Chapter 2: Quest and Reward

'Wh-What the hell was that?!' Henry asked loudly in his head.

He ignored getting pulled and simply raised his hands to the front of his face, but it only confirmed what he had already seen in that mirror.

'Did I- Did I somehow return to the past? But then, why don't I recognize any of these people or where I am? Argh, What manner of Sorcery is this?!' Henry roared in his head.

At this point, Devon, the large man with the strange canines, had dragged him outside the building and tossed him to the ground.

"Mmph," Henry let out but his mind was still reeling at this strange reality.

"Get up, boy," Devon said with a cackle, "Punishing you isn't going to be much fun if you just lay down down there and take it."

As Henry got to his feet, his arms shook. Not out of fear but rage. How dare this muscled moron interrupt his very important thoughts. Who the fuck did he think he was?

*Ti-Ding!*

Right then, an alarm sounded in Henry's head and a screen projected out in right in front of him.

"More sorcery," he mumbled, looking around for where the alarm had come from before he read the words on the screen.

[Your desire to stand up for yourself resonates with the 'Powerful forces that be' and you have Received a Quest;

Quest: The Half-orc Devon wants to punish you. Defeat him instead.

Reward: Full initialization of the System along with all the benefits it entails. (Good luck!)]

'Quest? Half-Orc? What—?'

"What are you standing around spacing out for?"

Devon's voice was sudden and Henry realized the seconds he had spent reading the mysterious message had cost him precious reaction time.

*Bam!*

The blow landed on the side of Henry's face, sparking a stinging pain that caused him to feel dazed as he staggered back a few steps.

He shook his head and although the pain of the blow remained, he was no longer dazed and was better prepared for what came next. Even more so since the mysterious screen had vanished from his sights.

Devon threw another blow, a gloating smile on his face.

Henry saw it coming and in the second before it landed, he called his years of experience in hand to hand combat to mind. His instincts took over— The blow slowed.

'The blow's path— I can see it,' Henry thought and immediately moved his head out of the way.

His movement was awkward.

Despite the years of combat knowledge he had, this teenage body was not at all trained or capable.

'This is not my body,' Henry thought to himself resolutely because, at Nineteen, he had been in enough situations to require toughening up and could undoubtedly handle himself in a fight.

Nothing about this situation made any sense but he had to shut all that off to the side and focus.

Devon's eyes widened as his blow met nothing but air.

'He dodged? Impossible!'

Devon recovered quickly from his miss and threw out a second blow with his other fist.

'I can still see it," Henry thought with his face screwed up in concentration. He dodged again, his feet almost tripping because of how alien his movement was compared to the non-existent, muscle memory.

With a successful second dodge, Henry decided it was time to throw a punch of his own. He had only just extended his smaller, clenched fist when a kick came at his side.

He could see the Kick's path but he had no shot at dodging it. Not at such a close range and not with the reach Devon had.

Quickly, Henry raised both his arms for a block,

*Bam!*

The kick hit and the impact of it shook Henry's weak bones as he was sent rolling many feet away. S~eaʀᴄh the novel(F~)ire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Dana and Yelena were watching now and others were showing their faces as well. While Yelena cringed at the blows Henry suffered, Dana sniggered while making and throwing fists of her own at some non-existent enemy.

Henry got to his feet while cocking his arms as though to shake off the numbness that was starting to set in. And then he glared at his opponent and ran toward him.

Devon looked surprised and then he grinned,

"Idiot," he muttered under his breath and threw out a punch when Henry was within range.

Henry ducked and with one hand against the ground for support, he kicked out at Devon's knee, putting every bit of strength still in this strange body into that move.

*bam!*

"Ah, you little shit!" Devon yelled as he wobbled.

"Ha!" Henry yelled out as he kicked at Devon's other knee bringing the large Half-Orc down a few inches.

Devon's face screwed up in pain realizing he might have underestimated his opponent but as veins popped out of his arms and he prepared to strike out again, Henry went after a his next target body part;

He rose from the ground, clenched his comparatively small fist and punched as hard as this body could, at Devon's throat.

'First the throat…' Henry recited in his head.

"Ack!" Devon choked while raising a hand to the affected area. Now on his knees.

'… And then the crotch,' Henry finished his mental recitation with a smile as he kicked hard at the half-orc's family jewels.

He could have gone for that from the start but that was not how he had been taught; When you can afford to, always break down your opponent.

"ARRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!" Devon yelled with a pain that resonated with every man spectating the fight. They all grabbed their crotches in solidarity and their faces screwed up like they shared the man's pain.

In contrast, Henry was grinning with satisfaction. This young body was bruised from the heavy attacks he had suffered, the side of the face had swollen from the blow Devon landed but he felt pride.

That pride was reinforced by the alarm that sounded in his head followed by a message.

[Quest Completed]

[Dispensing Rewards…]

[Commencing Full System Initialization…]

Henry froze. His eyes wide as his head began getting filled with memories that were not his own.

He remained rooted to the spot while he watched and experienced everything this body, that bore an uncanny resemblance to the him from his youth, experienced.

His mind felt like it was swelling and it was an unpleasant feeling especially since there were now two distinct memory streams of every single day he had lived up until the age of Nineteen.

[Congratulations on a successful Initialization. You now posess the memories of Henry [No last name], your doppelgänger in this Parallel world.]

[You have Received One Grand Quest.]

[Daily Quests are now Available.]

[You have gained access to your Status screen.]

"Hey, boy!" Devon's voice broke through Henry's confusion and the screen vanished so he could see the large Half-orc get up shakily while still wincing at the pain in his groin.

"We're not done yet," Devon said.

Henry grinned with a wild look in his eyes while he got into a fighting pose. Resisting the urge to wince at the pain of his bruises,

"Alright then, come at me. I'll kick your dinkle however much I have to, to keep you down."

As Henry sifted through the memories he had just received, he recognized Devon as the main muscle of the 'Dionisio Gang'. A group of criminals and outlaws banded together for a grand dream of escaping the law to a land where they could enjoy their ill-gotten gains.

He understood this situation was not a unique one and Devon had had an issue with him ever since he became a part of the gang five years ago.

The 'foolish' act that got Henry injured was just another excuse for Devon to pummel him.

Devon raged and dug in his heels in preparation for an attack. His extra long canines especially giving him the look of a raging beast.

Henry raised his arms determined not to be pushed around and it was then that a voice cut across the grounds,

"That's enough, both of you."

The voice was calm but carried a strange mental push. Henry felt gripped by a force that 'pushed' him to comply and he saw that it was also the case for Devon who twitched as he stopped his charge.

Again, Henry's newly gotten memories came to the surface and he turned around to face someone else he now recognized; The Leader of the Dionisio Gang, Angus Dionisio.