As he revealed himself from the passenger seat, people immediately turned on their flashlights and rushed towards him.
"What are you doing coming out with this guy?"
"Get out of the way! We have something to talk about with that guy.”
"You didn't even tell us we'd be dealing with a gang when you hired us!"
The loud voices ringing in his ears began to give Lennok a headache.
"Can you keep it quiet?"
"Hey, you're screwed too! Stop acting all high and mighty!"
"If we get marked by the gang, we won't be able to escape!"
The men's voices were tinged with faint sobs, and Lennok understood their predicament.
At first glance, they seemed like individuals who had been enticed by high pay, only to discover that they were now facing off against a gang.
Naturally, they would be in the dark about the situation. However, Lennok had no intention of soothing them with words.
"Can't you hear me? Get out of the car…!!"
Lennok shoved the man aside and forcefully grabbed the shoulder of the individual attempting to open the car door.
Without hesitation, he channeled his mana…
[Bolt]
Zap!!
"Ughh!!"
As the man fell to the ground, frothing at the mouth with his eyes rolled back, Lennok nonchalantly retrieved a cigarette from his pocket and placed it between his lips.
Using his fingers, he ignited a flame and took a puff, while no one dared to say a word to him. In that brief moment, all eyes were fixed on the blue current he had created, impossible to miss.
"He's… a wizard…"
"So, the pharmaceutical company hired a wizard?"
"Well, that makes sense, but…"
"Quiet."
This time, everyone shut their mouths at once.
Lennok surveyed the group with his gaze and began to speak.
"It seems like you all have a general idea about the gang."
The people silently nodded their heads.
"Okay. It's true the company is at fault for not explaining the situation to you in detail."
Lennok tapped the tire with his heel, causing the car to shake ever so slightly. There was no need to wonder who was trembling within.
"But this person is just an employee following the company's orders. Breaking the car and beating him up here would be nothing more than a waste of time, right?"
Lennok had no particular fondness for Sage, but that wasn't why he was speaking up. He knew that there was nothing to be gained by directing their anger towards a mere messenger.
To Lennok, doing this was a waste of time. It would be better to let him go and focus on preparing for work. However, he knew that there weren't many people present who would be willing to listen to him. In fact, it seemed that they didn't want to listen at all.
"Step aside when I'm talking nicely. Is it alright just because those guys hired a wizard?"
Whoosh!!
Amidst the crowd, a man emerged, pushing his way through with blazing red flames erupting from his arms. The people quickly stepped back, feeling the intense heat of the flames that seemed almost alive. The man glared fiercely at Lennok, gritting his teeth with burning eyes.
"You guys seem not to know, but not all wizards are great. If anything, those who end up here are probably the ones with only a tiny bit of mana, kicked out of the Magic Tower."
"…"
Lennok surveyed the man with a silent gaze, puffing out smoke from his cigarette.
The man's bloodshot eyes were filled with tension and anger, his rough facial features adorned with stubble and a leather jacket.
In some ways, he reminded Lennok of the factory supervisors he had worked with in the past, but the flames erupting from his arms were no illusion.
Observing the flames ignited in the air without any mana, Lennok nodded inwardly with a sense of acknowledgment.
‘Seeing a psychic twice in one day.'
Pyrokineticists, also known as pyrokinetics, were well-known for their intuitive and formidable abilities, taking on various names and forms.
However, since he was brought here without any explanation, it was unlikely that he was one of the most powerful psychics of his kind.
Lennok chuckled as he replied, "So, what's the plan? Push me aside and turn this car into ashes?"
"… No. From the start, low-level wizards are just dead weight. I'll burn you along with it!"
The man growled and extended his burning hand towards Lennok, who stared at it with his cigarette clenched between his teeth.
As expected, in their line of work, there were few situations that could be resolved amicably through conversation.
One's opinion was their power, and power was their means of communication.
Lennok reminded himself of this brutal logic once again as he reached out his own hand.
SNAP
Just before the flame could touch his skin, he layered a shield over it and grabbed the man's hand.
"…!!!!"
Not only the pyrokinetic, but even the onlookers behind him were shocked by Lennok's unexpected action.
"What, what is this?! What are you doing?!"
Lennok remained silent, knowing that he wouldn't need to explain anything in words as the people around him would soon come to understand.
With a deep breath, he focused his mind and drew upon his mana, visualizing a powerful flame.
As he did so, a new spell rapidly merged with the man's flames, spurred on by Lennok's fluctuating mana.
Suddenly, a scorching heat wave erupted from Lennok's clasped hand, engulfing the man in reverse.
Whoosh!!
"Aaarghh!!"
"Insane… Impossible!!"
Amidst the astonished voices of the onlookers, the two flames intertwined and twisted around each other, extending in all directions.
Fiercely colliding, the two flames soon merged into one, shooting out in a single direction. It was clear that there was no need to determine whose flame had emerged victorious.
Whoosh!!
"Aaahhh!!"
While not all pyrokinetics are immune to their own flames, they do possess some resistance to fire due to the fact that they burn their own bodies to create flames.
However, low-level psychics are not immune to the pain caused by high-temperature flames. If they had not been complacent about their talent and honed their abilities, they may have been able to withstand such flames. But in the face of a flame that surpasses their limits, they are just as helpless as anyone else.
‘In a way, it's the limit of psychics.'
Pyrokinetics rely solely on their innate talent, which allows their abilities to manifest intuitively without requiring much effort. However, handling power beyond their own capacity requires more than ordinary effort. This is why powerful psychics are relatively rare, even though they receive similar treatment as high-level mana users.
Despite the man's screams of pain, Lennok did not let go of his hand. While it was unclear what his true intentions were, the man had initiated the attack by attempting to burn Lennok. Therefore, it was necessary to thoroughly subdue him without causing any lasting harm, even if Lennok did not intend to kill him in this situation.
"I, I was wrong!! Please, please save me!!"
The man's face was streaming with tears due to the burning pain he had never experienced before, but even those tears evaporated and disappeared in the flames engulfing his body.
Despite being on the brink of collapse, his innate fire resistance as a pyrokinetic kept him barely hanging on.
Lennok clicked his tongue briefly and slowly released the man's hand, not out of pity but because it was difficult to hold him due to the his weakening grip.
After all, Lennok was an extremely frail individual.
As soon as Lennok let go of his hand, the man frantically removed his leather jacket and began rolling on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the flames.
"Put out the fire!"
"If it spreads to the warehouse, we're done for!"
The others panicked, gathered their wits, fetched water from a faucet inside the warehouse, and started pouring it on the man.
Hiss!!
"It hurts! It hurts!!"
"Get a grip, you idiot!!"
As people gathered around and caused a commotion, Lennok opened the driver's side door and spoke to Sage.
"It seems like you being here won't help. You should go."
"Ah, understood…"
Sage swiftly took the wheel and vanished, as if anticipating those words. While the car disappeared, Lennok checked the time.
It was 7 PM.
He now had a day and a half to endure until early morning of the day after tomorrow.
Assuming the patent office opened at 8 AM, Lennok had to safeguard the sample from the gang's assaults at least until then.
Although the extensive warehouse site made it appear like a daunting undertaking, Lennok calmly arranged his ideas without becoming agitated.
‘All I need to do is protect the new drug sample and take it to the patent office.'
Lennok's role differed significantly from that of the other warehouse security personnel.
The pharmaceutical company's terms were straightforward: recover the sample and deliver it before the patent office opens. Although it was inevitable that he would encounter the gang during this operation, Lennok could avoid getting caught up in other affairs to some extent.
He did not concern himself with the specifics of the warehouse where the sample was stored. In the worst-case situation, as long as he protected the sample, he was prepared to abandon the entire warehouse.
Lennok promptly went inside the warehouse to confirm the presence of the sample. The individuals around him flinched and stepped back as he walked by, but he paid them no attention.
Since they were inadequate backup, it was preferable for Lennok to disregard them and focus on the task at hand.
As he pushed open the dusty door and stepped into the warehouse, Lennok was greeted by stacks of medical samples contained in pristine white boxes. Despite being covered with transparent plastic, the samples appeared untouched, but the storage conditions were less than ideal.
It appeared that Amnac Pharmaceutical Company had no other option but to conceal the samples in this poorly-maintained warehouse due to pressure from the councilman.
Since Sage had informed him of the name beforehand, Lennok quickly located the new drug samples they had mentioned. The samples consisted of three small test-tube-like vials containing blue liquid in liquid form. Considering that they had to hide them in the warehouse, minimal backup was provided.
Lennok hesitated momentarily as he held the samples, but eventually, he decided to stash all three vials into his pocket. It seemed better to keep them himself rather than relying on the others outside who were still preoccupied with spraying water.
Lennok had a general understanding of the kind of individuals they were. They were individuals who avoided hazardous work within an organization but couldn't resist the allure of money circulating in this line of work, causing them to drift around.
Although the pharmaceutical company appeared to have hired them to compensate for the shortage of funds, it was a grave mistake.
It was obvious that no one except the pyrokinetic Lennok had just dealt with would be of any significant help.
"I'm not good at leading people…"
What kind of eloquence or leadership could Lennok, who had lived as a gamer, possibly have?
While his wizardry talent had enabled him to make more sound and logical decisions, leading a group of strangers against an organization was a completely different matter.
‘It might be better to run away with the sample…'
If he hid and waited until the patent office doors opened, no one would be able to find Lennok, but that's not the outcome the Amnac Pharmaceutical Company wanted.
Moreover, Lennok had agreed to confront the gang and had asked for more advance payment.
Even though the place and time weren't set, he needed to confront the gang at least once and break their power.
As he was pondering and clutching the new drug samples, Lennok finally made up his mind.
"I just need to clean them all out here."
In the end, the gang was likely after the new drug samples, and as long as the samples were here, they would come to this warehouse instead of taking a long detour.
If he could handle them, it would be much easier to lure them here rather than running away.
Through bounty hunting, fighting Croken, and continuous battles with the Scavenger, Lennok gained confidence in his combat abilities.
Although his mobility was severely lacking due to his weak physical strength, his firepower was second to none.
It felt mentally easier to completely push back the approaching gang, leave no trace of pursuit, and take the sample to the patent office.
"I need to act immediately."
He had an idea in mind since he heard about the warehouse from Sage.
If done well, he might be able to witness a quite interesting spectacle.
(TO BE CONTINUED)
