The officer managed to dodge the first strike, but what followed was a series of punches and kicks that seemed almost like blurs in Daneel"s eyes. The man"s speed was something almost unable to be replicated by a common human. The variations in his punches and kicks themselves were dizzying to watch.
Although the officer mostly dodged, he also managed to throw a few punches in. At one point, a punch of his which had missed had resulted in a huge "BOOM" as it struck the ground. A hole a few inches deep in the shape of a fist was made in the ground which shocked Daneel to the core. Such power was unseen or unheard of back on earth.
Missed punches like these resulted in the officer taking a few blows to his back and chest. But, the uniform seemed to contain certain protective properties which enabled him to shrug off whatever injuries he may have sustained.
Although the man moved fast, his punches and kicks just did not contain enough force to disable the officer. Just as the saying goes that walking near the riverbank will make your feet wet, one punch of the officer finally landed on the man"s chest.
The man flew back borrowing the momentum of the punch before landing a few feet away holding his stomach.
"A 4th Stage Eminent Human against an 8th stage Exalted Human. And you took so long to land a punch. Is this the strength you wanted to beat me down with?", asked the man, smirking.
The officer humphed, embarra.s.sed in front of the crowd, before saying, "It is the result that matters. Now come to the station quietly.", he said.
"Sure. Can I get a hand?", he asked, raising his hand as he was kneeling on the ground.
Daneel felt odd. The body language and tone of the man was not at all like that of one going to surrender.
The officer smiled before walking forward in a dignified manner as if for all intents and purposes, he was the one who had won the fight. He held the man"s arm and proceeded to raise him up.
The man smiled broadly and patted the officer"s shoulders saying, "Thanks. Now you better go get help fast. Don"t blame me if you end up getting crippled for life due to ignoring my warning."
The man said these strange words before walking away from the officer towards an end of the crowd near Daneel.
Everyone was waiting with bated breath for the officer to turn around and confront the man again, but strangely, he stood there, rigid.
After a second, a "PUCHI" sound was heard as blood erupted in a fountain from his nose, ears and eyes, making him fall to the ground.
"Impossible. The secret technique for Warriors....you cannot have mastered it.", he gasped, before fainting in a pool of his own blood.
The man, not even turning back, walked out of the crowd as people made way for him, awed by the utter magnificence of the scene.
Daneel followed the man with his eyes. The only thing constantly running in his mind over and over again was:
"d.a.m.n! That"s cool!"
Unable to get the scene out of his head, he ran towards the man who was walking away.
As the man ducked into a corner, Daneel followed him in and was shocked to find him leaning against the wall, panting.
Blood oozed out of the corner of his mouth as he sunk to the ground.
"Are...are you ok?", he asked, worried. This image was worlds different from the one that he had projected just a few seconds back.
"I"m fine. That d.a.m.n punch just managed to break a rib. Fighting with an Exalted Human is no joke, especially when I"m 4 stages behind. What do you want, kid?"
"I want to learn to fight like you!", answered Daneel. Without waiting for the man to reply, he took out a piece of bread from his pocket and held it forward.
His mother had thoughtfully packed the bread as a snack in case he got hungry in the library. Now, he was using it as a small token of offering with the hope that it would make the man see that he was worth taking in. Especially seeing his clothes, anyone could tell that he was a poor kid whose food for the day was probably just that piece of bread.
He was not doing these just out of a whim. The main reason was a system prompt which had occurred right after the man exited the crowd:
[*DING*
New Mission: Receive an invitation to the "Fists of Justice" Training Hall from Eminent Human Elenav.
Mission Description: Deriving from data collected from the crowd, this training hall fights against corrupt government officials and laws for the good of the people. This mission was triggered due to the acceptance of the mission "Take revenge on the library"s constable and clerk.". It is possible that the training hall might help in the Host"s journey.
Mission Rewards: 20 Exp Points. A type of points might be unlocked.]
Daneel wondered what these types of points were, but he had no time to ask as he had to hurry after the man.
Now, with a little time to spare while the man looked at him oddly, he asked, "What are types of points?"
[Replying to the host, there are specific types of points which can be awarded by the system. The most common is Exp Points, which can be used for various purposes. Other types also have distinct purposes.]
Although he hadn"t gotten much information, this was still good news. He looked forward to seeing what these types of points were.
As if he had made some kind of decision, the man shrugged and took the bread, munching on it while musing about something.
While Daneel watched on, he noticed that the man had strong features, with a high nose and sharp eyes. A scar ran along his left cheek towards his left ear which seemed to have been sustained many years back.
"Thanks kid. You wanna join the "Fists of Justice" Training Hall? The old sect head always tells us to find those with a good heart to extend the invitation. We fight for justice for commoners like you. If you agree, I would love to take you to the hall. Right now."
It was this easy? Daneel thought that he would have to run many more errands before even considered for an invitation. It turned out that the difficulty of the missions varied a lot, and it did not have any link with the experience points awarded.
[Mission Success. Congratulations. 20 Exp Points Awarded. Faction Points Unlocked. Faction Points can be used to purchase certain boosts from the System Store. System Store is locked until the host reaches the Human-4 level.]
It sounded a lot like the RPG games that were so popular back on earth. Meanwhile, the man was slowly rising to his feet.
He scratched his head a bit before saying, "I"m Elenav by the way. Do you agree? And if you do, do you mind helping me with something?"
Daneel was bewildered. What kind of help could a 12 year old be? But first, he hurried to agree.
"Great. Raise my s.h.i.+rt from behind. Don"t worry, I just want you to take out a pentagon shaped object tucked there.", he hurried to say, seeing the strange look in Daneel"s eyes.
It was a fist-sized coin shaped like a pentagon with a few red gems embedded in between the gold that it was made of. As Daneel touched it, it glowed a dangerous red and started to heat up.
"Hand it to me quick! Otherwise, it might attack you!"
Daneel hurried to put the coin in Elenav"s hand. As soon as he did so, the red glow was replaced by a golden one.
Holding the coin up to his mouth like a mike, he said, "This is Elenav. I"m in the 3rd alleyway east of the Town Library. Need extraction for me and a new recruit. Send a medic, it seems my lung might be punctured."
A punctured lung?! How was this man even standing? Wondered Daneel as a gruff voice came from the coin which said:
"Understood. Stay at your location, someone will come in a minute."