“Well. So there I was, right? I had been walking home through some alleyways when I noticed somebody running at me.” Dzan itches his right ear and his three ring earrings slightly jingle. He has a smile on his face.
Ajax is interested how the two of them will be seen through his eyes. Shaula closes her eyes as Dzan continues speaking.
“Well, I had drank a little bit while walking around lifting coins, so I was worried I would have missed the signs of a tail. The only reason I think I realized was pure instinct. That wasn’t really a good thing either. Maybe if I was more sober I could have realized it earlier and headed somewhere with more people.”
“What would that have done?” Malia asks.
“I think I could have maybe escaped through the crowded areas. From how far into the alleyways they ran up on me, I think they didn’t want to draw attention to themselves. If I made it into a crowd, I doubt they’d try anything, at least at first. I remember that I snatched the coins off them a while before they actually confronted me.”
“Wait, but last time you told me they were masked. You recognized who they were anyways?” Angelidis asks for clarification. Ajax and Shaula are curious about this point as well.
“I mean, I don’t remember their faces, exactly. I remember two people in a market who had their same clothes on. They looked fancy, their style was pretty upper class. I stole the pouch from the woman, which is probably why she was the one to fight me.”
Shaula is surprised that he would remember one of his marks. She had seen him steal from a number of people that day. Her and Ajax’s clothing wasn’t supposed to be that unique. However, maybe it wasn’t unique to fellow blue bloods. They certainly didn’t raise any eyebrows in Sinem square.
Someone like Dzan would probably remember it, especially in that marketplace. She’s now slightly worried that he’ll discern her identity, but she doesn’t show it.
“You’re confident about escaping into crowds? You?” Malia speaks somewhat surprised at his confidence.
“Hey, I’m a pretty cool, fun and memorable guy when you meet me in person, it’s what you love about me…” Malia laughs slightly at his bravado. “But, when I’m working, I’m as quiet as a lintrose and as forgettable as a fenulepe. All I’d have to do is walk into a crowd and lose them, I’m pretty good at that.”
Fenulepe are the horned rabbits that are known for being everywhere. Dzan’s basically saying he’d blend into the crowd like a mob character. Antlered lintrose is an animal that Ajax and Shaula (sort of) remember seeing in the Mega Forest.
It looks very similar to a deer with glowing blue antlers. They’re known for climbing through trees, stable footed even when high above the ground. Ajax remembers seeing them at heights of thirty to forty stories above the forest floor.
“Anyways, right when I heard them running at me, I ran like a Miella. But, one of them was just crazy fast. I swear to God he was faster than Spark.”
“Fuck you, no way he’d beat Spark in a race!”
“Jelli, he even leapt over my head to get in my way.”
“Hmph, your lack of faith in my buddy is disturbing… just for that, you’re not allowed to ride her anymore!”
“Hey! L-Let’s be calm here, no need to go into panic mode…” Angelidis was following along in amusement at his story telling chops. But, she will not stand for Spark being underestimated.
Dzan was able to become one of Angelidis’ best friends based on how Spark treats him. Spark would only ever let Angelidis or Dzan ride. No one else was strong enough or trusted enough by Spark to even get a chance.
“*Sigh*… Fine, fine, I wouldn’t dream of robbing you of that. You’re lucky she didn’t hear you! I promise you she wouldn’t have been so lenient.”
“Sorry, sorry, Jelli… But, seriously, that guy was a champion runner.”
“...He actually leapt over your head?” Sudirja asks Dzan in curiosity. Neither she or Olah have heard this story. Meixi, Sigvor and Malia, having already heard the account, nurse their drinks.
“Right over it, he looked pretty cool. He landed gracefully, as if he didn’t just jump that high over my head. I tried to turn back to get away, but his friend had already shown up by then. I gotta think she was just as fast.”
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
“What’d they look like?”
“Well, Olah, they were both at least two heads taller than me. The guy looked really muscular. It’s honestly crazy how he could move like that with his insane muscles. The woman was wearing a head wrap, which is something I don’t see that often with human women. She was almost as jacked as the guy! I’m betting they were holy knights or secret nobles or something.”
Ajax has wide eyes at this description of the two of them. Of course, both he and Shaula were the same height as Dzan, that was the first mistake. Or exaggeration. Also, Ajax definitely didn’t look muscular like that during their encounter. In that alleyway, Dzan definitely looked more muscular than them.
Although Ajax’s powers have drastically increased his physical strength and speed, his muscles remain lean. The only difference he’s noticed from his Earth body is a toned physique, rather than additional bulk. Shaula could not compare to Dzan’s physique either.
Her body back on Earth was quite athletic, even with her gorgeous breasts and robust buns. She never shows it off, but she has splendid abs as well. Unlike Ajax, she would take more time to keep her body fit and strong. Even while homeless, a simple gym membership got her access to some useful facilities.
Ajax looks over at Shaula who’s eyelids remain closed and slightly twitching. Meixi looks over at her as well. Today, she’s wearing a coif, but last time she came to the bar, she had a head wrap on… Meixi doesn’t point this out.
Probably just a coincidence.
“Well, you all know I’m a pretty good fighter. Sigvor, you can back me up, right?”
“Honestly, yeah. I’ve sparred and won against him a few times when we first met. Not every time though. Recently, whenever we fight, he wins and it’s not even close. I once saw him drop five guys and walk away with only a broken nose and concussion.”
Dzan smiles smugly, particularly at Olah, while getting his praises sung.
Malia frowns. Dzan isn’t one to shy away from confrontations with poor odds. She is attracted to this ability of his to beat the odds. She’s even attracted to his fighting ability, she can’t lie. But, she’d also prefer he not take such risks in the first place.
Her family has come to love him just as much as she does. What would they do without him?
“So, I really thought that these two were going to kill me. I mean, that’s what I always assume when anyone tries to corner me in an alleyway. It looked like the girl wanted to take care of me. So, I took out my trusty knife…” Dzan taps the knife in his dagger holster. “...and tried to take the girl out.”
Dzan stands up and imitates his stance.
“So, how’d you fuck it up?”
“Olah! I-I would have beaten her if she was normal. I even started off with a feint…” Dzan displays the speed at which he tried to strike Shaula. To the girls at the table, his speed and style is pretty good. Even Angelidis has no complaints about his fighting style.
If he had her strength, he might have a chance of beating her. Maybe.
“...But, she still dodged and snatched the knife out of my fucking hand. She moved elegantly, it was really impressive, honestly.” Dzan walks away from the table into the middle of the bar. He demonstrates how Shaula had moved.
The way he portrayed her was accurate. But, it looked more impressive than it actually appeared to Ajax and Shaula. She’s not a fighter and never had a lesson. That was simply the power of her transcendent body. Slowed down, it would look like she just got out of Dzan’s way.
Dzan returns to his seat and continues.
“I was just absolutely flabbergasted! I really thought that was gonna be it, that I was gonna die. But… They were nicer than any marks I’ve ever met.”
“What’d you mean?” Sudirja asks, fairly entertained by his ability to tell a story. Ajax and Shaula look over at Dzan as he finishes off his story.
“Well, they just asked for their sack of coins back. And after they took it, get this. They even gave me five silver coins.”
“What? Why’d they be so generous? I’d have beat your ass for trying to steal from me!”
“Well, luckily they weren’t as cruel as you.” Dzan sticks his tongue out at Olah. “They were just trying to get their money back, they didn’t push it any further than that. Maybe they felt bad for making me think they were about to execute me, but whatever. I’m not complaining. Have you ever had ones like that, Sigvor?”
“No way! Ha, if a human who wasn’t trained was good enough to beat me in a fight, they’d have killed me for trying to lift even the dirtiest bronze coin off them. Or at the least, brought me to a guard. Dead, enslaved or tortured either way.”
Ajax and Shaula infer that Sigvor is also a pickpocket like Dzan. Dzan sighs as he thinks about the funny way things turned out there.
“Nice guys. Not a terrible defeat…”
Ajax and Shaula are surprised that he respects his defeat. They were certain Dzan would have at least some resentment. Shaula did feel like the way she defeated him would have been humiliating in retrospect. Especially considering how much pride he seems to have in his fighting ability.
“You know, it’s…” Dzan looks over at Ajax and Shaula who are both looking at him with odd faces.
“Hm, what’s up with… Huh?”
He notices something about Shaula as he looks over at her. Why didn’t he realize this earlier? He isn’t sure. He sees that she’s wearing a headcovering right now. He had noticed it earlier as well. But, maybe at that moment, he didn’t connect it to his encounter with those two people in masks.
She is one of Angelidis’ friends, as is Ajax. But, his mind can’t help but start to whirl furiously.