However, Gage's faith had been challenged many times. There were many times in his life when he felt that his entire being was being pulled to the side of evil, and the main culprit appeared on the day of his graduation.
Graduation from an orphanage here was handled very mildly. They were would be a small going away party for the now mature youth at age 18, a cake, some singing, prayers, and well wishes, and that was it.
Gage had gone through many graduations during his 10-year stay in this orphanage, so when it finally came to his turn, he was already calm about it. There was no excitement because most orphans would start working various jobs by age 13, so they knew how tough the reality of the world was.
Most would even opt to stay because the orphanage was a free roof over their head. In this capital city, the prices of rent were so exorbitant that even bourgeois kids from good middle-class homes preferred to stay with their parents than move out.
However, they had no choice as that was the law, and the age of 18 was the formal point where one's minor status was removed. Gage matured around the same time as the others, but their birthdays were different so they graduated at different times.
However, his brothers all came to witness his graduation which made it feel warm and full of hope. He then went to a nearby bar and drank with them all night before they eventually went their separate ways.
In preparation to graduate, Gage had already used the money he had saved to rent a one-room apartment with a single toilet that was self-contained. It wasn't fancy and it honestly looked like shit, but what choice did he have?
As he took public transport home, he was lost in thought. It was something he had noticed as he grew up, but his body was different from the others. While the other four were piss drunk and could barely write their names, he was barely affected and only felt slightly tipsy at best.
Even now, he felt full of strength, and recently, he had been having very strange dreams. In those dreams, he felt stronger and much more divine, and while he couldn't see how he looked, he felt like he should have far more arms than he did now.
Eventually, the conductor of the public transport bus called his stop and Gage got down after paying the fare. As he walked to the street his apartment was on, he noticed that a group of four or five young men were seated near the right, chatting and laughing while they blocked the road with a custom spike trap made of broken alcohol bottles.
Gage saw this and understood that these fellows were waiting for affluent cars to pass by and then ruin their tires before ribbing and/or killing the owner depending on their level of cooperation.
He shook his head and continued walking by, making sure not to make eye contact, Given the clothes he was wearing, they should understand his financial might and not bother with him.
However, while this usually worked, the issue was that Gage was fairer skinned than most in the area, and the African assumption was usually that fair skin meant a good background, which meant wealth.
"Hey, hey, stop there! Fine boy where you dey go?" (TL: Handsome dude, where are you going?)
One of them waved a locally made handgun threatening and called out to gage. From this distance, gage could probably make a break for it and hope he wasn't hit, but that would be dumb and putting his fate up to other people.
Gage closed his eyes hos frustration and stopped, then turned to face the robbers with a casual smile.
ραпdα- n૦νe|`c,0m "Big men, why you for stop me? I not get anything oo." (TL: Bosses, why do you have to stop me? I do not have anything on me you know.)
One of them walked over with a cold smile and an amused look, his face filled with a mixture of amiability and killing intent.
"Who say we want your money? Na you dey call us thief be that?" The fellow asked with a cruel glint in his eye.
Gage's heart skipped a beat as he understood that they were more likely bored and here to play with him until they found a target. He just looked easy to bully because he was fair and depending on how he handled this, he could go home in one piece after being bullied and humiliated a bit, or he could end up shot and killed.
Gage naturally made the right choice.
Gage laughed in a joking manner. "Haha, now how I fit talk that thing? I just see say you be somebody worth dashing free money, that be why I talk that." (TL: Haha, how could I say such a thing? I just see you as someone who is worth giving free money to, which is why I said that.)
"Ah, no be the same thing? You fool or what? Or you think say I not fit kill you?" the fellow's causal smile disappeared as he pitted the gun right at Gage's forehead, looking like he needed the slightest excuse to pull the trigger.
(TL: Isn't that the same thing? Are you dumb? Or do you believe I won't kill you right now?)
Gage forcibly remained calm and kept his foolish smile on his face. However, a hint of cruelty and malice built in the back of his mind that was growing.
"Oh boss, I talk that thing seacof I feel say you be handsome. As I dey here, I be orphan so my mind be say all handsome fellows for dey receive free money, or I lie?"
(TL: Friend, I said that because I thought you are handsome. As for me, I am an orphan so I believe that all handsome fellows are to be given free money, or am I wrong?)
"Massa, you lie bad! Herh, Kobby, the guy de lie you oo!" One of the other fellows still seated where they were and listening to this 'Kobby' fellow toy with Gage laughed out loud. (TL: My friends, you're seriously lying. Hey Kobby, this guy is lying to you, you know?)
"I shock sef he think say I fool. Watch what I go do to am this night!" (TL: I am surprised myself. This guy thinks I am an idiot. Watch what I do to him tonight!)
The Kobby fellow turned his head back to reply to his compatriots, and in this moment, Gage's eyes became pitch black as the malice he was suppressing could no longer be held back.
Gage felt possessed as he threw two of his 'arms' forward and pierced through the Kobby guy's throat and chest, easily lifting him up as his playful smile change into fear and regret.
"WHAT THE FUCK!"
"MY GOD, KOBBY!"
"CHALE FORGET KOBBY, RUN! THE GUY BE DEMON!" (TL: You forget Kobby, this guy is a demon! Run!)
Gage stood there with shock, his dark eyes having receded as his cruelty became tempered and he regained his mind. He could not see that on his right and left, four spider-like appendages had manifested that felt natural to him.
He could control them as he could his normal arms or legs, and there was no perceived awkwardness at all from having so many 'limbs'. Gage looked to his back and saw that these arms did not directly come from his back or body, but were formed through energy because their base hovered edges away from his skin without connecting.
Gage felt like just moving them was only the beginning of the use of these arms. He turned his head to see that the Kobby fellow was dead and then casually threw him off to the side.
Gage was left stunned as the body flew into the air so fast that it disappeared from view. It could likely travel a few hundred kilometers easily, and he reassessed his strength or at least, the strength of his appendages.
He looked forward and saw that the fellows were running for their lives in fear, even though they had guns in hand. Thinking about what to do, Gage decided to stop them first and prevent them from spreading what they had seen today.
So he placed to chase and subconsciously, he placed his lower two appendages on the ground and then pushed slightly. Soon, he found himself airborne much to his horror and he easily surpassed the running thieves who were escaping into the nearby bush.
As for landing, his appendages moved subconsciously and stabbed into the ground one after the other, perfectly and easily dispersing the force without causing Gage the slightest discomfort.
As much as he was shocked, he felt that this was normal and he felt slightly thrilled.
The men opposite him could not claim to feel the same way when they saw Gage suspended by his long appendages that gleamed with a reddish glow like blood.
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