World Runner: A Merc's Trial in a Spiritual Dystopia Ch.18 (Patreon)

Appeasing everyone was impossible.

I had spent a great deal of the time in the bar going around from person to person to change their view on my beard. I told them it was natural, and the more I said it, the less I started believing it myself. 

It technically wasn’t natural anyway. It was a divine beard blessed to me by some random fucking R.O.B.

I had given up trying to please them. It didn’t matter anyway. I will show them all in due time. They would see my rise to legend status, and then they would have no choice but to believe me. My word would become law and no one would think against such a claim!

Yes, that would be a good day. 

“Is it even that serious?” Dorio asked as I returned to my seat at the bar. Jackie let out a chuckle and leaned forward. The two had been watching me going around trying my best to save my reputation.

“Not really.” I shook my head as I let out a sigh and retook my seat. “But I’d rather people understand that the beard wasn’t put on me by artificial means, I am merely blessed by the gods to have a perfect beard.”

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, I believe you, ese.” Jackie grinned, raising his glass to me and I returned his grin with one of my own. I picked up my own glass and clinked it with his before throwing the shot back and placing the glass back on the table. 

“I don’t.” Dorio snorted and I side-eyed her. 

“Do you really not?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“What answer will get me on top of you tonight?” She leaned forward, giving me view of her ample cleavage hanging underneath her coat. 

“The truth.” 

“Then yes, I believe you.” She nodded, downing her glass. “After spending the night with you, I’ve come to realize that even though you have some chrome-” Her eyes trailed down between my legs as she put on a mischievous grin. “Most of you is all natural.” 

Goddamn it, this girl is insatiable! Seriously even after a night of fucking, and a morning of fucking and training, she still has energy!

“Ehehe! You’ve picked up a real catch, mi amigo; don’t let me hold you back!” Jackie slapped my back a couple of times, and I deadpanned at the man, ignoring the snickering cock sleeve on my left. 

“You heard the man.” She pushed herself out of the seat and walked toward the door of the bar, swaying her hips all the while. 

“I wasn’t kidding, man, she seems like fun.” Jackie grinned at me as I turned my attention back to him and let out a sigh. 

“She’s a real piece of work; that’s what she is.” I snorted.

“Hey man, what are Mercs without a little bit of work?” 

I pondered on those words for a moment before nodding, throwing back my drink. “You’re right, Jackie.”

“Normalmente lo soy. [I usually am.]” He waved, and I got up and walked away, taking Jackie up on his previous offer to pay for our drinks. I walked out of the bar and spotted Dorio standing just outside, her arms were crossed under her bust as she smirked at me flirtatiously. 

“Let’s head back.” I stepped past her, heading toward my second safehouse but was stopped as she put her hand on my chest. 

“That’s too far, no?” She asked, her hand ran from my chest up to the back of my neck as she wrapped both arms around it, bringing her face less than an inch from mine. 

“It’s like a two minute walk.” I deadpanned, earning a deep chuckle from her.

“Exactly, and why wait two minutes when I can have you in the next twenty seconds.”

“I think you misunderstood.” I gave her a shove, sending her a couple steps back to her surprise. “I’m not fucking you tonight.” 

Her face which had lit up in surprise shifted to displeasure in a moment. 

“Why the fuck not?!” She shouted, her fists clenched, and I could tell she was ready to punch me if I didn’t give a good reason. 

“Because I have a dream that’s more important than some pussy!” I shouted back, ignoring the interested stares of the men and women outside of the bar. “To rise to the top, it’s always been like that, and I won’t change myself just because I found a bitch who’s constantly craving my cock!” 

She glared at me for a long while before turning around and walking away. 

I frowned at her retreating form as she took a turn, heading away from my safe house.

Oh shit…I might have fucked up. 

I turned around to see people still watching, and suddenly my anger rekindled. 

“The fuck are you gonkheads looking at?!” 

“Damn choomba, our bad.” One of them, who I typically had watch my ride, held his hands up in defense, and now I felt like an even bigger ass.

“I…I’m sorry.” I apologized, earning shrugs from them. 

“No skin off our back, ese, but your chica is leavin’; you should catch her.”

“Nah, it’s fine.” I shook my head. “I’ll let her walk.” 

“Hehe, the way she was clinging to you, you must be laying it down, ey?” The man questioned, walking forward and nudging me. “If that’s true, she’ll be back. Trust me, choomba. They always come back when they’ve found some good dick.” 

I already knew that much, but I appreciated the gesture all the same.

“Thanks.” I smiled and began walking away.

“Anytime, Beard-man.” 

I made my way back to my safehouse and upon making it up to my room, sat on my bed and began meditating. 

Things went wrong tonight and I ended up upsetting Dorio, but that didn’t mean I was just gonna skip training. 

I closed my eyes and opened my Aura Nodes, feeling the aura begin to leak out of them and form a Ten shield around me. 

My Nen was growing stronger and stronger by the day. I noticed that the more Nen I had, the more dense my aura became and thus, the stronger my overall Nen was. With Aura as dense as mine, simply activating Ten was like placing a steel wall in front of me. Bullets just wouldn’t do anything anymore, not even hurt me, in fact, they would utterly shatter. 

Though it was clear I still had a long way to go, especially with my Nen Ability. 

The only improvement I’ve seen in it is I’m able to make my flames a bit hotter, but I’ve noticed the hotter my arms become, the more heat I feel reflected back at me. I’m not immune to the heat, no am I incapable of burning myself, which means I need to be careful when I use it. 

Before I improve my Nen ability, I need to strengthen my will and improve my Haki. My Armament Haki would go a long way in keeping the heat off of my skin. I didn’t really know how to go about improving my will besides gaining more pride and belief in myself, and honestly that sort of came with my job-

Although obviously, I haven’t reached the extent where my Haki noticeably benefits from my will, yet. 

I opened my eyes and frowned. My Nen was powerful right now, meaning I could pass with slacking on it a bit, and with me not being able to figure out what exactly I needed to do to go about strengthening my will, it meant that I needed to find something else to work on. 

A lightbulb shined in my head as I recalled something I had promised myself I would try and look into later. I quickly stood up and made my way into the bathroom, placing my hand on the sink and looking into the mirror. 

I locked eyes with my own image, mainly focusing on my sky blue eyes that seemed to sparkle in the light. 

The All-Seeing Eyes of the Gods, I knew these eyes came with a myriad of different abilities that allowed me to suceed in this life, but perhaps there was more to them than what met the eye. The description for them alone was very vast from what I recall, which was basically nothing considering it had been so long since I had chosen this perk. 

What I know is from what I’ve used them for. These eyes allowed me to see things that no normal human could see, capable of magnifying my vision to see the lice on a baby’s head, and allowing me to follow even the fastest of Mercs when I was doing jobs. 

I also knew that I could see a person’s true name, that about sums up what I’ve been using these eyes for. 

Now, if I could push these eyes even further beyond these limits and acquire new skills, such a thing would be incredibly helpful going forward. Unlike the 20% of the population that can potentially use the two systems of Nen and Haki, no one has these eyes I possess, nor the Inverted Spear of Heaven which means those are my two biggest advantages in this world. Which means I need to start using them to their maximum efficiency, starting with these eyes of mine. 

I strained my eyes as I looked closer at myself, frowning when nothing happened. Maybe it doesn’t work on me? 

No, that’s stupid, I just don’t know what to look for, kind of like with Haki. 

Which means I just needed to find it. I needed to work out just what these eyes could do and the only way I’d figure it out is by trying and failing to see more. 

— Later —

I crawled onto my bed and dropped on my back, staring up at the ceiling. 

Well, I just spent three hours getting absolutely no where. 

Wasting that much time sucked, but the fact that I spent the time actually trying to figure something out cheered me up a bit, even if I didn’t benefit from it. 

I could spend tomorrow figuring out how to push these eyes of mine further, right now I needed some shut ey-

RING

I glared up at the ceiling as the Caller ID displayed across my vision. 

[Caller: Dorio]

She wanted to talk now?

Damn…I really want to sleep though. 

A sigh escaped me as I sat up and answered the call.

“Ye-”

“Fuck off of me!” I heard Dorio shout. A bunch of rustling was going on in the call, and I heard something impact something else hard. 

“Damn bitch!” A gruff-sounding man shouted, and I wasted no time throwing myself off of my bed and quickly throwing on pants. I didn’t care that I was only wearing a white t-shirt, I could figure that out later!

Dorio was in trouble, and from the sounds of it, there was more than one of them there. 

As I ran into the garage, the call ended, pushing me to slide over the hood of my car and into the driver seat. I quickly started it and pressed the button on the inside to open the garage door. 

VROOOOOOM

I zoomed out of there, all while focusing on calling the only person I knew could help me right now. 

[Calling: Jackie]

A few rings went by before Jackie answered.

“Ho-”

“Jackie, I need your help!” I shouted, cutting him off. He sounded groggy, as if I had just woken him up, which was likely the case.

“Mal…what’s wrong?” He asked through a yawn. 

“Dorio’s in trouble! I heard some guys at her place, sounded like they were banging her up!” 

“Fuck, really?!” Jackie asked. I’m glad that woke him up. 

“I wouldn’t lie about this shit, Jackie! I’m tracking her coords now, and I’ll send them to you, meet me there!” I shouted as I hung up the call, not giving him enough time to confirm or deny whether he was in or not. 

I needed him right now, and he owed me one for that V job. 

I sped through the light-filled streets of Night City, praying I wasn’t too late to help Dorio. 

After a few minutes of speeding, I arrived at the place I had tracked and jumped out of the car, immediately grabbing my Inverted Spear of Heaven out of my pocket dimension and moving forward. I kicked open the door/gate to the apartment building and glared at the loungers sitting around.

One of the guys stood up, smirked back at the women who were sitting in the group and walked over to me with his shoulders puffed up like he was some tough guy. 

“Yo, who the fuck are-” 

In less than a second, I reached into my pocket dimension and pulled my Ticon out, aiming it at the man’s head.

“-W-Woah…I’m sorry, t-take it easy.”

“A woman named Dorio, tall, blonde hair, real strong looking, you know her?” I asked with a glare that told him if he didn’t have an answer, they’d be cleaning his brains off of the floor. 

“Y-Yeah, I know her! S-She was just dragged out of here a few minutes ago-”

“Where?!” I asked, pushing the gun harder against his head, making him wince, tears leaving his eyes as he feared death. 

“I-I-I d-don’t know, man! Honest! They went that way!” He pointed in the opposite direction from where I came, and a deep growl left my lips. 

“Fuck!” I shouted, pulling my gun from the man’s head, making him fall down with relief flooding his veins. 

I just fucking missed them, and now I had no idea where the fuck they were goin’! 

This…This was my fault. Had I been calmer and talked Dorio down, or even went after her after our argument, none of this would have happened.

“God fucking damn it!” I roared, activating my Ren and slammed my fists down hard on the ground. 

BOOOOM

The earth beneath me cracked from the blow, and I stayed on my knees, glaring at the ground. 

What the fuck do I do now?! Where do I go?! 

I shot up as I realized what needed to be done. 

This was definitely the Animals, that much I knew for sure, which means they likely took her to the Animal’s turf. I just need to head over there and knock some heads to get her back-

Easier said than done, but right now, I didn’t give a fuck. 

Sure, Dorio wasn’t much more to me than a thicc woman with a nice ass and fat tits, but I was at least partially responsible for this, and I’d be lying if I said she wasn’t growing on me. 

I needed to right this wrong, and I’d kill as many Animal fucks as I had to.

“Maliketh!” Jackie shouted, running through the gate and into the apartment building courtyard. 

“Jackie, the Animals got her.” I looked at him with a serious expression, my calm returning now that I knew he was here. 

“Fuck, that’s not good.” 

“No shit.” I frowned, walking back to my car. Jackie followed me and hopped into the passenger seat while I hopped in the driver side and sped off. 

“What do you want to do?” He asked, and I could tell he was feeling me out.

“What the fuck else?!  I’m getting her back!” I shouted, earning a slow nod from him.

“It ain’t gonna be easy, the Animals are no jo-”

“It ain’t gonna be easy for them to pull this blade out of their asses once I’m done with them!”

Silence filled the car as I sped through the streets toward Animal Territory.

As the silence filled my head, I quickly realized how much of a dick I had just been and looked at the man. 

“Sorry.”

“No, I get it.” He nodded his head. “I’d be just as mad as you if my girl had been taken like this.” He waved me off before looking at me seriously. “So, how do you wanna do this?”

“No.” I shook my head. “I called you thinking I could catch the guys and we could handle them together. I’m not taking you into a fight with the Animals.”

“You ain’t gonna be able to keep me away from it.” Jackie grinned. “What kind of hombre would I be if I didn’t help you here.” 

“A living man.” 

“Bwahaha!” He laughed, throwing his head back and grinning at me. “We’re in Night City, mi amigo! Aren’t we all just idiotas muertos caminando? [dead idiots walking?]”

I looked at him for a moment before having to return my eyes to the road.

Let the record show Jackie Welles is forever a real one and a homie in my books. 

“Thank you, Jackie.”

“Ehehe! Buy me a drink when this is over, and that’ll be all the thanks I need!” 

“Right.” I nodded with a small smile. 

That smile immediately dropped when I suddenly felt a familiar Nen Aura-

Dorio’s Nen Aura.

I slammed the brakes, parked my beauty along the side of the road and hopped out of the car, and after an initial moment of surprise, Jackie followed. I tapped the lock twice, praying no one would be dumb enough to try and steal my car, but who the fuck am I kidding-

It’s Night City, someone’s gonna try. 

“What’s going on?!” He shouted, following after me into an alleyway.

“I can sense her Nen,” I said, trying to stay quiet. I didn’t want these fuckers to know I was coming; how the hell would I get to shove my blade up their asses if they did?

— Dorio —

She spat out a wad of spit and blood at the man above her. He took it on the cheek with a glare and raised his fist-

SMACK

Her head was rocked to the side from the hid and a bruise quickly began forming at her cheek. 

“That the best you got?” She asked with a cheeky grin. Seriously, she had fought shittier gonkheads who could dish out a better backhand than that, seriously, this guy was an embarrassment to the Animals, and that was coming from someone who already left the damn gang! 

“You got a fucking loud mouth as always, Dorio.” The man glared at her, and she smirked back, unbothered.

“I’m not surprised you know my name, but I’m gonna be honest, I ain’t got a gonk’s ass who the fuck you are.”

“Hehe, you don’t gotta know, bitch.” He chuckled, reaching his hand out and grabbing her face with his hand over her mouth. “Just know I’m gonna be the Animal to break you.”

“Last I checked, the Alpha said to bring her to Sasquatch; let that bitch deal with this one.” Another guy in the room frowned with crossed arms.

“Yeah, we’ll do just that, but I wanna have a taste of the bratty bitch who chose some bearded fuck over the Animals.” 

That caught Dorio by surprise.

“You know about him?” She asked through the man’s hand on her face, her eyes glared into his, and a wide grin came to his lips.

“Oh, did I strike a nerve bringing up that cock toy of yours?” He asked, moving her face back and forth mockingly. 

“Answer the fucking question.”

He shrugged and removed his hand from her face before burying it in her gut, making her cough up more spit. 

“You ain’t never had the authority to order me around, and today ain’t gonna be the day you start.” He wagged his finger in front of her face.

She stayed quiet, merely glaring at the dumbass who had disobeyed the Alpha’s orders. Even if this guy ended up getting what he wanted out of her, he would lose anyway. The Alpha wasn’t no fucking joke, people have died for less. 

“You worried about your boy toy?” The man asked, crouching down and palming the back of her head as he brought his face close to hers. “Worried we may do something to him?” 

A smirk came to Dorio’s lips that quickly grew into a chuckle, confusing the two men. 

“Wow, you’re dumber than a box of bricks. How have you survived this long?” She asked with genuine curiosity and no small amount of amusement. 

“The fuck did you say, bitch?” He asked, standing back up and winding back a punch-

BANG

The door to the building erupted open and in rushed Maliketh, the guy closest to her had no time to react, within a moment the man who had came into her life and thoroughly rocked her world had beheaded the fucker.

“Dami-”

BANG

A bullet rang in the air and the other body dropped to the ground from a well placed bullet to the skull.

Well, he wasn’t impressive anyways.

“Dorio.” Maliketh breathed out in relief and quickly ran behind her, he tried to mess with her restraints, but she quickly spoke up.

“I don’t know what these restraints are, but there’s no way you’re getting them off of me, I couldn’t break out of them, even with Nen.” She said calmly. “You two need to get lost, there were more than just those two.” 

Had they been some cuffs or something, she could have just gotten up and left, but they were restraints that were binding her to a chair that was built into the ground, she had no way out unless someone could break the restrains or break the chair, both seemed to glow with Nen aura.

Maliketh let out a…chuckle? His hands started to glow orange, and he reached for one of the restraints where it was linked to the chair-

SIZZLE

She watched in quiet fascination as his Nen ability easily melted through the restraint and he moved onto the next one.

Oh, she was so pinning him down later! 

As he melted through the other restraint, a door to the hallway opened, revealing three large Animals, and she actually recognized these three.

She felt the last restraint give way and she quickly stood up and put her hands up, ready for a fight.

“These three aren’t like the last, they’re actually-”

Her words were cut off as her body left the ground. 

“What the fuck?!” She shouted as Maliketh ran with her slung over his shoulder. “Why are we running?!” 

“Why the fuck would we fight them?! Do you know how many shots I drank?!” Maliketh shouted back, running with Jackie just behind them. 

“I’m gonna wake up feeling like shit-” Jackie brought his hand up to his mouth as if he was about to hurl, and Dorio laughed at the sight of the two idiots that had come to help her. 

Sure they were idiots, but they were idiots who saved her life. 

SMACK

Dorio flinched at the hand that swatted her ass and looked back with a glare to see Mali grinning like a mad man. 

“Don’t go getting quiet on me, fat tits, we got a getaway to complete!” 

Her glare dropped as a shit-eating grin split her lips.

“Damn right!” 

They arrived at the car and Mali put Dorio down. The tan-skinned man threw Jackie the keys, catching him off guard.

“What the hell?” 

“Not enough room for the three of us, you drive, Dorio take shotgun, I’ll run back.”

“You sure-”

“Got it.” Dorio cut off Jackie and hopped in the passenger seat. She rolled down the window and gave the door a couple of taps, signaling Jackie in. He stared at her dumbfounded for a few moments before hopping in.

“Race you back?” Dorio asked with a grin, and Mali returned it before activating Ren and launching himself in the direction of his safehouse. 

Jackie sped up, but even in the very nice car, they couldn’t keep up with him, within a couple of seconds, Maliketh had completely left their sight.

“That guy…is something else.” Jackie noted with a small chuckle.

“That he is.” Dorio said quietly, a small smile tugging at her lips as she looked at where Maliketh had disappeared. 

The man had dropped into her life and completely flipped it upside down, and instead of fixing the mess he made, he instead started tugging her in whatever direction he chose. 

Never in her life had she ever willingly followed the beat of someone else’s drum, in fact such a thing went against everything she stood for, yet now…she couldn’t imagine living a life without him. 

To turn away and join the Animals, or even some other second rate gang, none of it would be nearly as fun or worth her time as hanging around him. 

The man who had so thoroughly changed her, claimed her. 

A sigh of relief and longing left her as she licked her supple lips. 

She wanted him, and now it was more than just animalistic lust. She didn’t just want his body, she wanted to remain by his side, for as long as she could, as long as the city would allow it, and in doing so, she wanted to see him take this city for himself. 

She knew he could, it was only a matter of time.

— Later —

Jackie pulled up to Maliketh’s garage door, and to no one’s surprise, the door began to open and the body of the bearded man could be see within. He directed Jackie in then stood to the side, waiting for them to hop out of the car. 

She had…a lot she wanted to say to him, and she planned on saying it the moment Jackie left, but as she stepped out, she was pulled into a tight embrace, making her face light up in surprise. 

Maliketh was squeezing her so tightly against himself that he would have broken almost anyone else from such a hug. 

Dorio took a moment to snap back to reality, but when she did, she pulled away slightly, just enough to cup his cheeks with her hands and pull his face in for a sloppy tongue dance. Judging by the way his hand slid down to her lower back, she could tell he wasn’t opposed to this and Legends above, she knew she wasn’t. 

“Ah, young love.” Jackie swooned, clutching his heart with a warm smile.

The two broke the kiss, low pants came from Dorio as she looked into the man’s eyes. The same eyes that looked through her, deep into her soul. 

Oh, she loved those eyes of his. 

He looked away from her, bringing a small frown to her face and addressed the third wheel in the garage.

“Thank you, Jackie. I know it was short noti-”

“Eh, nonsense!” Jackie waved his hand, cutting off Mali. “That’s what friends are for, right?”

“Of course.” Mali nodded with a small smile, his grip tightening a bit a Dorio’s waist. 

“Ehehe, glad all’s well with you both. I won’t hang around any longer, get back to your lovey-dovey romance, make sure to wear protection~” Jackie teased, just about ready to leave-

“Wait, Jackie.” Mali called, stepped away from her, bringing an even bigger frown to her face.

He grabbed Jackie’s shoulders and whispered something into his ear that she couldn’t hear, and the Hispanic man pulled away, nodding and grinning.

“Yeah, I’d love to, mi amigo!” 

“Good.” Mali smiled, clasping hands with the man and giving him a quick hug and a pat on the back. “Take this.” 

The bearded man handed Jackie the keys to the car, surprising Jackie.

“What, you thought I’d ask for your help and then have you walk home?” Maliketh asked with a chuckle, and Jackie perked up.

“Ehehe, thanks, you don’t gotta worry about this baby, I’ll keep her safe until tommorrow.”

“Good, I’m trusting you, Jackie.” Maliketh placed his hands on his hips and watched as Jackie hopped in the car. The garage door opened and Jackie drove away, leaving just the two of them behind. 

“You really know how to keep a woman waiting.” Dorio glared at him with no real heat, and Maliketh turned his attention back to her. A frown crossed her lips as she saw his mood had done a full 180. From upbeat to serious. 

He stepped toward her, and for a moment she felt like he was a predator hunting her, but she couldn’t bring herself to move from his path. What was he going to do to her? Was he going to take her here?! In the garage?! 

She wouldn’t mind such a thing, not with the way her heart was thumping in her chest and her thighs were rubbing together, feeding at the moisture that dripped from her horny womanhood. 

She wanted to be fucked, hard, all night long, and by the way he was stalking toward her, he wanted the same thing. 

He stopped just in front of her and wrapped his arms around her waist. 

“I’m sorry, Dorio.” 

Those words caught her off guard. The look in his eyes was still the same, but it held an air of sorrow.

Did he do something wrong? 

The only thing she could think of was him now slamming her to the ground and fucking the Animal out of here. 

However, she decided to remain quiet as he continued. 

“Earlier, I was upset. I just wanted to focus on training, but I was inconsiderate of you, and I even called you a bitch.”

She blinked at that. He thought she’d be mad…at that?

She almost let out a chuckle from the thought, if anything his rude attitude had done the opposite! 

When she left, it wasn’t because she was mad, it was because she had decided to take the time to move her stuff from her apartment into his. If he wanted to train, that was fine with her, she’d just take that time to get shit done so when she got back they could fuck like rabbits all night.

She didn’t have any idea how he could have come to this conclusion, but she knew a gift horse when she saw one, she could use this! 

“You were an asshole.” She pushed him back and frowned, crossing her arms under her bust.

“...I know.”

“So now you gotta make it up to me.” She side-eyed him.

“Of course.”

And just like that, Dorio remains a badass. Preem victory! 

Though, to her surprise, Maliketh closed the distance, pulling her into him and locking his lips with hers, wasting no time in slipping his tongue into her mouth.

The two engaged in a tongue-swirling battle for dominance as hands roamed freely across each other’s bodies. 

After nearly two minutes of making out, Maliketh pulled away but kept his face mere centimeters from hers. 

“I fucked up because I cast you away so easily. I regret that. You’re mine, your mind, your skills, your Nen, and your body. They’re all mine.” He declared, his eyes boring into hers, leaving her mouth hanging as she took breaths. Her pussy lips shuddered at his words. The feeling of his body against hers, his presence, his warmth, his smell—everything about him in this moment was everything Dorio craved.

“I’m yours.” She breathed out, sealing her fate. He pressed his lips against hers again and grabbed her by the legs, she quickly wrapped her arms around his neck as he began to carry her through the house and up the stairs. 

She knew with those two words she had just signed her life away to him, and as he laid her on the bed and looked down at her with those same blue eyes, this time filled with hunger and care, she knew she made the right decision. 

As she looked up at him, and all that he was before her, the beating in her heart told her exactly how she felt.

“Damn, I got it bad~” 

— Chapter End —

Author’s Note: Not gonna lie, I enjoy writing this fic. This chapter was a bit harder to write since I’m getting back into the groove, but the next chapter is already coming along much faster.