- LORIAN, are you hurt?! Are you injured?!

Loki burst into Lorian's room without permission. Instead of seeing his buddy injured, he seemed fine and was looking at him strangely.

A row of high pitched laughter resounded from the first floor. Loki's face turned beet red and yelled, embarrassed.

- Damn Bobby, I'll cut your cheap tongue!

Lorian also laughed hollowly. He was feeling happy in his heart that his friend cared about him, but didn't show it on himself.

- Damn bro, you're getting bolder and bolder every day, what if I was in the middle of...?

- Bah, aren't you boasting? Besides...

Loki lowered his tone and continued.

- Don't ever bring a woman here, ever! Last time someone did, these cheap guys made fun of him to death.

Lorian speechlessly nodded.

- Let's go down, you must be hungry.

- Yeah, I'm starving.

Loki said with a pitiful face, but by the time he went downstairs, his expression turned fierce and yelled.

- You bunch of good for nothings! Happy seeing this old man flustered?

- Not at all.

- What are you talking about?

The crowd feigned ignorance.

Loki's face twitched but didn't continue bickering.

The duo sat down and ordered some mushroom soup, roasted bunny, and milk. Lorian told him what happened and reassured that he was fine. Hearing the full story, Loki heaved a sigh of relief.

- You were too hasty. Why did you do that? Don't you want to live anymore?

Loki grumbled. Lorian just smiled and didn't elaborate.

In the middle of dinner, Loki reminded.

- Don't stuff yourself full, we've still got to spar.

- Cough, cough...

- Are you alright? Here, milk.

Lorian choked on the bunny. His coughing fit barely stopped when he drank half a cup of milk in big gulps.

Lorian looked at Loki's concerned expression with his brow twitching.

- Alright then, I'm full.

- Oh, you don't want these? I'll help you with that...

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Loki shamelessly stole his portion. Lorian just sighed. He really wouldn't be able to perform in peak condition if he ate too much, but Loki didn't care. Probably he was thinking he could beat him with hands down, which was probably true.

When the duo left the inn, it was still midday.

- The day's still young. It's quite sometime before night...How about we go to the circus? You haven't seen a monster yet, have you? What's more a tamed monster.

Loki asked with a grin. Lorian was surprised.

- How does one tame a monster?

Loki gave a mysterious smile. Lorian waited for an answer in anticipation. In the end, Loki shrugged.

- Heck if I know...

Lorian sighed helplessly.

- Let's take a look then.

- Yeah, let's go.

Lorian was filled with anticipation. Not to mention a monster, he hadn't even visited a zoo and seen elephants and lions in person, back on earth. To see some horrible monsters live would probably give him some experience. After all, he was bound to meet a lot of monsters after he powered himself up sufficiently.

Lorian followed Loki. After about an hour of walk, the duo appeared in the crowd. The crowd was facing the platform, where performance was going on in the open air.

- Oh, it's started.

Loki muttered under his breath.

- I can't see.

Lorian grumbled as he craned his neck, but the only thing he saw was shiny bald head of someone.

- Follow me.

Loki grabbed his hands and before he knew it, the duo was halfway into the crowd, much closer than before.

Lorian was hit by several elbows and bumped into many along the way. He was about to scold Loki when he realized how far they've come.

- How did you do that?

Lorian stared at his buddy incredulously.

- Just small little tricks, watch the show.

Lorian was instantly hooked as he watched the host play. The host was courageously standing on six-legged, flat-bodied alligator and chased 3 meters tall rolling furry ball.

The crowd was amused. The host was using otherwise frightening beasts as a tool for amusement. This was certainly a talent.

- Daddy, I want that fuzzy ball...

The little boy on middle-aged man's back exclaimed longingly.

- Haha, little brat that's not a pet. It's a monster.

Dad laughed hollowly.

- But it's so cute, I want one!

The little boy insisted with disappointment.

- Loki, isn't it dangerous to perform like that? What about safety measures? What if beasts go crazy?

Loki patted his back and answered disdainfully.

- Don't be a pussy. You know we live in the world where things much more dangerous than that are everywhere right? Besides, he's got it, don't worry. Look, there are at least 10 armored guys standing below the stage. What do you think they are doing? They are at least 1-star warriors. Sigh, I bet it's a mission from barracks. They're going to make some easy money.

Lorian was still feeling conflicted but continued watching the show along with many others.

But somehow, he was feeling uncomfortable.

'It's alright, nothing's going to happen. I'm probably feeling suffocated in here.'

Lorian reassured himself, but his heart was telling him otherwise.

The show continued. There were several other monsters included in the show. The host was handling them excellently. Before they knew it, it was time for the last performance of the day.

- See, the main show's starting.

Loki seemed excited like a little kid. Lorian shook his head.

20 bulky men dragged out 20 huge cages.

The host, thin middle-aged man with a funny mustache spread his hands and yelled

- For those who are afraid can still leave now. In today's last show, I'll be handling 20 ferocious beasts at the same time, right here, right now, on stage!

The crowd, pampered by seeing countless monsters being played around by host were still instinctively afraid, but none of them left, as they started having faith in this miraculous beast tamer.

Loud applauds reverberated across the air.

- Release the beasts.

The host yelled triumphantly after basking in glory and admiration under applauding of the crowd.

- Roar!

- Grrrr!

- Screee!

20 beasts of different species, shapes and sizes slowly walked out of the open cages. The atmosphere was tense, but the host looked as confident as ever.

Just then, the air whistled from god knows where and before anyone could react...

* Plop

The host fell backward on the stage with an arrow lodged between his eyebrows. Blood and brain matter slowly oozed out from his head. His eyes were wide open with disbelief.

Unfortunately, nobody had time to care for the poor host, as...

- ROOOAR!!!

- GRRRR!!!

- SCREEEE!

- CAW!

The beasts started going berserk...