Dean hesitated for a moment, his leg stuck mid step like he was calculating his next move in that very moment.
The slime tilted to the side while still in his hands with eyes that moved through the crowd with an unsettling aura.
After a few seconds, its gelatinous body seemed to tighten around Dean's grip.
The boy noticed it and shook his head softly.
He didn't need to dwell too much in the past. After all, this was another opportunity.
It was a clean slate, a new profile in a world that seemed to have more challenges than his old life. But challenges were nothing if not an opportunity.
Dean straightened up and continued walking.His eyes looked straight ahead, ignoring everything else.
The crowd opened up as he walked through. Some were still murmuring while glancing at the slime.
While a few others were already leaving with frustrated frowns on their faces, while others carried relief.
Dean was barely twenty meters away from the base of the stairs when Rogue appeared in front of him. Blocking his path.
On either side of the blond-haired boy were two other boys with curly brown hair. They were probably 17 or 18 and looked exactly like each other.
'Twins' Dean raised a brow while he placed the slime on his shoulder to make sure his hands were free just in case.
His dark eyes dimmed, focusing on the trio with little to no effort.
A smug smile appeared on Rogue's face as he spoke.
"You think you can just walk away after messing with the dev-"
"Out of my way," Dean said coldly, interrupting the boy before he could even finish his statement.
Rogue's eyes narrowed in shock. He was taken aback, he couldn't believe how rude Dean was.
"You prick," Rogue cursed loudly, feeling agitated almost immediately. His hands were now balled into fists.
Dean didn't waver for a second. His hands remained at his side even as the slime blinked as if it were blind.
"Not now," the twin on the right hand side of Rogue whispered in his ear.
"Tsk, but he-," Rogue was about to complain. He was fairly certain he could take Dean on.
He'd summoned the best familiar so far, until Dean and whatever trash he'd summoned closed the party.
Rogue murmured inaudibly as he walked forward with eyes still locked on Dean's before bumping into his right shoulder in anger.
Dean leaned in slightly before been bumped by rogue.
The twins avoided Dean totally, walking past him as if he were radioactive or something.
"That was weird!" Dean spoke, turning to his left shoulder, talking to the slime like he was certain it could understand what he was saying.
Dean knew very well that a fight couldn't break out while they were still in the building. It was a basic rule of this world, from what he could remember.
Citizens, especially within the city, disapproved of unjustified fighting among summoners. Their enemies were the monsters that planned their extinction and not eachother.
Dean clenched his right hand on something as he walked to the exit quickly.
In no time, he was outside the slanted two storey building.
People filled the streets outside the building, moving back and forth on sidewalks while horse-like familiars rode carriages along the shabby cobblestone streets.
Dean walked to the side, giving way for the rest of the crowd coming out of the building.
In an alley by the side, he finally opened his hand to reveal a wallet.
He had slipped it off Rogue earlier when the boy had bumped into him. This was basically what was called sticky fingers in his old life, and Dean had a degree in the art.
Dean looked around to make sure he was alone. When he confirmed he was alone, he opened the wallet.
"Score," he whispered.
Having looked through the wallet to find about 100 quid, some paper cuttings and even a condom.
'They still have these even in the apocalypse,' he smiled while shaking his head.
He looked at the 100 quid, it meant he wouldn't have to walk back home and could pay for a ride back this time.
He was about to toss the wallet aside when he noticed the red glowing slime looking at him with those wide, googly, and judgemental eyes.
"Don't give me those eyes," Dean clicked his teeth.
The slime didn't stare away, almost like it was trying to reach into Dean's conscience.
"He called me a prick," Dean justified after a shallow breath.
He quickly concentrated by closing his eyes
and the slime suddenly twisted as if the surrounding space folded, and then it disappeared.
Dean had cut off the summoning. It was a feeling he was familiar with from the memory of the original Dean.
He also didn't like it's judging eyes.
Not wasting another moment after the slime vanished. He took the money and condom and tossed the wallet into a near-by dumpster.
He made his way towards a transit zone.
<><><>
Since he arrived about three days ago, he had first stayed for two days in his room in confusion. Trying to get a grip on his circumstance.
And just now when he thought he was finally getting a grasp of things, a game-like system has appeared to compound his confusion.
The last time he saw something like this was when he read it in a web novel, and now it seemed he was the one living in the fantasy he had read about, back then.
He arrived at the transit zone, that was five blocks from where they conducted the summoning exercise.
Immediately Dean got there, he witnessed a massive luminous manta-ray flew into the sky.
'Damn,' Dean thought. The sight of the ray floating through the air like it were swimming was something that amazed him more than anything else in this world, at least for now.
He walked straight to the ticket booth and was about paying for a ride, when a little girl suddenly ran past him.
"Mama.Mama. it's time to go," she exclaimed as she ran into her mother's arms.
Dean smiled softly at the sight, when a bolt of lightning streamed through his mind dramatically, sending a shiver down his spine.
'Holy shit, holy shit,' he nearly blurted out.
He withdrew his outstretched hand and sprinted out of the transit zone.
He ran through the streets and alleys with a familiarity that showed he had done this a hundred times before.
After ten minutes of running. He finally arrived at a small metal gate.
He looked from left to right, but only saw some kids in blue and white uniforms walking out.
Dean didn't wait, he walked past the gate with his eyes still searching when suddenly something stealthily pounced on him from behind like a tiger waiting to strike.
"You're late again Big Brother,"
A/N: if you are enjoying the story, Add to Library and support with a powerstone or two. Thank You.