Altru slowly walked towards the old man.With a scared look that he's trying to mask with his confident gaze.
'His house looks pretty well managed for a building in these parts...' Altru thought,quite shocked.
He noticed that the old guy had a leather jacket and pants that were still in good condition—atleast in terms of slum standards. That basically confirmed his suspicion that this guy probably has a bunch of materials and valuables.
'Here goes nothing I guess'
"Hey sir can you help us?"
The old man looked at Altru with a judging gaze surveying the health of the two kids.
"Hm?What is it brat" The old man said in a annoyed tone.
The old man noticed the wound on the little girl's back.He shot the young man with a spiteful glare and it looked like the old man was wary of the adolescent and the child.
"Can you lend us a hand?My sister here is badly wounded and we need help." Altru spoke confidently,his shaking hands betraying his confident facade.
"Please sir! Can you tend the wound of my sister?We'll get out of here and never ever bother you again!"
For a few moments the geezer was silent,then suddenly he opened his mouth.
"You motherf***ers truly know no shame!This is your fifth time within this past 3 days!GET OUT OF HERE!" The old man screamed at the two.The man visibly irritated.
'The hell is wrong with this guy!?'
"Hey,if you're gonna reject us then just simply say "no"!SCREW YOU!" Altru replied,tired of the old man's tantrum.
The old man man reached to his side about to grab something.
As Altru turned his back,to head somewhere else ,he suddenly heard a sharp gust of wind behind him— as if like something had been thrust toward him.Well, he was in for a surprise.
Altru turned sharply to look,his heart pounding as he thought of what could possibly be behind him.
"Hey brat watch your words." The old man coldly said while pointing a cane towards the young man.
The cane was actually a blade.A hidden
blade in a cane.It was a long curved blade with a single edge,basically a katana.An unsuspecting person would've definitely thought that it was just a average cane used for walking aid.
Altru sighed and looked in terror with cold sweat running down his face,he was doomed.
Looks like both him and Eunoia were gonna end up dead.
Altru was gonna open his mouth but he hesitated and reconsidered the next few words that he was about to mutter.He had to consider his next words that was about to come out of his foul mouth. After a moment of pondering,he finally thought of something and gained the courage to speak.
"I apologize sir.I wasnt thinking straight,I was focused on the health of my sister here.I wont bother you again so please spare us." Altru truly tried to sound polite.
The old man didnt drop the blade,infact,he pointed it even closer to the boy.
'There truly is no way out of this...'
Altru stepped backward,he dropped Eunoia to the ground slowly.After this risky move,he raised his arms up to not make the old man angrier.Then suddenly:
The boy sidestepped to the side to reduce the chances of himself getting stabbed, he then wrapped his hand with the cloth of his shirt and proceeded to grab the blade tightly but in a manner where he'll reduce the pain caused by the friction of the blade on his hands.
Altru tugged the blade trying to pull it away from the old man—he was gonna try and fight back.But the old man tightened his grip .
Altru was struggling and knew that he was just wasting his valuable energy with this futile tug of war.
He ditched his plan and without hesitation,he released his hands from the blade and proceeded to extend his legs upward like an acute angle, he then slammed down his feet on the mune or the back of the katana.The blade crashed down ,now, the sharp edge was burried on the ground
The old man had a bit of a shocked face.He didnt think that a young man like him would be that tenacious.That tenaciousnes was a by product of his daily efforts in protecting and raising his sister alone.
Altru proceeded to prepare a punch aiming for the old man's head.He knew that if he didnt capitalize on the element of surprise he created, he would get beaten down.
The old man knew what was about to happen so he went into a boxing stance while slowly trying to stand up.
Altru threw the punch.Underestimating the young man,The old guy tried to absorb the impact using his arm.Unexpectedly,the punch was a mere feint,the boy followed it through with his knee.He raised his left knee since his right leg was the one holding down the blade.He prepared his hand to hold down the old man's head.
Right as the attack was about to hit,the old man moved his head down,dodging the attack. He slowly stood up, simultaneously,the old man raised his left fist,hitting Altru with a devastating left uppercut.
"Ghk!" Altru groaned slowly his whole body elevated from that single attack.
The attack was strong enough to drag Altru's body up and also bringing it down to the ground making a loud thud.The dusty and dirty ground created a smoke full of dust.
"A behaviour beffiting a slum rat." The old man whispered.
The dust cleared and Altru was almost knocked unconscious.His nose and mouth was bleeding from that punch.
Altru heard the comment of the old man,as much as he wanted to retaliate,he couldnt.He was almost going unconscious—he was tightly holding on to the last energy and consciousness he had left.
"Altru w-what ha-happened" Eunoia silently muttered.