I went back to my apartment and slept for twelve hours.
When I woke up, the sun was shining and I felt amazing. The Level 2 upgrade made my body feel rested and light. Even the scratches on my chest from the were completely gone, healed by the System.
I took a shower, threw away my ruined Aegis polo shirt and put on a clean gray hoodie.
I checked my phone. Miller had sent me a text with two new addresses. Both were F-Rank Public Zones. One was in an abandoned warehouse; the other was in a dried-up sewer canal.
I had to clear both of them by the end of the week to meet my quota.
I sighed. I hated the quota and I hated that Mr. Graves was taking sixty percent of my money. But I had to admit, I didn't hate the feeling of leveling up.
I left my apartment and took the subway to the first address.
The abandoned warehouse was huge and empty. The roof was caved in, letting sunlight stream down onto the floor.
I walked inside, holding my baton.
The System notification popped up, telling me to defeat the Boss and get the Core.
This time, I was ready. I had 45 BP. I didn't have to count every single point.
Three Constructs spawned from the shadows. They looked like rats made of brown sludge. They hissed at me and charged.
I created a violent downdraft of wind right above them.
Cost: 6 BP.
The wind slammed down on the rats, flattening them against the floor. Before they could recover, I flash-froze the sludge they were made of.
Cost: 4 BP.
The rats turned into blocks of ice. I walked over and smashed them with my baton. They shattered into pixels.
[Construct Defeated. +10 XP]
[Construct Defeated. +10 XP]
[Construct Defeated. +10 XP]
It was so easy. The extra BP made a massive difference.
I spent the next hour walking through the warehouse, clearing out sludge rats, using small gusts of wind to knock them over, then freezing them. I was being efficient, but I wasn't terrified of running out of gas.
Finally, the Zone Boss spawned.
It was a massive sludge monster, shaped like a gorilla. It roared and threw a ball of toxic sludge at my head.
I dodged it easily and looked up at the caved-in roof. The sun was shining brightly.
I focused all my power on the air directly around the sludge gorilla, raising the heat to extreme levels, creating an oven around the Boss.
Cost: 15 BP.
The sludge gorilla roared in pain while its body began to bubble and steam. The intense heat was baking the moisture right out of its body. Within seconds, the monster dried up, turned into clay, and cracked apart.
[Zone Boss Defeated. +50 XP]
The Boss dissolved, leaving a blue Core on the ground.
I picked it up and checked my Status Screen.
BP: 20/45.
I still had almost half my BP left. I smiled.
I went straight to the second address Miller had texted me.
The dried-up sewer canal smelled terrible, but the enemies were just more stone dogs. I used my remaining BP to freeze the ground, making them slip, and then crushed them with the baton.
I found the Boss—a large stone wolf—and defeated it by creating a vacuum around its head until the System registered it as suffocated.
[Zone Boss Defeated. +50 XP]
I grabbed the second blue Core.
I had cleared two Public Zones in one afternoon and met my weekly quota in two days.
I checked my XP.
XP: 180/200.
I was only twenty points away from Level 3.
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I climbed out of the sewer canal and walked back to the street. The sun was starting to set. I was tired, and I smelled like garbage, but I felt incredibly productive.
I took the subway back to District 4 and walked into the Aegis Field Office.
Miller was eating a sandwich at his desk.
I walked over to his desk and dropped the Cores next to his sandwich.
"You cleared both of them?" Miller asked, sounding shocked. "In one day?"
"I told you, I'm efficient," I said. "That meets my quota for the week, right?"
Miller slowly nodded. He picked up his scanner and scanned both Cores. The computer beeped twice.
"Yeah. Quota met," Miller said. He typed on his keyboard and printed out another receipt. He handed it to me.
Total Payout: $500.00
I took the receipt. Five hundred dollars for two Boss Cores. It was still a terrible deal, but it was better than nothing.
"So, I have the rest of the week off?" I asked.
Miller leaned back in his chair, looking at me differently now.
"You can take the week off if you want," Miller said. "But if you're actually capable of clearing Zones this fast, I have a different job for you. It's not a Zone clear but a patrol route."
"A patrol route?" I asked. "Like, walking around looking for Villains?"
"Yes," Miller said. "It's on the rural-urban border. District 9. It's a rough area. Real Villains operate there, not just mindless System Constructs. The bounties are higher. But it's dangerous. Villains are smart. They fight back."
I thought about it.
I wanted to hit Level 3 and get more Attribute Points.
"Does Aegis still take sixty percent of Villain bounties?" I asked.
"No," Miller said. "Villain bounties are paid directly by the city. Aegis only takes twenty percent."
I smiled. More money. More XP.
"Send me the address," I said. "I'll start tomorrow."
The next afternoon, I took the train all the way out to District 9.
District 9 was the edge of the city. It was where the tall skyscrapers stopped and the rundown neighborhoods began. Beyond the neighborhoods were empty fields and old factories. It was poor, dirty, and quiet.
I was wearing my hoodie and carrying my baton. I walked down the street, keeping an eye on the dark alleyways.
Patrolling was boring. I walked for two hours and didn't see a single Villain. I just saw regular people walking to work or buying groceries.
I was starting to think Miller had given me a fake assignment just to keep me busy.
I stopped at a corner store to buy a bottle of water. As I walked out, I heard a loud crash coming from the alley across the street.
I stopped and listened. I heard a woman yell.
I jogged across the street and peeked into the alley.
A woman in a nice business suit was backed against a brick wall. Her purse was on the ground, spilled open.
Standing in front of her was a young guy, maybe twenty years old. He was wearing a dirty red jacket. He had a knife in one hand.
In the other, a stream of dark red liquid was floating in the air, swirling around his fingers.
Blood.
He had a Blood Manipulation Blessing. It was a Mutant-type ability, highly stigmatized by society. People called them "Villainous Blessings" because they looked scary. Kids with those powers usually got bullied, couldn't find jobs, and ended up turning to crime just to survive.
"Give me the watch," the guy said to the woman, his voice shaking a little. "Take it off."
I watched from the corner of the alley.
Suddenly, a shadow dropped down from the roof of the building.
It was a Pro Hero. He was wearing a shiny silver suit with a bright blue cape. He had the logo for "Apex Energy Drinks" plastered across his chest. He looked like he was Rank 500 or higher.
The blood manipulator jumped back, looking terrified while the woman on the ground looked relieved.
"Oh, thank god," the woman cried. "Please, help me!"
The Pro Hero looked at his wrist communicator.
"Ma'am," the Pro Hero said. "Are you an Apex Energy subscriber? Do you carry our premium insurance package?"
The woman blinked, confused. "What? No! I just need help! He has a knife!"
The Pro Hero sighed and tapped his communicator. "I'm sorry, ma'am. This district is outside my sponsored jurisdiction. And since you are not a premium subscriber, intervening here would violate my contract. I am legally required to wait for city police."
"Are you serious?!" the woman screamed.
The Pro Hero fired a grappling hook from his wrist and zipped back up to the roof, disappearing completely.
He left her.
The blood manipulator looked just as confused as the woman. But when he realized the Hero was actually gone, he grinned. He stepped closer to the woman, raising his hand. The floating blood sharpened into a red spike.
"The watch," he demanded.
I wasn't surprised. That was how the Hero industry worked. If there was no money, there was no rescue.
A blue System notification popped up in my vision.
[Quest Triggered: Apprehend the Criminal.]
[Target: Level 8 Villain.]
[Reward: High XP, System Bounty Payout.]
I smiled.
A Level 8 Villain. High XP. And a bounty payout that Aegis couldn't steal.
I pulled my baton off my belt, stepped out from behind the corner and walked into the alley.
"Hey," I called out.
The blood manipulator turned around his floating blood spike pointed directly at me.
"Back off!" he yelled. "I'll put a hole right through you!"
I kept my hands relaxed.
"You're Level 8," I said. "You should be fighting in Zones, not robbing people for watches."
"Nobody hires bloodsuckers for Zone teams!" he spat angrily. "Society made me a Villain! Now back off, or I'll kill you!"
He threw his hand forward and the blood spike shot through the air, aiming right for my chest. It moved incredibly fast, much faster than the stone dogs.
I created a dense wall of air.
Cost: 5 BP.
The blood spike hit the invisible wall of air and splashed harmlessly, turning into a red mist that rained down.
The guy stared at the red mist, his eyes wide with shock.
I kept walking toward him.
"Society didn't make you a Villain," I said. "You're just lazy and want easy money."
I raised my baton.
"And so do I."