Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary

Avery stood completely still for a moment as he processed what had just occurred.

He had drawn his weapon as quickly as he could to launch a surprise attack on the man that had stopped him. However, his adversary had been even faster and aimed and fired his own laser pistol first.

If Avery had one stroke of fortune, it was that the man had not shot to kill and instead disarmed him.

Still, the situation was precarious. The hostile man shrouded in a dark cloak had his gun leveled at Avery. At any moment he could open fire.

"Okay, fine. I get it. I'll hand over the ship. Just don't hurt me." Avery said frantically, trying to make himself sound as fearful as possible to lower the man's guard.

"Sorry, it's too late for that now. Little punks like you only learn their lesson if it hurts."

Avery watched the man's lips twist into a sadistic smirk as he prepared to fire his weapon again.

Just as the man started to press down on the trigger, Avery leapt backwards and threw himself onto the ground.

An instant later, a red beam flew directly over his head. Had he reacted even a fraction of a second slower, he would have been nailed in the chest by the blast.

Not waiting to assess the situation, Avery rolled over to the side and jumped back up to his feet.

By some miracle his earlier leap had sent him far enough so that he was right next to a small street that intersected with the alley he was in.

Quickly he dashed into it as the sound of another shot being fired reached his ears.

A moment later, Avery felt a sharp pain in his left arm.

The beam had only grazed him as he ducked into the other street, but it had still ripped through his clothes and left a nasty burn where it hit.

Unfortunately, Avery could not take even a second to tend to the wound and kept running with all his might while ignoring the pain. If he could get out of the back alleys and onto the main road, the man would be unable to pursue him any longer without the authorities noticing.

"Don't think you're going to get away from me, brat." Avery heard along with heavy steps behind him.

Despite his large frame, he was deceptively fast. Avery had expected to be able to outrun the man, but that notion was far from reality.

Realizing that he was not going to be able to get away by relying solely on speed, Avery jumped into the next path he crossed so that the man could no longer see him.

An instant later, another laser shot flew by and lit the area up in a soft red glow.

Just like the time he had been attacked by those pirates; Avery felt his heart racing. His mind searched for ways to escape his predicament as his enemy grew closer.

'There's only one thing I can really do.'

Looking over his shoulder, Avery waited for the man to round the corner and then jumped into another branching alleyway to get out of line of sigh.

However, this time he did not keep running. Instead lying in wait for his pursuer.

"I've got to do this. There's no telling what will happen if I lose." Avery said, pulling out the knife strapped to his belt out.

No matter how crude it was, this was the last weapon he had. Even in the age of laser weaponry, a sharp blade could still kill someone if it hit them in the right spot.

Avery waited for the right moment to launch his counterattack. Every millisecond felt like an eternity as beads of sweat dripped down his face as he heightened his concertation.

The moment the man came around the corner, Avery struck.

He pushed off the ground hard with both of his feet and thrust his knife forward with every ounce of strength he could muster.

Even though Avery had never used a blade in a fight before, it was a sharp blow. Any average person would have been unable to react in time to the well-timed surprise attack.

Except, the man confronting Avery was far from ordinary.

For only a brief moment did he have a look of shock on his face, before swiftly grabbing ahold of Avery's arm and stopping him in his tracts.

"I honestly didn't think you'd stop and attack me. But you'll need to do better than that."

With truly herculean strength, the enormous man lifted Avery up by his arm and slammed him into the nearby wall.

Avery felt the air knocked out of his lungs from the impact. For a single second it was as if his mind was disconnected from his body, until a thunderous pain jolted him back to his senses.

When he was finally able to get his bearings, he noticed that he had slid to the ground after being thrown.

Panic setting in, he rushed back to his feet and faced the giant of a man that was a couple of meters away from him.

"You managed to keep ahold of your knife. Do you still plan on fighting me?"

His assailant's words caused Avery to glance down towards his right hand. After being thrown, he did not even register that his last weapon was still in his grip. Truthfully, it was a miracle that he had not lost it.

Still, there was little he could hope to do now.

The man that had attacked him had him in his line of sight and there was nowhere else to run. A single shot from his laser pistol would be all it took to bring Avery down.

'I can't give up, though.' Avery thought, holding his knife even tighter.

He glared back at his foe with a dauntless glint in his eyes. Even as terror welled up inside of him, he refused to back down.

"That's not bad. But you should know when you're outmatched."

Before Avery could hope to react, the man appeared in front of him in a display of astounding speed.

A heavy boot then slammed into Avery's stomach, and he felt spit and bile erupt from his mouth as he began coughing violently.

His entire body felt faint from the pain and shock, and he collapsed back onto the ground as the man's foot moved away and stopped supporting his weight.

"You've still got the will to fight. But that won't last much longer."

Avery did not have any time to process the words he had just heard before the man's foot came down on his right arm.

A sickening crunching sound echoed through the alley as his arm was broken.

The knife that Avery had so desperately held onto finally fell from his grip, and he began involuntary crying and weeing in agony.

"You gave me more trouble than I thought you would, but it's over now. Time for you to go to sleep."

A long silver rod now in his hand, the giant of a man jabbed the weapon up against Avery's back and sent a strong electric current through his body.

No amount of grit was enough for him to withstand the jolt, and Avery's conciseness quickly faded away.

Chapter 13 A Painful Lesson