The man encased in black armor was easily eight feet tall, and while Eon was confident in his combat abilities in the tutorial, he had little concept of the strength of combatants in this world. Eon immediately ran toward the other end of the alley without hesitation. Whatever the man's intentions, they obviously weren't good.

As Eon reached the other end of the alley, a man with feathers covering his skin blocked this way as well. Eon tried to push past him, but to his surprise, this rather scrawny-looking bird man was considerably stronger than he looked. While Eon was still stronger than this bird man, Eon was not able to fully suppress him quickly.

The armored man was quickly charging down the alley and would be here in just a few seconds. Eon tried to use his agility to escape through the birdman's arms, as while he might be able to beat the bird man he wasn't confident that he could do so before the large man reached them.

The birdman quickly struck down with a glowing blue baton, Eon tried to dodge away but he was in an awkward position and couldn't avoid a glancing blow. When the baton struck Eon's arm, a flash of azure light spread across Eon's skin.

Eon’s arm was immediately disabled, and his torso was also affected to a lesser degree, reducing the agility he was so proud of. Eon let off a slight grunt of annoyance as he used his paralyzed shoulder to tackle the off-balance birdman into the wall of the alley, causing the stone brick wall to slightly cave under the force. The birdman let out a cry of surprise and pain, but by the time he got up, Eon had already gotten past him.

The street Eon emerged on was empty, and he wasted no time, immediately trying to run. The armored man rushed out of the alley and pointed his halberd at Eon. The metallic tip of the halberd lit up and it let off a ball of blue light, the same color of light as the baton that disabled Eon's arm.

The blue light was dozens of times faster than Eon, and when Eon tried to dodge, the light curved midair and hit Eon's leg. While the effect was weaker than being hit by the baton directly, it still weakened Eon's leg, making him tumble several yards forward and causing many cuts and bruises. This tumble also tore Eon's already scarce clothes back into rags, once again leaving him naked.

Eon cursed under his breath and leaped into the nearby alleyway, trying to dodge the ranged attack that was probably going to come for him again soon, while simultaneously wanting to set up an ambush for his pursuers. Eon had a rough judgment of their strength now and he felt that if the ambush went well he could take on the two of them even with his current state being what it is. Unfortunately for Eon, as soon as he ducked into the alleyway, a blue baton struck him on the head, knocking him out cold.

The birdman and armored man rushed over to where Eon was knocked out. Standing above and cuffing him was a woman with pale skin and red reptile eyes, making her look similar to a vampire, the only thing she was missing to complete the look was the fangs.

The woman laughed at the two men huffing with exertion. While they were strong, they lacked stamina thanks to the cushy nature of their jobs as crimes were quite rare throughout the city, thanks to the magical protections in place. Still chuckling she said, "It seems that you two are getting rusty, you almost let him get away."

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"Yeah yeah, I already know that Celine. The bastard had some spunk, I'll give him that. I think he broke a rib," said the birdman, punctuating the last sentence with a stomp to Eon's chest.

With a frown, the man in the black armor said, "Hey, knock it off, you know better than to harm an incapacitated prisoner." The armored man's name was Grant.

The birdman only scoffed at this, but nonetheless, he backed off. The birdman's name was Vander.

Celine took another look at Eon's limp body on the street and asked "Does either of you have anything to cover him up? I'd rather not take him back to the guardhouse naked, and I am certainly not going to be the one holding him while he is in his birthday suit."

Grant sighed and pulled a silver blanket out of his satchel, wrapping it snugly around Eon, carefully avoiding any areas that would get him teased by his fellow guard. "There, good enough. Let's go now. We still have to interrogate him later, since we are the ones who brought him in."

With a light grunt, Grant slung Eon over his shoulder and began to walk back to the guardhouse. The other two followed him, making small talk along the way. By the time they arrived, the moon was at its highest point in the sky.

In the guard house were a reception, barracks, and armory. Underneath, in the basement, was a row of cells, currently all empty. That was until Eon was carelessly tossed into the closest cell and tied to the bed. It was at this point he was force-fed some medicine from a vial by Grant, and the other 2 came down the steps with some chairs.

"I still don't get how he was able to hurt you, I mean just look at him, his bloodline is pathetic! He can't be all that strong." Celine commented as she sat down.

Vander scoffed once again, and with a slight grimace pouted, "I keep telling you, this guy is stronger and faster than his aura lets off, and his agility is pretty bizarre. I haven't seen anything like it before, especially from someone who hasn't unsealed their meridians. Maybe you'll see soon."

Grant said "Guys, enough chit-chat, I will wake the prisoner, and he doesn't need to hear this. Let's just get this over with and call it a night, personally I want to go home soon."

Grant pulled out a pinch of yellow powder from a container in his satchel and held it up to Eon's nose. Eon breathed the powder in and began coughing and spasming violently, and it looked like he was having a seizure. This apparently was normal as none of the three guards showed any signs of reacting. Grant merely took a seat and waited a few seconds for the symptoms of the powder to wear off.

Eon was wide awake now. The experience of the powder was quite unpleasant, so the first thing he did upon awakening was to curse like a sailor. All the isolation Eon had experienced had largely stripped him of any social graces he once had, so he had forgotten how to hold his thoughts back. The three guards glanced at each other before looking back at Eon.

Celine spoke up first: "Anyh? Felaane? Beli con sa dema orileda beng hoi neh?"

After a moment of silence, Eon sighed before speaking grumpily "I don't know your language, so… yeah, I don't know what to do about that. The ball is in your court."

The three guards looked at each other again. Vander stood up and walked into the armory. He grabbed what appeared to be a helmet with several slowly pulsating tentacles layered on the inside like padding, before returning to the cell and placing the device on Eon's head.

Eon did not resist, if these people wanted to harm him they could have already done so easily while he was still unconscious. This place seemed like a jail, so if he acted well he was hopeful he might be let go.

After spending a moment adjusting it, Vander let the helmet do its work. The tentacles in the helmet pierced Eon's skull and brain, digging into the language center of the brain and reorganizing it. Eon could only feel a severe migraine, as the helmet blocked any pain from reaching his brain. Eon held fast and hoped that this would be over soon.

Finally, the helmet finished its work, pulling the tissues back into their original state, leaving only a long, thin scab behind Eon's ear. The migraine disappeared, and after a moment of disorientation, he felt back to normal. Eon subconsciously asked, "What was that?"