It's A Dog Eat Dog World

The surprise Alex felt when counting the money was comparable to what he felt when he realized he had an ability, though it was still just a step below. As far as Alex was concerned, nothing could ever top the excitement of finding out he was a User.

'It's 1000 credits...That's a third of what my parents make in a month combined. This amount could completely change our lives and Marcel said he would give me another job on Tuesday.' Alex was excited when thinking about how much this money would improve his family's situation and overall happiness.

'Mom and Dad won't have to work as much as they do and we could finally move into a bigger apartment, no, maybe even an actual house! We'll always have enough food and clothes and we...' Alex's excitement dissipated as a thought occurred to him, interrupting his hopeful rambling.

'I had to kill someone to get this money. I should feel bad about that but... I don't. Oscar died mostly due to accident, it's not like I stabbed him and watched him die in front of me or anything but his death occurred thanks to my influence so why don't I feel anything about it? Will it be different when I kill someone with my own hands, through violent and bloody means? Is the money clouding my judgment or am I just too happy about absorbing Oscars ability to care?'

Alex contemplated these thoughts as he made his way home, stashing the envelope filled with money under his pants' waistband. He was walking on autopilot, completely focused on his own thoughts rather than the route he was taking, causing him to turn into an alleyway he would typically have avoided.

Alex could hear the shuffling of feet ahead of him but his attention wasn't drawn to the noise until he heard voices coming from the same area. One of the voices seemed calm but urgent, while the other was far more panicked.

"I told you to give me your wallet! Are you going to do what I said or am I going to have to shove this knife in your gut and take it off your corpse?!" The calm and urgent voice said in a loud whisper that nobody would hear outside the alleyway.

"H-Here, t-t-take it!" The panicked man basically shouted.

The exchange had caught Alex's attention and he looked up just in time to see the one man hand his wallet over to the other. The man who was being mugged had his back facing Alex, which allowed the mugger to see Alex approaching.

"Looks like another person is looking to lighten their pockets." The mugger said with a smile on his face. "Just wait your turn, I'll be with you in a moment, and don't even think about running away or you'll find a knife in your back before you can even take two steps."

'Shit. I could have avoided this if I was just paying attention to where I was walking. I can't let this guy take my money, not an amount like this! Should I risk it and make a run for it?' Alex thought about what to do for a moment when he realized there was another option he only recently became capable of using.

"Leave the wallet and get out of here." Alex said with forced confidence as he tried to sound intimidating.

The mugger paused and looked at Alex with a confused and annoyed expression on his face.

"This isn't the time to play hero, Kid. If you want to live through this then I suggest you shut up and wait." He said with annoyance and anger in his voice.

'Time to find out if this will work or if I'll have to fight. Either way, I won't let him take my money.' Alex thought as he started walking forward while speaking.

"Drop the wallet and leave or...or I'll kill you." Alex said, still using a tone of forced confidence.

"Do you really want to die th-" The muggers' sentence was cut off as he looked up at Alex, seeing that his sunglasses were no longer covering his eyes. The muggers face turned pale as he realized he had been threatening someone who may be capable of killing him with a thought.

"I-I'm sorry, I'll do as you said so don't hurt me!" The mugger said as he let go of the man he was threatening before, causing him to fall to the floor. He slowly started backing away from Alex before he finally turned around and started running, throwing the wallet towards Alex as he did.

Alex put his sunglasses back on and walked over to the wallet on the ground and bent down to pick it up while speaking.

"Are you alright?"

The man on the floor was shaking but he didn't appear injured in any way.

"Yes, I-I'm alright. Thank you for saving me." The man replied as he checked himself just to be sure.

Alex walked to the man and dropped the wallet on the ground in front him before he started walking away. The man picked up the wallet and was thanking Alex when he realised his wallet had nothing inside of it.

"What the... All my money is gone! Hey! Did you take it? I thought you were helping me but you just robbed me instead of letting him do it!" The man shouted in anger as he looked at Alex walking away.

"He would have killed you if I didn't step in. This money is mine now, consider it payment for saving your life." Alex said as he placed the envelope back under his waistband after adding another 100 credits to its contents.

"You bastard!" The man shouted in anger. Alex didn't care what the man said and continued to walk while thinking about how effective showing his eyes to someone could be when trying to avoid a fight or intimidate others.

Alex suddenly heard quick footsteps behind him and turned his head just in time to see a rock slam into the left side of his head, knocking him to the ground as he lost consciousness for a moment.

"Think you can steal from me? Think again! The other guy caught me by surprise, just like I did you. Now where is that envelope, I saw you put my money inside of it!" The man said as he ruffled through Alex's clothes, eventually finding the envelope.

"H-Holy shit, you were walking around with this much money? What an idiot!" The man said as he started jogging away with a greedy smile on his face.

Alex regained consciousness during the mans last sentence and saw him leaving with the envelope. Although Alex was a little woozy from the blow, he was still able to think straight and felt an intense emotion welling up inside him.

'I saved your life and you decide to steal from me?' Alex noticed the rock he had been hit with was lying on the floor beside him. "You fucking asshole!" Alex shouted as anger overcame him.

The rock was lifted off the ground by Telekinesis and flung towards the man, slamming into the back of his head and knocking him to the floor. Alex stood up, surprised to find his injury wasn't affecting him apart from some slight pain, and walked towards the man.

He bent down and retrieved the envelope, making sure his money was all there as he did. The wound on the back of the mans head looked quite serious but Alex didn't care.

"Trying to steal from the person who saved your life, how shameless can you be? You deserve worse than this, even death wouldn't be out of-"

[Absorbing Life Force]

[Level Up]