Chapter 43: Stumbled across Bagul
Chapter 43: Stumbled across Bagul
Jin, without the mask this time, had started walking through the grim streets, striding across the concrete pavements with a deliberate gait.
He was going to look for trouble. Trouble so that he could complete the system task: in that it was the only way he thought he would be able to.
What he promptly realized, however, was that fighting in broad daylight would be a huge, blunderous thing to do. It was like asking for things to transition to the cusps of lethality.
There was no telling who could show up and make things go south. And those daunting cops; magic coursing through their beings, would be swimming into view all over the city at this time of dawn.
The wisest thing to do was to wait things out.
Wait until the prowling cops were less prevalent throughout the city. Wait until there was less light to bounce off of the eyes. In the grand scheme of things, the ideal time for unlawful acts was dusk.
And Jin was not taking any chances … by any means. What had been unveiled on the day he was attacked by Officer Clarke still sent chills running down his spine.
He would get his revenge some day. Still, he had no idea why the cop attacked him, since he had not seen his face. Why would the cop attack Sylvia as well?
Although they were doing crime, they were blending in with the other civilians quite well from what he could tell. Why would the cop them?
Jin had no idea, so he stopped thinking about it. He continued to amble through the streets, minding his own business.
When all of a sudden, someone bumped into him.
His body was thrust backwards. He quickly used his feet as aid to catch his balance. When he was standing as steadied again, he peered at the person who he had bumped into.
It was someone he knew from his school. The figure was an Orc with light green skin, a pair of rounded glasses resting atop its wide nose bridge, and marigold hair. Its hair was braided, and there was a bit of beard starting to manifest on its chin.
Its canines were nowhere to be seen, and its finger-nails were cut low. It wore blue shorts, and a sleeveless shirt. It appeared to be panic-stricken; standing nervously as if it was anticipating an attack.
Having seen it, Jin smiled. “Funny meeting you here, Bagul.”
Bagul adjusted his glasses, peering at Jin in a dazed way. “Jin? Is that you?” its trembling voice was incredibly deep.
Jin smiled. “Yeah, it’s me, Jin.”
Bagul was essentially different from many Orcs, especially the ones in his circle. He was never like them at all. Orcs had an inborn tendency to appear aggressively malevolent even when they tried as best they could not to.
Orcs and Hobgoblins were the races many feared, and saw them as beings who had no pleasant future ahead of them. Many of them just ended up thrown in jail, lingering behind bars. Others died before they could even make it to solitary.
Bagul was different.
Bagul was not the kind of person to enjoy doing harm to others, and he was not the kind of person to end up behind thick, metal bars either. What was so special about him was that he was beyond kind-hearted. Too kind-hearted to be considered an Orc.
He had his lower and upper canines removed simply because they were too daunting to the other races. In truth, all Orcs were supposed to have their canines forcibly removed by the time of adulthood.
It was this harsh way because they saw Orc and Hobgoblin teeth as nothing but lethal weapons … and they were. Countless lives were lost to the powerful draws of these races. A simple but successful gnash to the neck and that was it for the victim.
Orcs pose a great threat to the lives of others; such that they were greatly abhorred and discriminated against. Bagul had to learn the truth the harsh way.
He was even bullied by other Orcs who despised him; they would constantly deem him a ‘sell out to the Orc kind’. Even his very own parents loathed him grossly in that he was an embarrassment to the Orc kind.
He thought other races would accept him given that he was different. But they didn’t. All they did was bully him. They hated his chic accent, which was a mix of many. They hated his anxiety when they weren’t the ones suffering from it. Other Orcs were envious of his grades that were akin to that of a hobbit’s. They hated him.
Orcs were not bad, they just weren’t good. Not to say there were no kind Orcs like Bagul; there were just so few of them. These nice Orcs were hated by everyone. They never fit in regardless of all their efforts. They were nailed to the cross of their horrible reputation and there was no escape.
Bagul looked at Jin from head to toe. This definitely wasn’t Jin.The Jin he knew was a crippled, depressed teenager … who was, of course, still a virgin. He shook his head in incredulity. “No way. You are most definitely someone else.” his chic accent was sweet to the ears.
His accent was a mesh of many. One could hear the Orcish accent upon effortlessly listening. His tongue rolled upon uttering certain words, and his tone was passionate and soothing. His accent was a mix of British, Orcish, German, Swedish, and even Irish. Impossible!
Jin scratched his head. “Yeah, I’m no longer crippled.”
Bagul snapped, “But that’s im—”
“Impossible?” Jin interjected, “I know, I thought so too.”
“You’re so tall … I have grown so accustomed to looking far down at you. But now you are almost my height. From where I stand, I think it is indeed impossible for a crippled person to walk again. How did you regain your ability to walk? Can you enlighten me?”
Jin quickly averted his eyes. “I taught myself again … I guess?”
“Is that so?”
“Yeah.”
“I see…”
“Also, Bagul, are you okay? You’re not getting bullied again, are you?”
Bagul tossed his pupils elsewhere. “No…” his rushed tone — far from inclining.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, I am sure. Can I come visit you sometime?”
“Sure, no problem, pal.”
“Okay, I am grateful. I have somewhere to rush off to. I should leave if I may…”
“Yes-yes, go ahead. You didn’t have to ask for permission … what am I? Some great Monarch?”
Bagul grinned. “See you later then?”
“Yeah, you can crash at my place whenever you feel like it.”
“Bye-bye then…”
“Bye…”
***
Jin slumped on a bench on the pavement, wind brushing against his skin delivering serenity. The noises of cars, speaking—all the urban city noises made him feel serene … somehow.
Then, he slowly raised his eyelids, his pupils slowly being revealed. As light hit them, they contracted. Then he glared at his system screen.
[HP: 11 / 15]
[Deal 20 damage, you lose 1 HP for every hour passed without task completed]
A mischievous smirk manifested on his elegant countenance. “I’ll wait for dusk …”