*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Over and over. Over and over and OVER and OVER.

I punched this fucking wall, then punched some more, and when I felt like I couldn't punch anymore, I kept fucking punching! This had continued on for weeks. Whenever I wasn't on jobs, eating, or sleeping, I was punching this fucking wall.

At this point, it wasn't even about the strength Armament Haki would grant me. I couldn't give a rat's ass anymore.

What I did care about was actually unlocking it.

I had started, and I wouldn't bow out. I wouldn't quit. Because if I quit here-

Then I didn't deserve to stand at the top of Night City.

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

Until my knuckles turned white, then bloody, then numb, I continued punching. I needed this. Fuck Morgan Blackhand, fuck Johnny Silverhand, and fuck Adam Smasher! I was going to be the strongest! I was going to rise above them all!

Night City would be mine!

*DING*

I paused as my hand slammed against the wall, but this time, I didn't feel the pain of the impact. Sure, the pulsating pain from the unthinkable number of punches I had thrown earlier still existed and radiated around my knuckles, but the pain was long-lasting. Not new.

I looked down at my hands and froze at what I saw. A shit-eating grin tugged at my lips, and my eyes lit up in satisfaction. My hands looked like they had turned into some reddish-black material.

Haki.

"I fucking did it!" I shouted, and I couldn't give a fuck if all of Heywood heard my shout of victory. I hoped they heard me. "I fucking won!"

The Haki only covered my hands… for now, I'd take this as a victory, no matter how little. I had overcome the arduous training that was the grind for Armament Haki, and now I knew I held the willpower to do anything in this world-

To make my dreams a reality.

I returned to the front of my second house and started walking towards Coyote Cojo.

I had unlocked Armament Haki, and now it was time to celebrate!

— Later —

"You're not very wise, are you?"

"I've never claimed to be." I shrugged, downing another glass of the drink that had quickly become my favorite. I still didn't know what was in it besides vodka and never intended to learn.

"Fair point." Pepe sighed, continuing to clean a glass. "Just stop hurting yourself."

I gave a curt nod to the man. Coming in here nearly every day with bandaged hands from the endless grind of punching a metal wall was not only hard to do but also challenging for everyone to see.

It's not like I was all that close to everyone in here, but many of the people were acquaintances now, meaning we would share at least a few words with each visit. So seeing me bandaged from self-harm, while not the most concerning thing in the lives of the inhabitants of Night City, was rather unwanted.

After counting the money Padre had given me, I realized he had paid me 20 thousand eddies for the job, which was incredible! It wasn't an easy job, but I don't think that's why he paid me so much.

No, I believe it has something to do with him knowing about my Nen.

No guy decked out in as little chrome as I should have been able to come back from that mission alive, yet I did, which must have either been a shock to him or entirely expected.

So he paid me so much because he invested in me. To be fair, I was a damn good investment, so he lucked out. On the other hand, I wanted to know how he knew about Nen and if he knew of other people who had it.

one-fifth of the population. That's how many people could use Nen or Haki.

Of course, many of those people would never know and thus never use either because both systems seem to be well-regarded secrets.

Since coming to this world, I still haven't met anyone who has used Nen, though I did sense a couple of people while traveling around at night. Most of the ones I sensed had stronger Nen than me, which didn't bode well for me, but then again, I was a beginner, so nothing too worrying.

After Padre paid me and we toasted, I asked him for the location of some scavs to hand over all of the bodies I had, and Padre sent me in the right direction. I dropped the bodies off with the scavs and got a decent payday.

Most of the cyberware was damaged from the fuckers I killed, but there were still some good pieces of cyberware and the organs that were still fresh. So I traded all the corpses in and got the fuck out of there.

I didn't trust scavs, as everyone should.

It had been nearly a month since I was sent to this world. Over that time, I've been doing several jobs for Padre. They've mostly been small things, nothing nearly as hard as the Militech Cache gig. However, I've come out with a damn good amount of eddies. I need to get chromed up again.

More than anything, I need a Sandevistan.

Right now, I can't use Ren and Ten in tandem, which has led to fire raining down on me. Ren doesn't provide as much of a shield as Ten does, and I've taken a few shots because of that.

Having a Sandevistan to use along with my Ren or even with my Ten would be incredibly convenient. Being able to avoid getting shot at all, all while moving around fast, would be a game changer, and in the case of my Ten, whenever the cooldown for my Sandevistan begins, I could activate it and tank the bullets.

All of it leads back to the Sandevistan. It's a necessary part of the build I'm going for, and I hope to find one that I can throw in sometime soon.

Speaking of finding one, maybe I should start looking.

— Later —

"So a Sandevistan is what you want?" Vik asked, leaning back in his chair and looking at me with some amusement.

"Yeah, do you have any right now?"

"Nah." He shrugged, sliding his chair over to his desk. "But I can get you one. Got anything specific in mind?"

"Whatever you can find works Doc." I sighed, leaning against the wall. "If you can find something high grade, that'd be even better."

"Unlikely, but not impossible." Vik hummed, scratching his chin with his mechanical fingers.

"Like I said, whatever works."

"Will do. Is that all?"

"Yeah. Gotta delta; give me a call when it's here."

The Ripperdoc gave me a curt nod and a wave, and I started heading out of the shop and making my way to my first apartment.

I had tens of thousands of eddies that I was sitting on, so I didn't need to take another job, at least not anytime soon.

And considering I'd rather not have bullets rain down on me again, I was going to wait until the Sandevistan came before I took another job.

Upon reaching my apartment, I took a moment to look at everything. I didn't have my name on the room, and with how long I've been here, the landlord would likely come looking for rent. So, it was time to set this fucker up and truly make it my home.

— 1 Week Later —

I sat back on my brand-new couch and watched TV. The apartment was now officially and legally mine. I refurbished the entire place, selling or scrapping and replacing most of the furniture. I still had a lot of eddies left over, close to thirty thousand.

I planned on doing the same for my other place, but instead of setting it up with furniture, I would turn it into a safe house.

*RING*

I saw a call at the top left of my vision.

Viktor Vektor.

Good, so my Sandevistan was ready.

I picked up the call and turned down the TV.

"Talk to me, Doc."

"[Your order is here; come whenever you want.]"

"I'm on my way."

— Later —

I cracked my back as I left Doc's shop. I could feel the metal in my back along my spine. It was a weird feeling, but It was also damn exhilarating.

A Dynalar Sandevistan.

It had cost me a pretty penny at around 6k eddies, but it was worth it.

The thing could slow down time for everyone but the user by 50% for 8 seconds. It wasn't the greatest Sandevistan I could have gotten by any means, but it had its perks, and I intended to capitalize on its usefulness.

Now that I had a Sandevistan which meant I could start another job. So, it was time to make my way over to the Coyote Cojo.

Unlike whenever I usually head to the bar, this time I walked. Enjoying the scenery and randomness of Night City. Hearing the occasional gunshots was great because it meant nothing was out of order, and everyone who lived here was just trying to make it by day by day.

Eventually, I arrived at the bar and went inside. I looked at the counter and Pepe wasn't there which was unusual, but one look over showed me Padre was sitting in his usual spot. Our eyes locked on one another. Then, he waved me over.

I made my way over to the booth, and Padre's guard moved to the side immediately. They knew who I was clear as day by now and knew I was important enough to earn Padre's favor.

"So, what did you need, Padre?" I asked, sliding into the booth and picking up the drink that was left on the table for me.

"Courier job. I need you to make a delivery to the Animals."

"That's all?" I questioned with a hint of disappointment in my tone. I had just gotten this Sandevistan, and I really wanted to use it.

"That's all." Padre smiled. "Relax, Mijo. I will not hold you back. In time, the important jobs will come; until then, this is what needs to be done. Will you handle it?"

"Of course." I downed the rest of my glass and placed it back on the table. "So what am I delivering?"

"Cyberware. The specifics of which are unimportant. Just bring the package to the Animals. I assume you know their location?"

"Yeah." I nodded, pushing myself out of the booth. "I'll be back."

"And your way will be here as usual." Padre returned my nod, holding out his drink to me as a goodbye. I left the bar and activated my Ren before blasting off toward the Animal's location.

It wouldn't be an interesting job, but pay was pay.

— Dorio —

"Just get your ass moving!"

"Fine! …fucking bitch." Dorio growled out as she made her way out of the building. She had been ordered to receive a delivery from the fixer of Heywood Padre on behalf of her gang, the Animals.

She fucking hated doing shit like this, but they always put her on it! She wanted nothing more than to knock some heads and get stronger. If she made some eddies while doing it, then so be it.

But this…! Receiving packages was just boring!

She was a Hunter, for god's sake! A capable warrior with access to Nen! It made no sense that Sasquatch sent her out on some shitty job like this. She wasn't even the fucking Alpha, yet she had the audacity to boss her around.

Fucking hell.

To let out her anger, Dorio activated her Ren and sprinted toward the meet-up spot. The delivery was to be made at the Animal's Main Base, and she was at one of the more secretive locations. It wasn't too far, and running was just what she needed right now.

Within a few minutes, she arrived at the meet-up spot and looked around.

Godamn carrier wasn't even here yet. Fuck, of course, she would end up wasting even more time on this stupid shit!

She leaned against the wall to the base and started tapping her foot. The other members were inside, likely beating each other's asses or training or doing something that mattered. Yet she was out here-

Her body froze as she felt someone approaching and fast. A Hunter like her. They were definitely using their Ren, and it felt…so much larger than hers-

No, larger wasn't the right word. Their Ren felt more potent than hers.

In her three years having Nen, she had never once felt anyone with such potent Ren. Sasquatch was a Haki Man, but their current Alpha was a Hunter, and not even his Ren felt this powerful.

Whoever was approaching was dangerous.

A wicked grin formed on her lips. All things holy, she hoped they were the carrier.

As she felt the Hunter grow closer and closer, her grin grew wider and wider until a person dropped a few meters in front of her.

Immediately, Dorio took in the man's Ren Aura. Glowing white surrounded him, not unlike hers, but it looked… denser.

Beyond that, as she got a good look at him, her mouth opened slightly in surprise before the grin returned.

He was quite the looker.

Short-black hair and a lined-up black bushy beard that looked damn fine on him. His glowing blue eyes seemed to pierce her soul as she made eye contact with him, and the best part-

He was fucking jacked. Even through his shirt, she could see his body, and she could tell he was primarily organic. To build such a body while being organic was on the level of the Animal's commitment, and she'd be lying if she said the man in front of her didn't get her a little wet.

He was shorter than her, but not by much, an inch at most. But she was a giant of a woman, standing at six foot four inches so that she could look past that.

"You with the animals?" He asked, taking a step toward her.

"Who's asking?" She asked, her grin still sharply in place. He had the looks, but she wanted to see if he had the balls.

"Padre's Carrier." He frowned.

"Got a name?" She pressed.

"Maliketh Aeneas. Look, are you with the animals or not? I gotta delta the fuck out of here."

She blinked at his sudden aggression, but this was exactly what she wanted.

"I may be. How about we talk about you, though." Dorio pushed herself off the wall, walking up to the man. "Got some powerful Nen there, Hunter. How did you manage that?"

He blinked at her for a moment, and if she hadn't been looking so closely at his face, she wouldn't even have noticed the slight widening of his eyes.

"I drink plenty of juice."

"Funny." She deadpanned. "Got an actual answer?"

"You gonna pay?" Maliketh raised an eyebrow.

"I might." She nodded. There wasn't much knowledge of Nen, after all. All they knew was that people had it, and there were three principles. If there was anything more, her crew didn't know about it.

And knowledge in Night City was a currency.

"Then I can give you an answer, but not now." He stepped closer and reached into… nothing?

His arm disappeared inside of a ripple in the air. Dorio had to wipe her eyes to make sure what she saw was real and not some sort of malfunction in her eyes.

The next second, he pulled out a large metal container and she blinked again.

"Did you just pull something from nothing?"

"Yes. And before you ask, no I won't explain it."

Damn, an ability like that would make any carrier job a breeze.

"Whatever." She scoffed. She wouldn't let it go. She intended to learn how the fuck he managed to pull something from nothing.

"Well, my job is done." Maliketh nodded to himself before turning to walk away. Her eyes dropped down to her rear and she had to admit-

Nice.

Suddenly, he turned around, and her eyes quickly met his.

"Ah, just remembered, I didn't get your name."

"Dorio." She placed her hands on her hips. "It'd be nice to see you again, Maliketh. Maybe throw some chrome around, see who's stronger?"

"Sure, I wouldn't mind a confidence boost." He grinned. Oh, this cocky fuck. She was going to enjoy kicking his ass, and if he were half as strong as she hoped, she would use his cock as a toy for her pleasure.

— Chapter End —

Beta Reader: Uncle Forz