We got an exit pass and went to the tavern "The Apple Pub." Although Brusken was trying to stay as far away from Eff as possible, he ended up joining sides with her and show their dissatisfaction.

We sat at a small table near the left side of the tavern. Mrs Green, whom I learnt the name from Radolf earlier this morning after we ate, came to take our orders

"Ah! Mr Roland. Where are your friends? And who are these two little youngsters you brought with you here?" Mrs Green asked

"Aww shit! My cover is blown..." I thought to myself, regretting my life choices once again. "Well, whatever, they will know one day anyways."

I put on a smile and said "My friends are still out hunting. I stayed behind in the village."

I looked over to Brusken and Eff. Both of them had confused looks. So, I told them, "Roland is my other name. I'll explain later. As for now, maybe you two should introduce yourselves?"

Eff broke out of the confusion. Then, she introduced herself. "I am Francine, some people call me Eff." She glanced at Brusken. He was still pondering. So, she helped him introduced himself too. "And that is my boyfriend, Brusken."

"Hey!" Brusken snapped out of it instantly. "I am not your boyfriend!" Brusken said in an annoyed and slightly mad voice.

"It was just... a... joke.... I'm sorry." Eff started looking sad and regretful. I could tell that she was trying to hard to keep herself from giggling.

Brusken flustered. He probably felt bad for shouting at her. "Alright.... Just don't do that ever again." Brusken then turn away.

"Three slices of apple pie and cups of apple cider." I said to Mrs. Green. I felt so glad that I ended up borrowing the money from Char.

"Alright."

X

While we waited for food to be served, I explained. "My real name is Roland. And, I am not a demi-human."

"Wait, you're not a demi-human? Then, are you a dragonkin or any of the mythicals?" Brusken asked

Mythicals is a group of species of creatures which are said to have the blood of a mythical creature in them. These includes the powerful dragonkins, the furious phoenixkins, the mysterious sphinxkins and so on. All of them have a humanoid appearance, which meant they looked just like humans and demi-humans.

"Nope."

"Then......" Eff gave it a deeper thought. "a human?"

"Yup. I only pretended I was a demi-human to avoid attracting too much attention in the arena."

"Is that why you can teleport?" Brusken asked

"I don't think humans can normally teleport too." Eff pointed out. "Or at least that's what I heard from legends with humans in them."

"I'm not all that sure bout that myself too, actually." I do know the main reason for me being able to use teleportation. Which are my past and my experiences. But I'm not so sure about the co-factors like species, age, style of fighting, and so on... I don't want to continue about talking about this, now regretting I might have spilled a little too much. It was strange, but I actually trust these two youngsters, whom I only met less than a day ago.

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It was like Mrs. Green can predict the future or read minds. She came with our food right that very moment. She placed the three places of apple pie on the table. The woman I saw earlier this morning brought the drinks over.

"Alright, let's eat!" I told them.

X

During the meal, I told them about the people I met so far. There was Kishi, Radolf, Char, and so on. The both of them were paying full attention the whole time. It felt like I was a teacher reading a story to a group of little children.

We finished up our meal in approximately 40 minutes. The eating part of the meal only took about 15 minutes total, but the story telling in between every bite was the one that consumed so much time. By now, I believed that another 10 or so matches should have already taken place. I paid for the food and we started our walk back to the arena.

"Err... Mr Roland... What should we call you now?" Eff asked.

"Well... Whatever you like. But, please call me Mr Renikno or anything like Big Bro that won't reveal my name and identity in the arena. I don't want the world to know my true name."

"Nnn" Eff nodded.

"By the way, Eff. Where are you heading now that you lost in the arena?"

"Actually.... I don't really know..." Eff said. She sounded very uncertain of her future, like she would just do anything the future throws at her.

"Well, let me change my question a little. Where do you want to go, or what do you want to do?"

"If possible, be with you two, I guess."

"Hah?" Brusken shouted unintentionally. "I'm sorry. But why do you want to follow the both of us? One, you're a girl, you know? And we're not."

"Don't discriminate people just because of their gender. Girls can be adventurers too. Eff here probably fought more battles than you." I told him.

"I just.... feel like it, I guess..." Eff's voice got softer and softer. She was probably embarrassed talking about this topic. Her face grew a little red.

"Alright, I understand. You don't have to force yourself to continue if you don't want to." I gave her a warm smile. It kinda made her feel better. I turned to Brusken. "What about you? I meant after you either win or lose."

"I guess I'll need to return to the family after I win. They probably would praise me and tell everyone in the village. But if I lose, I would still need to go back. This time, they most likely would shame and punish me."

"Then... why do you still want to return? The way you put it, you have a seriously shitty family." Eff said. She was sounding like her old self again.

"For starters, because it's my family. And I probably won't survive on my own. Eff, what about your family? You should understand what I meant, right?" Brusken glanced at Eff.

"I had, once, a long time ago. Basically it was one of those tragic death stories where you lose your family for some shitty reason when you were younger." Eff said. She sounded a little sad when she said the first sentence, but was back to normal the next.

"Huh?" I looked over to Eff. Brusken was too.

She understood our curiosity, so she said. "Just some shit. A group of so called adventurers came and destroyed my tribe. We are just a community of peaceful and friendly myojins. One day, the whole tribe was set ablazed. For what reason, I still don't know."

"Myojins..." These words leaked out of my mouth. Myojins looked like a mix between Elves and Humanoids. They had slightly pointy ears and are known to infuse magic into items like I do. My infusing technique could actually be passed down from myojins themselves. From last I heard, myojins don't usually have eyes that glow, so it was something that set Eff different from them.

In terms of their abilities and nature, myojins are naturals in bowmanship and other ranged weapons. I heard they infused their arrows with magic that give them crazy speed and accuracy. I heard they used other weapons ranging from simple slingshots to huge catapults. It was like myojins are born with the inmate ability to have good accuracy no matter what ranged weapons they used.

Thinking about it, these abilities does fit with Eff. She used those chains and are able to control them to attack from different sides. The only thing is I never heard of any myojins, or even anyone that learnt the arts of infusing magic, to be able to control an item as precisely as Eff. I did heard that myojin elites can change directions of arrows in mid air, but it was only if it was small enough and had enough magic infused into it.

"Then.... Are there no survivors?" Brusken asked

"None.... None at all except me. I am part of the so called 'royal family', which is the family that has lead the tribe for hundreds to thousands of years. During the sudden attack, there was a trader who was about to leave the village. His name was Mr Ling. The houses near the west side has started burning furiously. Arrows were flying everywhere and the sound of swords clashing can be heard. In myojin belief, a myojin must not abandon his home in an enemy attack. He must fight until his last breath. The villagers quickly helped Mr Ling to leave the village, since they also believed that having extra people entangled in their fights is a lost of honor. He was already out of the village perimeter when suddenly my mother came running. My mother begged for him to take me to safety. I was the only child, which meant I was also the next heir. Mr Ling was kind, so he said okay and would take care of me for a few days." Eff paused.

After a deep breath, she continued. "I was only seven when I witnessed my village burn to the ground. I ended up staying with Mr Ling for a month or so. Once every week, he would leave me at his home while he goes out alone and returns by nightfall. After the third time, he said to me, 'I'm sorry.' He had a few tears streak down his face. I didn't fully understand at that time, but for some reason a tear or two leaked out of my eyes too." Eff cried a little bit. Her voice had an extremely painful feeling in it. It was like a whole new side of her. From her tone, it was like this book of her past hasn't been opened in many many years.

"During the last week, he took me to a village fairly far away --- a village I'll call home for a few years. There, he found me a new family. The man who took care of me for those years was Mr George, a blacksmith there. I don't know much about him, I don't even know why he would be so happy when he saw me the first time. His smile that day was like a smile of a father who finally found his long lost daughter." Eff's voice turned happy, then ended with a confused tone.

"He sounds like a good father, or at least a good person in general." Brusken said.

"Yeah. He is." Eff added.