Tyvan’s smile grew so wide he felt his cheeks ache.

Liu Zhang kept his eyes open. Not intentful. Not the drilled, counter-instinctual disposition of a trained fighter. The stare was dull and vacuous-- suggesting he had yet to accept his violent reality.

A shame.

Tyvan struck him rightly with the ceiling fan.

Two of the aluminium blades snapped. That was disappointing.

The sound of the fan’s metal base striking against flesh and bone was unfortunately mundane, so Tyvan hopped off the table and continued with his borrowed baton. The swing. The cutting through air. Adequate.

It finally bent after six solid strikes. It failed to close and open as smoothly as he liked... but by then, Tyvan estimated he’d inflicted a concussion, a cracked ribcage, and a few arm fractures.

Despite its posturing, the bones of the Jade Dragon proved as fragile as its shell.

How pathetic.

He was about to take Zhang’s wallet when the door opened.

Ah. But it was just Yan Xue.

“TYVAN!” she screamed.

“Good evening,” Tyvan waved.

He furrowed his brows, “Why are you so late?”

“Not important,” she cried. “Tyvan, what happened? Why is everyone...”

She stopped mid-question... gawking.

That left Tyvan with the tiresome and imprecise task of gauging her intent.

Hm.

“My companions... lacked a certain degree of gentlemanly decorum,” he said. “That has since been rectified. Come along, my dear. Let us away.”

----------------------------------------

Shay was absolutely terrified.

When she saw Tyvan, he was... smiling?

She thought she saw it--

But did she really?

She’d always wanted to see Tyvan smile, but--

Everywhere she looked in the room, she saw the results of violence.

And the nameplate on the conference table... the old guy that had fallen out of his chair-- the one with the swollen and bleeding face? He was from the ZHANG family?! They were in Arrow Group territory! Tyvan had offended the ARROW Group!!!?

He took her by the arm and started leading her out. And he wanted to go down the main sTaiRwell, but--

“W-w-wait,” she said. “We can’t go that way! There’s-- there’s guards that way! Lots of guards!”

“And... why would that prevent our departure?” Tyvan asked.

“Your gloves,” she murmured.

Tyvan raised his hands and looked down. The dark fabric was clearly stained with blood-- so much that it was almost dripping off.

He took his handkerchief from his coat pocket and tried to dab it off, but that didn’t help at ALL!

“Once again,” he said. “Let us away.”

“No,” Shay warned. “Let us find a different way.”

For a moment, she was afraid that Tyvan would refuse.

However, he just nodded, saying, “Very well. Please advise.”

Shay took a moment to think.

There was an incident.

Tyvan had to defend himself-- and he was forced to beat up a bunch of Chinese gangsters because there was no other way!

They had to get out of the hotel before the bad guys sounded an alarm. If any martial artists showed up-- or anyone with guns, they were going to want revenge. She could probably talk her way out of being murdered if she said she was related to the Song family...

--but she couldn’t extend that protection to Tyvan! If they found him-- oh no. Oh, nooOoo~!

So how... could they get out... of a hotel, fiLLed with people expressly working for the enemy!?

People!

As many gang members as there were, there were hundreds of other regular people!

She looked up to Tyvan, “There’s a restaurant on the second floor.”

“I love the way you think,” he said. “I. am. famished.”

He said the word ‘love.’ That gave her feeelings. That’s not what she was talking about, though?

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“Maybe we can find an emergency exit,” Shay said. “Then, once we get down to the ground floor, we can escape!”

“Ah. Right,” Tyvan groaned. “Perhaps Chinese cuisine is a bit... unsavoury, all things considered. Ah-- but there is a traditional Mongolian restaurant in the area.”

Shay started toward the stairs at the end of the hall, but Tyvan grabbed her wrist, stopping her.

“What is it now?” she snapped.

--but seeing Tyvan’s disappointed frown made her immediately regret it. She was really not right when she was stressed.

“I’m sorry, Tyvan. What’s wrong?”

“Potential aggressors,” he said.

He... took her to the pair of side elevators. And he... casually pressed the button.

Shay wanted to pull her hair out and just-- just scream.

Two elevators-- according to the lights above the doors, one was coming down and the other was coming up.

What if the second elevator was filled with gangsters?

She knew a little bit of Tae Kwon Do, but that wouldn’t do anything against fully-trained gong fu masters!

Or what if the people climbing the stairs--

The first elevator dinged.

Shay rushed inside, pulling Tyvan in with her.

What kind of luck was that?!

“Good evening,” Tyvan said, greeting the BALD GANGSTER FROM EARLIER.

“Mister Valorum?” the man said, confused. “How are you...”

And Tyvan just... touched the guy’s shoulder. And he collapsed forward.

wHaT was thaaAAAAT????

“Tyvan!” Shay shouted, “Did you kill him?!”

“Mind your volume,” he said, gently laying the man down against the elevator wall, “No. Am I so brutish in manner that you’d expect that of me?”

Shay squeezed her eyes thin, glaring at him with suspicion.

“Hmph,” Tyvan said, widening his mouth slightly. “He’s only asleep. Hence~”

Wait, what? Shay stopped herself from talking. She held her breath.

She was sweating all over-- was it because of the stress or the fear?

Oh, no! She still had to breathe!

“What did you do just now?” she loud-whispered, “Was that-- a kind of martial art? Some super-skillful one-hit knockout move?”

“Nothing so interesting,” Tyvan waved. “It was merely a spell that puts people to sleep.”

Oh. OhhHhh. So it was mAgiC. And not just any magic, it was just uNinteResting magic... that could put a tRained FIGHTER to sLEEp.

“Any kind of magic is interesting,” Shay insisted through clenched teeth.

“Then I advise you to be more interested in the subsequent,” Tyvan said.

He took off his right glove and offered his hand.

Oh? Oh! Magic time!

Shay wound up her arm and clapped his palm, squeezing as she shook his hand.

“Try again,” Tyvan said in a flat voice.

Oh.

Shay withdrew her hand... then gently placed it back into his offered palm.

His grip tightened ever so slightly... and she felt her heart starting to beat not out of fear or anxiety... but something else.

She had forgotten she was stuck in an intimate space with the man she had a crush on-- (and also a random unconscious guy who ultimately didn’t matter.)

“I trust you, Tyvan,” she said.

“I was assuming you did. But I’m pleased to have that confirmed.”

He gave her a polite smile-- the corner of his lips rising as was usual for him.

“Close your eyes. And don’t open them until I tell you to.”

----------------------------------------

As soon as the elevator doors opened, Tyvan Valorum led Yan Xue through the crowded restaurant.

His spell, ⌈Irregard⌋, was one of the most unique in his repertoire.

It only functioned in tandem with a partner. It required a crowd of sentients numbering over four score. It had a loathsome and nonsensical name. And, finally, both he and his second had their ocular vision disabled throughout the duration.

--not that the loss of his sight was any great loss. He still had the rest of his senses, after all.

Those senses, of course, were mostly problematic, considering the situation. The sizzling sounds from the kitchen and delectable scents of dishes being served elicited a cruel pang of hunger from his belly.

But, nevertheless...

Even with just his hearing and sense of vibrations in the floor and air, Tyvan was confident in sprinting at full speed while avoiding obstructions.

--but he doubted Yan Xue would be able to keep up, so he moved at the pace of a leisurely stroll.

He’d advised his companion to close her eyes to prevent her from panicking. Humans tended to panic when any of their main senses were taken away from them, even temporarily.

As she advised, avoidance was preferable to direct confrontation. It was efficacious.

Thus, with his peculiarly-named spell in full effect, the Arrow Group’s aggressors remained in front of the elevator, staring blankly in confusion.

As much as he would have loved to stay and observe, ⌈Irregard⌋ had a limited duration. Tyvan followed a pair of distinguished guests insisting on bypassing security on their way to the underground garage.

The intimidation factor of an angry, entitled, woman of grace and maturity was similar to that of his previous world.

And thus, Tyvan led Shay into a familiar stairwell. It was the same stairwell they’d avoided prior.

After a short period, he determined it was reasonably safe. Nonetheless, he again donned his right glove as a mindful precaution.

“You may open your eyes.”

Yan Xue blinked several times, looking around incredulously.

“...How?”

“Magic,” Tyvan explained simply.

She looked through the peering glass in the door--

“But there were so many people? Why didn’t anyone stop us?”

“Does it matter?” Tyvan said, “Come along, Miss Yan. I’d very much like to away, if that’s quite alright.”

“Um. Alright,” she nodded. “Let us away, then.”

She put out her hand shyly.

Hm.

That was slightly frustrating, but Tyvan was reluctant to reject her. He removed his right glove a second time and took hold of her hand.

She shook lightly. Her scent was awash with fear... but he was able to quell his instinctual bloodlust with clear-minded rationale.

“As long as you remain by my side,” he said, “there is no place safer in Archangel.”

“Y-you’ll protect me, Tyvan?” she asked.

“...Yes. That... is exactly what I was trying to imply.”