Five minutes prior
Keir had brought himself to a halt and listened to the ongoing situation from outside the bathroom. He pitied the boy and could relate with his problem, but it wasn't like he was going to do anything about it. Why would he? Keir was about to turn his heel and head to class, but a familiar ringing caught his attention and made him pause.
[Quest Alert: The Debt Collectors!]
[Progress]
[Rewards]
<50 credits, Two random item drops>
Keir's eyes widened and a wave of emotions hit him, nervousness, wonder, and excitement. Maybe this system would actually reward him for his deeds? The quest was floating and waiting for his acceptance, and Keir couldn't pass up the chance to really test the system.
"Fine! Hope I still remember those basic combat lessons."
The present
Keir looked down at himself in shock as he didn't expect that attack to actually work to this extent. The boy was basically snoring in dirty urinal water, disgusting…
There was no time to think or stand there in thought, Keir continued to hide his identity behind his hoodie and turned to the second debt collector. The second debt collector ran over to his comrade and crouched next to them, checking to see if he was alright, only to find them out cold and unresponsive. He growled and looked up at Keir In anger and confusion. "You bastard! You made a mistake interfering with our work!"
The boy stood back up and put out both of his hands in a strange motion, "Earth Wall!" He shouted, and Keir felt the floor behind him suddenly rise into a wall. The skill made him realize that this guy had to be a earth ability user to do something like that so quickly. The wall that erupted from the ground came flying at Keir, but he managed to narrowly dodge it with a roll at the last second. However, the boy's aim wasn't to hit Keir with the wall, but to use it as a distraction.
While Keir was busy regaining his bearings, the boy appeared next to him and swung his fist out in a swift punch. Keir looked up and was met with a fist to the face, sending him staggering just a little, "TSK!"
<95/100 HP>
The punch stung, but Keir expected it to hurt way more than it did as the pain wasn't as unbearable as he thought it would be. The boy grinned cockily, thinking that the punch he inflicted had dazed him, but he was wrong. Keir's hand flew up and grabbed the boy by the shirt before using all of his strength to harshly slam him into a nearby bathroom stall. The boy struggled to push himself up and eventually did, just to be met by a foot crashing into his head.
"Stay down!"
The two had a bit of a back and forth until the boy stopped moving after another kick stomped the back of hi head. Thankfully the guy was still breathing and Keir didn't accidentally go too far. Keir was impressed with himself as he didn't really expect to win that fight. But was it worth it? He would soon find out.
Keir was about to accept the rewards immediately, but remembered something. The boy from earlier was still there, leaning against the wall and looking at him in shock and disbelief. He had watched the entire fight play out and saw a strange, hooded boy win against two ability users with just his fists and body.
"W-Why did you help me…?" The boy asked with that same shaky tone of voice. He didn't know how to feel. Should he be scared, or grateful? "Both of those guys had decent amounts of Mana power, j-just how did you do it?" Keir sighed and disregarded all of those questions, simply walking over and offering the boy a hand, which he hesitantly took.
"What's your name?" Keir asked, and the boy finally composed himself enough to stop stuttering, "Oh…I forgot about that. I'm Lucas…and you are…?" Now that he could understand him more, Keir responded, "Call me Keir. How'd you even end up in this situation?" The question caused Lucas to sigh and lower his gaze in shame.
Something told Keir this was a sensitive topic, so he waited patiently until Lucas spoke again. "I thank you for helping me, so I can at least tell you about how I got here." He began, pausing with another sigh before continuing, "My family isn't really well-off, my dad left too…leaving it only me, my mom, and my sister. My sister really wants to be an adventurer one day, so I borrowed those credits to pay for her first few months of combat classes."
Keir sighed at the short story but couldn't really blame him for that poor choice. He lowered his hood before responding to Lucas's story, "So you're desperate enough to borrow credits from shady students like them?" He said bluntly and gestured to the two unconscious boys with his fingers. It was shameful, but Lucas didn't deny the truth.
He paused and fidgeted with his fingers, sweat dripping down his forehead as he shared more news with frantic breath. "My sister also borrowed some credits from The Loaners as well, and she might be in trouble right now!" That information didn't make the situation any better, and Keir felt pity for the two. While he himself wasn't well off, at least he wasn't this mentally fragile, right? Or was he…
"Is your sister also a first-year?" Keir asked, and Lucas quickly nodded his head and gathered his scattered items from the bathroom floor, not caring for his own wounds. He seemed more worried about his sister instead of his terrible and sorry state. "My sister's name is Tasha. We both take the same combat class right about now on the third floor. She could already be on her way up to class and in trouble!" It was a reasonable thing to be in a hurry over, but Keir was concerned about a few things.
"No offense, you can't even take on someone on your own level, do you even have an ability yourself? You'll need some help." He couldn't help but state, causing Lucas to pause and flush, hiding himself behind his messy black hair in a mix of emotions. "I-I'm an earth ability user…I'm not that strong with it though and can only do about three tricks." While he wasn't ability-less, he clearly stated he wasn't any extraordinary fighter. It made Keir think about the situation for a moment before making a suggestion, "Look, Lucas, let me tag along with you. You'll obviously need the extra pair of hands."
Those words caused Lucas to perk up again in another mix of emotions. "B-But, Keir! It could be dangerous, and you shouldn't involve yourself with my dumb situation. Just stay out of it, please!" He pleaded, but Keir was dead set on helping him, for two reasons. One, he couldn't imagine what would happen to Lucas and his sister if they were caught by the loaners. And secondly, the situation could possibly cause another quest to trigger in the system, to Keir, it would be a waste to not help.
"I'm tagging along, lead the way, buddy."
Lucas sighed in defeat before heading out of the bathroom, followed by Keir.
"Don't blame me if you get hurt!"