Chapter 5: The First Fight

Marco and his friends laughed when they saw Evan ready to fight. “Look, it turns out there’s someone dumber than Riley the nerd!” Marco jeered.

Evan felt adrenaline coursing through him. He knew this wasn’t an ordinary fight. He decided to use his new strength. This would be his first real lesson and fight. All this time, he had only been able to stay silent while he and Riley were bullied. But now, Evan had decided to fight back.

Marco stepped forward, clenching his fists. “You think you can beat us?”

Evan didn’t answer. He raised his hand, aiming his palm at Marco. In seconds, Marco felt a powerful punch land on his stomach.

“Ughh!!” Marco fell to the ground, clutching his belly.

Not only Marco and his friends, but Evan himself was surprised by his punch. Was he really that strong?

“What are you doing?!” Marco growled. “Attack him!” Marco ordered his friends.

Two of Marco’s friends, Tony and Jack, moved in to attack. Evan responded quickly, dodging their punches with increased agility. He felt lighter and faster than before. With a swift movement, he knocked Tony down with a knee kick and then hit Jack with a hard punch to the chest.

Seeing his two friends fall, Marco grew furious. He stood up and attacked Evan with wild movements. Evan felt a real threat but stayed calm.

Skillfully, Evan dodged Marco’s every attack. To Evan, Marco’s moves seemed slow and clumsy. Marco just threw punches and kicks randomly, venting his anger.

There was little to expect from a fight among kids. Evan even wondered why he was afraid of Marco, who had no real fighting skills. Maybe it was because Marco was older and bigger than him?

After attacking blindly, Marco finally became exhausted. He stopped and took a breath. “You can only dodge! You’re worse than a rat!”

Marco’s words sounded amusing to Evan. Although Evan was 8 years old, his mind was like that of a 17-year-old. Because of this, Evan wasn’t provoked by Marco’s words.

“Can you withstand my punches?” Evan asked, clenching his fist. He moved forward slowly, making Marco step back.

Marco looked at Evan with fear. “Stay away from me!”

Evan seized the opportunity and took action. He moved quickly forward and punched Marco hard, sending him crashing to the ground.

Riley, who had been watching in fear, now stood up and approached Evan. “Thank you! You’re amazing!” he said with sparkling eyes. Riley looked like someone who had just witnessed a hero.

Evan smiled, feeling proud and relieved. His HUD displayed a notification, signaling that he had completed the quest.

Quest Completed: Defeat Marco and Save Riley

Experience: +10

Rewards:

Strength Points +10

Agility Points +10

Stamina Points +10

Title: Steel Heart (Permanently increases all status points by 5)

Evan felt his body filled with new energy. He looked at his updated stats with pride.

Name: Evan Theodore Walker

Job: -

Title: Steel Heart (Permanently increases all status points by 5)

Level: 3

Experience: 20 (30 experience points to reach Level 4)

Health: 100%

Stats:

Strength Points: 25 (+5)

Agility Points: 25 (+5)

Stamina: 10 (+5)

With these abilities, he felt more prepared to face greater challenges ahead.

Marco and his friends got up, looking at Evan with fear and respect. “I’ll remember you!” Marco said threateningly before they fled.

“You’re really amazing!”

Evan looked at Riley, who was now gazing at him with awe. “Are you hurt?”

Riley shook his head quickly. “I’m fine! Oh, by the way, my name is Riley! Riley Chang!”

Evan already knew Riley but still shook his small hand. “I’m Evan, Evan Walker.”

In the future, Evan and Riley would become friends due to their shared experiences with Marco’s bullying. But in this moment, Evan had changed that, and he was very grateful.

Evan knew this was just the beginning of a long and dangerous journey. But he also knew that with his new strength, he could protect the people he cared about and face every challenge that came his way. Evan promised himself that he wouldn’t let anyone harm his friends and family.

***