could try to take a breather, he saw a fairly big and ripped elbow before it covered his entire vision and soon landed in his face.

Liam's vision went blank for a moment as his brain received the impact. While he was trying to balance himself, the aftereffect of being hit in the stomach appeared. He coughed a mouthful of blood as he took a few steps back away from the clown-masked guy. He only got 4 MP so he had no choice but to use the Accurate Throw.

"Accurate Throw. Accurate Throw."

Liam went to the broken glass table and grabbed two pointed steel bars in it with both of his hand, then he threw it to the guy at an incredible speed.

The clown-masked guy saw the steel bars flying towards his face. He was a bit taken aback when the steel bar was accurately aimed at his head but he eventuallycaught the flying steel bar.

He then swang the steel bar he caught and smashed it into the second steel bar that was about to hit him, making it flew to the side. and like nothing happened, the guy threw weapon he caught and threw it to Liam with great power.

"Waaaaargh!" Liam pitifully screamed in pain.

His body was pushed back as the steel bar poerved through his shoulder. He then knelt on the floor because of the unimaginable pain he felt.

A prickling, painful sensation spread from his shoulder through all parts of his body. He never felt something like this before in his entire life but now he had to go through this intense pain to save himself and his best friend.

"You're good at throwing things, kid... But it's not enough to touch me." A deep voice came from inside the creepy clown mask. "I don't know how did you beat my man here, but what I know is... You are gonna die by my hands today for getting my plan delayed." The guy pulled his dagger out and threw it towards Liam's chest.

PSHLK!

A flesh being pierced resounded throughout the room. The clowned masked guy was happy to hear that but the sound came different from what he had expected.

The dagger stabbed through the hand of Liam, which stopped it from stabbing his chest.

Liam opened his mouth and gaze at the clown-masked guy and said...

"I have beaten your guy with only my skills... just like how I will do, to beat you up right now."

Liam furiously said with his eyes lit like a fire.

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