Chapter 31- Small Skirmish at Corona
"Are you really thinking of attacking us for no reason? We keep telling you that we have nothing to do with that other boy." Nerun said a bit franticly as he looked at the other people around, however, no one raised their voice to even help them. Nerun turned to look at Sylvester, and they both made a quick decision on what steps to take. It was all or nothing to escape.
As the two guards were about to reach Nerun and Silvester, Sylvester grabbed the outstretched forearm of the guard coming towards him. The guard was surprised that Silvester was able to grab his arm and sneered at the boy's attempt, but before he could react, he realised that Sylvester's strength was even greater than his own. That is to say, this fat-ragged boy in front of him was a Qi Master with great physical strength.
Sylvester, without hesitation, put both his hands on the guard and threw him hard towards the other enemy who was about to reach Nerun.
- CRASH!
The two guards went down with a thud. Nerun, as if he knew what was going to happen from the start, took the opportunity to run in the opposite direction to the leader of the guards, who was a Praetorian. The guards holding the periphery of the two boys' position were surprised, but quickly closed ranks to prevent the children from escaping. The guard Nerun was approaching, a Qi Master, stopped underestimating them and threw a kick towards Nerun's face to incapacitate him and do great damage. Just as Nerun was about to be hit, he disappeared and quickly appeared a yard ahead, in front of his attacker's pelvis. <Flash Walk>.
Nerun immediately threw a blow towards the guard's crotch, who doubled over in pain and fell to the ground on the verge of vomiting. Nerun took the opportunity to run off towards the avenue, in the direction of the city's main square.
"Damn brat, you dare to attack us. Catch them and cut off their legs so they can't run away." Said the leader of the guards. The others all quickly rushed at Nerun and Silvester, shocked that two punks had been able to incapacitate three of their comrades in a matter of moments. The young thief they had chased earlier was also quite skilled. Perhaps, the thief did have something to do with these two brats, for it is not normal for beggars to be so strong, some of them thought.
Sylvester and Nerun ran at full speed through the crowd, but Silvester's speed left much to be desired and he was about to be overtaken by one of the more agile guards of the group. Nerun, who was running alongside Sylvester, suddenly used <Flash Walk> again and jumped several metres towards a nearby stand and, activating the auxiliary meridians of his two legs, bounced backwards at maximum speed. The guard who had his eyes fixed on Sylvester, didn't notice Nerun until he was already on top of him and Nerun used the speed of the rebound to hit the guard hard in the solar plexus and taking advantage of the recoil, creating enough of a distance between himself and the rest of his pursuers.
Sylvester took the opportunity to lift a head-sized boulder, weighing several kilos, out of the way. Using all his strength, a whitish snake of Qi circulated around his arm and he threw it forcefully towards one of the pursuers. The latter used his Qi-imbued weapon to defend himself and avoid injury, however, this stopped him in his tracks for a moment. Nerun and Sylvester managed to continue their escape and with their speed, they were now only a few kilometres away from the main square, where in the large crowd of people, they thought about losing the guards. They had not entered the alleys and back streets, because they did not know the city and it would have been easier to get lost and be cornered by their chasers.
The rest of the Guardsmen chasing the boys were getting more and more shocked, but at the same time, they were getting madder and madder. Not only had they let slip the thief who had taken the important item that the Gang Leader had obtained, but another pair of brats were playing with them and in fact had already injured 4 brothers, all of them Qi masters. If the other Border Mercenary Gangs found out about this, they would soon become the laughingstock of the city. One of the guards took several knives from his waistcoat and began to throw them with force and great aim at Nerun and Silvester.
Nerun had activated his ocular meridian from the beginning, and while he could not see behind his back, the circulating mana in his mental palace allowed him to sense the fluctuations of the natural world, something that becomes an advantage of all Adepts and Mana users. So Nerun sensing the breeze at his back knew that something had been thrown at them at high speed, and leapt towards Sylvester, pushing him out of the way, thus managing to dodge the knives. This move, however, caused them to lose the distance advantage they had previously gained.
The leader of the guards took advantage of this moment to jump several metres ahead and landed in front of Nerun and Silvester, blocking their way. Nerun was about to use his Secret Eye Technique when he suddenly saw a figure heading towards them at top speed. Calming down, he helped Sylvester to his feet and they stood back to back to avoid being attacked by surprise.
It didn't take but seconds for the rest of the guards to arrive and surround the two boys, and the leader was about to take action himself. While it might look bad for a Praetorian to bully two young boys, face was not as important as making sure to capture them and give the gang leader a proper justification for their previous failure. He had not had time to act, however, when a figure leapt over him at high speed and landed right in front of the children. It was a tall, fearless young man with wild, lion-like long hair and a simple dress that did not detract from his brave appearance. This was Elijah, who was originally hanging around the main square, talking to different people in order to accomplish his assignment. However, when he heard the commotion on the main road, approaching the square, he immediately went to see what was going on, and to his surprise, he saw that the children were being chased by the guards. Before splitting up, he had told Nerun and Silvester that if they had any trouble they should flee in the direction of the Main Square not only to escape their adversaries but because he was in the vicinity and could act accordingly.
The leader of the guards became angry when he realised that there was another obstacle in his way, and without asking any questions he built up energy in his arm, surrounded himself with three dirty whitish snakes of Qi and attacked Elijah with force, trying to kill the chicken to scare the monkey and thus prevent other people from getting close to meddling in his business. He simply thought that Elijah was a hot-blooded young man, who wanted to prevent the two brats from being hurt. They had to sort it all out quickly or the City Army would soon react and could get them into trouble. While they had contacts in the Army and could bend the rules in their favour to some extent, they couldn't hide the sun with one hand either. Before, they had the excuse of chasing a thief, but currently, they had no evidence against Nerun and Sylvester. If they had caught the boys quickly, it is possible that the whole thing could have been swept under the rug, but now, there were many witnesses who had seen that the boys were only defending themselves. If the matter continued to escalate, they would be in serious trouble.
Elijah was a little surprised at the bluntness of the guard's attack, especially since he didn't speak, didn't ask, but just attacked. Elijah, having previously been to the Frontier, knew the rules of Ansem's border towns and immediately understood that the guards were likely to have some contact with either the Army or the City's administration, to be so bold as to attack without question. So he had even less reason to get caught by these guards, or else there would be no way they could seek justice for them. The law of the Jungle still seems to be the most important, even in the Kingdom of Ansem.
However, Elijah had no fear of the guard's attack. Quickly, in less than the blink of an eye, he assumed a fighting stance and attacked directly with his right hand. Three whitish serpents, almost pure in colour, could also be seen circling his arm.
- BAM!
Both fists slammed into each other, creating a small explosion of air. Elijah backed up just a step, while the guard had to retreat at least 10 feet to diffuse the force of the attack. The other guards stopped, not knowing what to think. The leader's pupils shrank to the size of a pin. He realised at that moment that the young man in front of him was at no disadvantage whatsoever, on the contrary, he was also a Praetorian, and even stronger than himself. He was cursing his luck at encountering stumble after stumble, and trying to calm himself at last he spoke as he clasped his hands in an insincere salute.
"Young man, I am very sorry for the misunderstanding and for attacking you without a preamble. I got a bit carried away, we were following this pair of thieves, who have taken something important from our leader Sagat, the Tiger of the Prairie. I ask you to please not meddle in this matter that does not concern you, and I promise you that our Band of Mercenaries, The Violent Tigers, will compensate you in a satisfactory manner". Said the leader. While he was trying to convince Elijah not to defend the children and toning it down a bit, there was a clearly veiled threat with the mention of the Gang's leader, a well-known Qi General. He was clearly warning Elijah that if he continued to mess with them, there would be dangerous consequences against him.
However, Elijah ignored the leader of the guards and did not even bother to acknowledge him in return. At the guard's hypocritical salute, he didn't want to waste his breath on him. Turning to look at Nerun and Sylvester he asked with concern in his eyes, "Are you all right? Have they done anything to you? Don't worry, with me here nothing bad will happen to you."
The leader of the guards became extremely angry at being ignored by Elijah and said in a much more threatening tone, "I have to assume then, that you are willing to stand against the Violent Tigers. Are you sure of the decision you are making? It would be a shame for such a young Praetorian, with your talent, to lose his life over a minor issue like the lives of two thieving brats."
"Who do you keep calling thieves, you bloody liar? We have told you repeatedly that we have nothing to do with that little thief. It is not our fault that you are so inept as to be unable to capture him," said Nerun, who had already lost patience with these mercenaries who were only looking for a quarrel with them.
Elijah half understood what was happening and as he was about to answer, he noticed a group of City Army soldiers approaching.
The Captain of the soldiers was a middle-aged man, tall, slim and handsome, with fearless eyes. He was just a Praetorian, but even so, not even a General or Qi Monarch would dare lay a hand on him for no reason. This is because the armour he wore was the black-and-blue armour of the great Army of Ansem. A stylised suit of armour, made of precious metal, it encased the entire breastplate and back of the soldier, extending to his arms and accompanied by greaves of the same colour. Emblazoned on the chest was the coat of arms of the Royal House of Ansem, a Crowned Eagle resting on the back of a Majestic Lion. The armour itself was a level 3 artefact, but it was not the defence of the armour that mattered. It was what it symbolised, the strength and majesty of Ansem's military might, which allowed no blasphemy against it. To wear it was to be a part of this honour, and the goal of all soldiers is to increase the honour of the Ansem Army and thus of the Kingdom. For this reason, the dream of many young men in the Kingdom was to join the army. The Army was a symbol of the Kingdom itself since its inception.
"Can someone explain to me what has happened here? I hope you don't think the laws of Ansem are something you can just flippantly disobey. Jackal, do you have anything to say for yourself?" asked the captain, addressing the leader of the mercenaries who were chasing Nerun.