Rude Awakening.
II.
Marcus would take me out for 'training' in the mornings whenever he was home. I never did manage to land a hit on him, although I came close a couple of times when he got drunk enough. I even managed to block a couple of his attacks and raise my hand-to-hand combat skill a little bit. The beatings were still painful, but since I knew that I could just sleep it off at the end of the day, I almost got used to them in a way.
"Don't worry boy, once the beatings get less painful I'll make sure it's more painful; It's for your best interests kid." Marcus issued with a smirk.
Marcus emitted a mocking laugh as I vomited blood. My muscles and joints felt as if they were ripped apart from him trying to ingrain torture methods into me.
Walking feels as if I were stepping through a jungle of legos, and Marcus seems satisfied that I am in this state of agonizing pain.
Fucking psychopath.
It was depressing to even think about the so-called "conditioning" Marcus puts me through, however, it did make me stronger.
[Perk Upgrade!]
Tank Beginner Stage 2!
Description: When HP falls below 10%, receive a boost to DEX, STR, and VIT for a short period.
Due to Marcus's loving conditioning, you've received an upgrade to one of your perks! Congratulations!
Sometimes I was awestruck by the audacity of the system, not even bothering to help me nor do anything about Marcus, however, I chose my path when I clicked on Mercury's prompt.
Though, I felt a bit empty whenever Marcus went to 'work.' Was I developing Stockholm syndrome? I decided to clear my head by taking a walk outside.
As I left the shack I lived in, I was shocked to see a mini-mansion of some sort fully decked out with state-of-the-art appliances, with even a pool in the back, and the shack appeared to be in the backyards of said mini-mansion. Why has this man that has been beating the living shit out of me had a property like that? Wasn't he just some lean addict?
Life simply wasn't fair.
The times where I had no training were usually because Marcus had to go to 'work', and on those days I usually headed to the town to look for some relatively easy quests. Those were the days when I had a chance to sneak into town and try to unlock some new quests. Whenever I went to town, at least 1 quest would pop up allowing me to gain some free exp, some usual run-of-the-mill quests you'd see in an RPG, take the trash out, clean the wall of posters, and find the lost cat. The usual.
It was so repetitive and dull, similar to a generic fanfic.
I had managed to level myself up however from doing these repetitive tasks, so all was not lost.
[Level Up!]
I pondered over what stats I should raise, then I realized I'd never escape Marcus if I was slow, so I ended up dumping 7 points into DEX, and 3 points in VIT.
Mercury Black
Age: 10
Gender: Male
Race: Human
Level: 6
Title: You're a literal nobody.
HP: 160/160
STR: 12
VIT: 11
DEX: 27
CHA: 1
INT: 7
LCK: 0
Perks:
The Feet of Hermes (Beginner Stage 1)
Tank: (Beginner Stage 2)
I was curious as to why my charisma was so low, was it because of Marcus's upbringing? Mercury probably must've never had any sort of human interaction besides his father, which must've stunted his social skills. Tragic, considering the only thing he understood was pain.
I slept like a newborn after Marcus begrudgingly let me go early from training as he decided to drink that "drank" as he liked to call it, as apparently, it was more appealing than beating his son half to death.
I awoke as I was doused with heavy cold water.
For a brief moment, I wondered where I was until thankfully Marcus struck me awake before I even had a chance to look around. I struggled to keep my food down, as the bile was rising through my throat.
This guy is fucking nuts, as I struggled to get up when out of the blue, Marcus spun around and connected with a kick, which sent me flying til I hit the wall at breakneck speed. I felt my arm go limp upon the impact of the kick.
[Vitality Check Failed!]
SNAP!
-10 HP
[You have been afflicted with the broken right arm condition!]
Marcus made an expression that made my stomach turn inside-out. I had a gut feeling about what was to come next.
Marcus grinned and with 2 efficient motions of his left hand, I heard a resounding crack coming from my body and left arm. I didn't have time to feel the pain as the adrenaline coursed through me and blocked out most of it.
[Vitality Check Failed!]
CRACK, SNAP!
-25 HP
[You have been afflicted with the broken left arm condition!]
[You have been afflicted with the broken rib condition!]
Agonizing pain seared throughout my body, as my arms held limp around my tiny body. Snot mixed in with tears ran down my face like a waterfall, and throughout it, all Marcus simply laughed and laughed.
With my health running dangerously low, it probably wouldn't have been the best idea to retaliate against him.
He wasn't sure going to kill me, was he?
Who was I kidding, it's Marcus fucking Black, of course, he might kill me. Who knew what went into the mind of that psychopath. I didn't bother raising my head as I heard his footsteps come closer and closer until I saw his boots stop directly in front of my line of sight. Maybe if I just played dead, he'd leave me alone. Marcus reached for my hair with a wild grin and brought me to face him eye to eye.
"Don't start screaming, Mercury. If you do, you've failed the test. Keep running because if I find you or hear you… well…" Marcus finished that with a feral grin, as he threw me aside.
I collapsed near the wooden post and tried to get up but I couldn't. The pain was too much for this body to bear, but I knew if I didn't get up right now it was going to get a whole lot worse in the future.
I felt an overwhelming rage bubbling up inside of me but pushed it down. What could I honestly do against him? Marcus is figuratively a monster in human skin. What threat did a 10-year-old kid pose to him? I should have just died instead of being reborn in this hell.
[Quest Unlocked: Run Bitch! Run!]
What's worse than an abuser? A child abuser! Marcus Black needs to alleviate some stress after his last job, and what better target is there than his dear son? Stay hidden from Marcus til sunrise!
Difficulty: Hard
Success: +500 EXP, Decreased Reputation with Marcus
Failure: Decreased Reputation with Marcus
"O-o-observe," I stuttered out, Marcus looked at me with confusion but I paid it no mind.
Marcus Black
Gender: Male
Age: 32
Race: Human
Level: 51
Title: Famous Assassin (+50% Damage vs Humans and Faunus)
Current Status: Drunk (+25% Strength, -50% Dexterity)
Wait, wasn't he level 50 yesterday? How the hell did he get stronger all of a sudden? Did he take on an assassination job and get stronger from that? Was he just going to keep getting stronger over time?
That was bullshit, how the hell was I supposed to catch up then?
My heart sank, no matter what I did for training, if Marcus gradually grew stronger I'd have no chance of running from him, let alone killing him.
"What're you doing boy?" Marcus barked out, "Run!"
[Dexterity Check Succeeded!]
And so I ran.
Author's Note: xD poor mc getting abused by Marcus, if u want to envision injury scene think of Android 18 breaking Vegeta's arm with a kick.
Anyway, leave me a review if you enjoyed the chapter, or if you have any tips on how to improve the next ones!
I'll be uploading a chapter at least once every day!
