14 A qualified poet

"What kind of bet!?" – Britney was glaring at Evan.

She couldn't comprehend how a countryside bumpkin with no cultivation, a person who spent a whole day reading books for children up to six years, was having so much confidence in himself. The fact that he was able to dodge the guard's attacks ten times straight was somewhat suspicious and one might even think of it as a heavenly luck has taken place, since most of the time he didn't even look at Matt's movements.

"To see who is the unlearned one here!?" – Evan looked deadly serious, and even a hint of offence was showing on his face.

Evan was planning to make some fun of the girl, since he found her interesting. Not only she didn't behave as your average bookworm girl would, while being shy and all, she even had the heaven defying "two little sisters". The fact that she tried to apologise in the first place showed how innocent she was, and Evan didn't doubt for a second that the girl was a twenty-ish years old virgin, since alpha has already told him the information.

[A cliché situation where a cheater deals with an arrogant character is exactly what I need to set up] – meeting such an interesting person, Evan thought it would worth to befriend her.

"Ridiculous!!! Even a blind person would see that you are speaking nonsense and what can I get from such a beggar when I win the bet!?" – Britney felt even more stupefied, the person in front of her obviously was a person of lowly birth, but the confidence he radiated even when faced with people like herself and her grandfather, wasn't shining even one less bit.

"Do you like poems!?" – Evan asked with cunningness in his voice.

"What would a countryside bumpkin know, I am a poet myself!" – poems were Britney's one of the favourite subjects. She was called a genius poet of the young generation and it was something that Britney was taking pride in.

Evan didn't mention poems as a random subject since he saw her reading a half-meter thick book of poems in the morning. With Evan's knowledge from previous world and alpha on his side, he could just randomly recite any number of the most famous poems that had conquered the hearts of billions of people through out the ages.

"What a coincidence, I am a very qualified poet as well, we can compare our poems!?" – Evan grinned from one ear to another.

"Shameless, how can such an unrefined muscle head be a poet!? There are millions of losers with a lack of talent, who think they can create poems, but actually are nothing more than jokes in my sight, for I am Britney Rotherford, from the Rotherford family" – Britney didn't even consider what Evan said seriously, since she was absolutely sure that no such muscular ugly looking guy without manners and scholarly aura around him would be a poet worthy of being called such.

"Actions are always better than words. Hmhm…" – Evan cleared his throat, He finally knew the background of the girl. The Rotherford family were the epitome of literature, in every generation the family produced more and more renowed writers and poets that would create amazing pieces of literature. Evan undrestood that he could not do it halfhearted, so asked for alpha's help. Evan changed his cheeky expression to a sensual one and with a sweat voice started to recite the poem.

"I can't say "How" and "Why"

I love you now, and, until I die.

….

"

Evan's voice was too sweat, his expression showed how deeply in love ge was, the words were so resonating with the very soul that Britney's very monster core was shaken.

"What a beautiful poem, It's on the same level as grandfather's poems!?" – Britney was so overtaken, that she forgot that the reciting person was still the guy that she only a moment ago called an unlearned countryside bumpkin.

"…

For I must love, because I live The live itself is what it gives."

*******************************************

Evan finished his recitation of the poem, his hands were at his chest as if trying to embrace his heart, his head was down, from time to time looking at Britney with a corner of an eye to see her reaction.

[Alpha, how was my performance!?] – Evan said in his mind.

{Calculating the similarity of the action to the simulated performance. Analyses completed. 76/100 points}

[What an actor I am, it was a perfect show, let me see how you are going to play to get hard now, Alpha…muwahahahah]

{Calculating influence over Britney Rotherford's . Analyses completed. 4/10 points}

"So, Miss Britney I suppose...by the way, my name is Evan... what do you think about my poem!?" – Evan said, seeing her expression that showed how thoroughly she was immersed into the thoughts about the poem.

"Aahh, what…you…how can it be you…I don't believe it…you definitively cheated…I....I won't accept it!" – Britney just came back to her senses. She was completely dumbfounded, and the obvious reaction of denial followed immediately after. The performance Evan just did was amazing, but the actor's looks didn't match the style or the words, which downgraded the performance. Everyone would get an image of a performer in their head when they enjoyed the show, and very ofter when the image didn't match the reality a large portion of the pleasure would disappear. Britney understood how good the poem was, and hence couldn't match it up with Evan.

"Come on miss, it's a pleasure to meet you too, don't worry beauty, I believe you have the means to find out if I really cheated with the poem or not, and we still haven't started the bet, hence no terms were stated yet!" – Evan replied smiling.

"I…I…can't…" – while she was searching for words to reply, Evan interjected.

"My actions proved themselves. Since the reason for the disagreement between us was to see if I am unlearned or not, the best solution to check is literature. We can challenge each other on the topic of poems, I can give you 3 days to prepare." – Evan said still smiling, if one looked carefully into his eyes, they would notice a slight mischievousness.

"I…I agree, but when you lose, you will tell me who is the author of the poem is and give me all of the other poems of the grandmaster you have!" – Britney still didn't doubt that Evan didn't have anything to do with such a touching poem but couldn't be not curious about an author who could write such a touching poem about love.

"The poem's value are beyond of your immagination, but still I do agree. Do not judge people by what their looks. Do not underestimate anyone, these are the universal sayings that anyone under skies know about but only a handful use!" – Evan was shaking his head when he said it. It looked like he was disappointed with Britney actions, while he himself behaved like a person who gained wisdom of the world.

"Stop the bullshit. It is something you should say for yourself, do not underestimate the eyes of a professional poet!" – Britney got frustrated because Evan was trying to look like a sage. She could tell with a single glance that he was at most a beginner in poetry.

When one reached a certain level of mastery in poetry, the way they speak or even move would change and they would radiate a certain grace that learned people could immediately recognise.

"Do not participate in a war in which you can't win, therefore I will stop arguing. If I win, miss Britney, you will just wear the clothes that I will prepare for you, and great me with a waist bow, as if I were your Master!" – Evan said with smile on his face.

The conditions were quite absurd for Britney. However, since she never doubted even for a second that she would definitively win, she accepted the conditions. Britney knew by name all of the grandmaster poets that lived on the devil continent for the last thousand years and she never heard any poem similar to the one Evan just recited. She was sure, that Evan found some ancient poet's creation and therefore couldn't wait to read his great works.

"If that is all you want, Deal. No going back now, mister Evan! I will be getting an ancient poetry book, what a luck! Do not say I am bulling you to take the grandmaster's book from you. You were the one who suggested it first." – For the first time Britney started to smile, it was almost like she didn't hear the words Evan said about the clothes.

"Don't worry miss Britney, this young hero never tells lies. Then I will trouble you to prepare for the contest in 3 days, and keep the conditions a secret. Since we don't want your scary grandpa to come after my life again!" – Evan was smiling, his set up worked perfectly, and everything was according to his plan.