Cane was taking a train to go to the Inner City.
For most families, leaving the Outskirts was nothing but a dream. After all, it was deadly expensive to do anything in the Outskirts. In fact, it was more expensive to travel to the Inner City than it was to buy a Plasma Pistol.
One couldn't rely on money alone in order to travel. They either needed to get an invitation from a top school or other official organisations within the Inner City, or have family members within the Inner City - who could then vouch for their family.
Luckily for Cane, and unluckily for everyone else, Cane was nothing if not good at stealing. Thus... he somehow managed to scrape together enough points in order to travel.
And now, as the buildings grew shorter, greenery began taking place and clouds began to part, Cane could finally see what the Inner City was like.
It's beautiful. So much greenery! And the buildings are much shorter, so I can see the sky! Cane felt a sense of joy at the sight. Still... The sights at the Border were much better. It was the first time I could see the horizon.
Cane grew sombre for a moment. But then, remembering the clothes he wore, his face lit up once more.
Indeed. Cane had already turned Senhei's skin into clothes. He was now outfitted with a scale-skinned shirt and pants, with the remaining material turned into pouches on his belt.
Admittedly, they wouldn't be too effective - after all, Cane himself could easily cut or shoot through them with his dagger and Plasma Pistols. At the very least, they were far more durable than his regular clothes, but he didn't use them for their durability. Instead of armour, he used the scaled-skin as psychological comfort and support.
Cane leaned back on his seat. It was metal, with barely any padding - quite uncomfortable for long rides. They'd been travelling for hours already...
Sigh, it's gonna be a long ride...
...
The Wanderer was currently preparing a fortuitous encounter.
Of course! Ahh, fortuitous encounters. Every novel has a few, and Wanderer knew he couldn't have such an intrinsic part of the novel experience be missing. Thus, The Wanderer took the time while Cane was on the train to create some interesting artefacts.
Firstly, it'd become obvious to him that Cane was sorely missing some good armour. Otherwise, why on earth would he resort to skinning his enemy and wearing his skin as clothes? Wanderer couldn't make sense of it.
Secondly, Cane also needed more fighting experience. He'd had plenty of experience fighting with monsters, and he also underwent training at the Border. However, real combat was different. Cane could rely on his superior stats to win fights, but his skill also needed to be boosted.
The Inner Cities were no joke, after all.
Thus, The Wanderer's clone currently had his faced changed using Illusion Control, making himself look like a thug. He was wearing equipment he'd crafted himself, with a load of special effects that Wanderer thought would be useful to Cane.
And he was waiting at the station which Cane would inevitably arrive at. The plan was perfect. Now all he had to do was wait.
After all, it's not like his plan would derail before it even began, right?
In the distance, one of the screen advertisements began to glow a big, flashing "IT WILL!".
...
Cane had fallen asleep, but the next moment he was jolted awake.
Huh? The sounds of panicked screaming reached his ears. It was a train robbery. Cane quickly got up and went to assess the situation. After all, Cane really liked sleeping - something which was taken from him due to these robbers.
After passing a few empty carriages, he finally laid eyes upon the robbers. They were fully dressed in black, wearing masks of different colours of the rainbow. There were 7 of them in total.
Once the robbers turned to face Cane, the passengers also noticed him - and became very confused.
Cane... he kinda looked like he was a part of the robber's group - he was wearing a black cloak and a white mask. Altogether, a misunderstanding seemed to arise.
"My name is Red. Who are you? Which team are you from!" A man with a red mask came forward, peering at Cane with suspicion. Cane glanced around, noticing a hidden "3" attached to the belt of the man.
"I'm from Team 2. Maybe you haven't heard of me - y'know, team seniority and such." Cane had worded his response in such a way that it could be open to interpretation.
If Team 3 was higher than Team 2, then Cane's response obviously translated to "Maybe you don't know me because I'm a junior."
If Team 3 was lower than Team 2, Cane's response would naturally be interpreted as "You don't know me because I have higher clearance than you."
The man stepped back in respect. "I am so sorry, sir! I didn't know it was a senior from Team 2! But... sir, what are you doing on this train?"
Cane's scheme paid through. He continued, feeling relieved. "I'm coming back from a mission. I didn't expect one of ours to be seizing this train."
The group revealed looks of understanding. Seeing this, Cane took the opportunity. "Alright, everyone follow me. I need to talk with all of you. Privately."
The group, now led by Cane, entered an empty cabin. The moment they did, Cane immediately stabbed Red through the head. He then shot forward, killing Green as well.
"F*ck, what are you doing!" The others immediately took out guns and blades, disoriented by Cane's sudden movements. His unexpected attack had managed to take two of them already, but the others were now prepared.
Cane pointed his dagger at Blue, seemingly challenging him. Then, without warning, the blade shot forward like a bullet and buried into the man's skull.
And then there were 4.
When the remaining 4 saw this scene, they immediately rushed forward. Yellow stayed back, shooting at Cane and disrupting his focus. Meanwhile, Purple, Indigo and Orange began to slice and stab at Cane in a coordinated strike.
Cane barely evaded, relying on his 9x strength and speed. However, there was a difference between stats and skill, and quickly he began to receive wounds on different parts of his body. First his arm was cut, then both legs received light grazes.
Cane also had to spend extra time dodging the bullets, which meant he couldn't defend well against the melee onslaught. He continued to evade, waiting for the three to make any mistake. Then, as Orange overshot his sword, Cane struck.
Bursting from Cane's chest like a water balloon popping, the Omnitool splashed all over Orange's face, blinding him. Then it entered his eyes and began to dig through his body, quickly reaching the man's brain. Purple was also distracted by the sight of what looked like liquid metal erupting from Cane, letting him use Steal on Purple's sword.
With a swing, both Orange and Purple died simultaneously. Cane then kicked Purple's body toward Indigo, while reanimating Orange's corpse to leap at Yellow. The two got distracted, allowing Cane to reach Yellow and kill him too.
Finally, only Indigo was left. Cane actually decided to keep the man alive - simply because he was lacking a training partner.
Cane first used Steal on his pill bottle, swallowing a perception pill. Immediately, time seemed to slow down, although he knew it hadn't actually slowed. Using this perception pill, he was able to see and analyse Indigo's movements.
Cane fought with Indigo for another hour - their awakened bodies didn't tire easily, after all. During this time, Cane not only learnt the most efficient ways to dodge attacks, he also learnt how to attack others as efficiently as possible.
Whenever the effects of the perception pill began to run out, he'd directly dissipate the pill inside of him, thus removing the side effect. Then, he'd pop another pill into his mouth.
After a while, Cane got bored and shot Indigo in the stomach, before beheading him. Knowing that the train definitely wouldn't let him back on, and also realising that it'd probably take a while before someone mustered up the courage to check on the robbers, he decided to break through the window and leave.
Thank you. I've learnt a lot today.
...
After waiting for what seemed like forever, The Wanderer finally saw the train pulling in. He knew it'd take quite a while, but it seemed delayed for some reason. Seeing this, he decided to enact his perfect plan.
BBOOMM!!
The front of the train's tracks blew up, forcing the train to stop. Wanderer's clone shot forward, wearing the armour and looking like a thug.
"Halt! This is a train robbery! You guys hand over everything you got, understand?!" He barked in a commanding tone. However...
Why did the reaction from the passengers seem a little strange?
"Ugh, again?"
"Another one of these guys. I thought they'd all died back there in that cabin!"
"Am I gonna be delayed here? F*ck, lemme Quicksave my game."
What?
The Wanderer's clone decided to enter the train and search for Cane. And after searching the entire train...
"F*ck, where is he? Damn it!!" The clone couldn't help but curse. What kind of luck was this? After hours of careful planning, he couldn't even give Cane the fortuitous encounter?
What about the perfect novel tropes? If he couldn't add a cliche or two, something would definitely go wrong!
Wanderer and his clone both shook their heads, slapping the silly out of each other's head. No! If Cane can't come to me, then I just have to go to Cane!
Having resolved on a new solution, The Wanderer began to ask the confused (and slightly amused) passengers about the situation.
"Ahh! So, they fought a few hours ago, and he seemed to have left through the window? Calculating time over distance... I dunno where he left the train at." Wanderer clenched his fist in determination. "But I can still find him via the skills I gave him!"
No matter where you ended up, I'm gonna find you and fulfil novel tropes!
Just you wait.