Is He An Expert or Not?

Lender was facing three men while Raza was facing two. They both had to deal with a duel-wielding swordsman. Lender raised his fists and began to jump in place. His eyes darted between his targets and waited for one of them to make a move.

Raza raised his sword while waiting for a chance to use his gun. If possible, he wanted to avoid wasting his bullets since reloading would be a hassle since he had his sword in one hand. Both of his opponents were wary of his mysterious weapon.

"Oi, Kid! You're a magic user, aren't ya?" Lender called to him.

"And what if I am?" Raza didn't dare take his eyes off of his opponents.

"Just wonderin'. I bet you think magic is everything!" Lender chuckled.

Raza couldn't deny his statement, but he wondered why Lender brought it up. He wanted to say something, but the spearman charged at him. Raza took a step back and deflected the attack upwards. While the spearman was open, Raza raised his pistol and fired at him.

Bang! Bang!

Expecting this, the spearman released his weapon, and moved to the side, effectively dodging the bullets. He reached into his cloak and pulled out a dagger.

"This son of a…" Raza was caught by surprise.

His first reaction would be to abandon his sword and dodge, but his father drilled into him that a swordsman never let go of his sword. At this point in his life, he doubted he could release his sword, even if he wanted to.

But Raza smirked.

The very gloves that Raza was wearing were imbedded with Toughness and Durability. As long as a weapon wasn't enchanted, he could easily block any attack, and Raza didn't sense any magic from the dagger. He lowered his hand, and the blade hit the back of his hand.

"What?" The spearman's eyes widened

When he looked up, he saw something comparable to Death itself. He trained for his entire life to be able to withstand torture, battle, and other kinds of danger, but this wasn't his usual encounter.

"You should have run away," Raza said coldly.

Whoosh!

Raza struck downwards with alarming speed and strength, separating the man into two parts with a clean strike. Blood covered his blade and part of his face as Raza looked up at his next opponent. The dual wielder, too, felt a sense of fear before he regained his senses.

Allura witnessed everything with her two eyes. She smiled in amusement as she watched how merciless Raza was.

'Ahh, I see why he was victorious over the succubi now,' She smiled to herself.

Lender also sensed the sudden disappearance of mana. He briefly looked over his shoulder, intentionally creating an opening. The two spearmen in front of him took advantage of this opening.

"Now!" One of them screamed.

They both charged at him, aiming for his chest. Lender looked back at them and sighed.

"Too slow," He shook his head.

Moving faster than what the eye could follow, Lender chopped the ends of the spears with his hands. He took the blades and forced them into the men's throats before backing up. All of this happened before a single drop of blood fell to the floor.

"Yeah, I'm not as bloodthirsty as the Kid of there. I prefer to stay clean and enjoy my nights with women," Lender smiled at the dual wielder.

Unlike the other swordsman, this man was able to keep his cool. He had seen numerous battles and fought many strong opponents. He drew his swords.

"You are admirable. I am Drew," He introduced himself.

"That's good for you. In this line of work, the fewer people who know my name, the better, so you can call me Lender," Lender smiled.

"A shame. I guess your family won't know how you died or receive your body," Drew sighed.

"Funny. I didn't know people still care about that stuff."

Drew's eyes widened in fear and panic. Lender was walking from behind him, back to the carriage!

'When did he move!? I could have sworn that I kept my eyes on him the entire time! H-how is this possible!?' Drew thought as he watched Lender.

"If I knew you were one of those stuck-up righteous folk, I would have asked where should I send this," Lender smiled as he held up a still-beating heart. "Poor thing, it still doesn't know it's not in a body," Lender chuckled.

Drew looked down at his chest, but he didn't see or feel anything amiss. The only hint that he had was that his body was growing colder and colder.

"W-who… Are… you?" Drew weakly said before collapsing.

Lender tossed the heart to the side and sighed. He shook his head while he went to see how Raza was fairing.

'If we were closer to a city, I could've sold his heart for a small fortune. What a waste,' He complained.

Raza was already crossing blades with the other swordsman. He already introduced himself as Bob. Raza quickly learned that Bob's reaction speed was extremely fast since he dodged multiple bullets at point-blank range. This forced Raza to switch his tactics, which annoyed him.

"You are an admiral warrior, but you are still too weak," Bob chastised him.

"You talk too much," Raza raised his gun.

Bob ducked only for Raza to stab his sword into Bob's foot. Before Bob could full process this, Raza reached into his inventory, switched his gun for a dagger. He slashed his jaw, cutting the tendons and then his elbows and knees. Bob's body collapsed as his jaw hung open. Raza pulled his sword from Bob's foot.

"Bravo! You looked like an expert Kid," Lender clapped his hands.

"It was just common sense to do if I wanted to capture him. If I wanted him dead, then our battle would have ended a lot sooner," Raza said coldly.

He reached into Bob's mouth and searched for something similar to a pill. He eventually found a hollow tooth, so he pulled it out. Bob winced.

"Lender, here," Raza tossed the tooth to him. "That is most likely a poison that he had in case he was captured. Since I found it, he can only die if one of us wants him too," Raza smiled.

Lender glanced up at him and shivered. He was concerned about how intentional and calculated each one of Raza's moves were. He could only sigh at Raza's twisted smile.

"Fine, Kid, but I ain't torturing him. You'll do that on you're own," Lender tossed the tooth to the side.

"Very well."

Raza pulled out a rope and began to tie up Bob, and then he healed his wounds just enough to close his wounds. Other than his jaw, all of his tendons were still cut.

"I won't tell you anything, no matter how much you torture me. I've been trained for this," Bob said almost proudly

"Good. It would be boring if you break too easily," Raza responded.

"You sound awfully confident," Bob smirked.

Raza didn't respond to him. Instead, he just tossed Bob over his shoulder and carried him into the carriage. Lender took the driver's seat and resumed their journey. 

The longer Raza didn't respond to Bob's remark, the more fear settled into his heart. It got to the point where Bob was looking for some sign of uncertainty, but he got the exact opposite. It looked like Raza was actually looking forward to interrogating Bob. Bob wished that he just kept his mouth shut.

"Oh my, you even took a prisoner?" Allura chuckled when she saw Bob.

"For now. Once his use is up, I will kill him," Raza took a rag and wipped his face and hands.

"I see you're as cold as ever, Raza. Are you capable of feeling any other feelings?" Allura tilted her head.

"I experience plenty. I feel love for my family."

Allura was waiting for more information, but Raza didn't continue. She was disappointed but equally not surprise by this interaction. When the carriage began moving, Lender called to them.

"Listen up! We will have to travel a bit longer today in order to make up for the lost time from fighting those Single Order idiots!"

"We're not idiots!" Bob angrily said. "We move under the authority of a high…. Oof!"

"Shut up. You are only allowed to speak when spoken to," Raza kicked his side.

Allura giggled at this. She was glad that Raza was traveling with her on this trip. There never was a boring moment with him, despite his cold and distant personality. She was also curious about the information that Raza could potentially extract from Bob since his organization was a common enemy for both of their kingdoms. 

"Raza, why are you so calm after taking lives… How are you so calm?" Allura frowned.

"It's simple. They don't matter to me. The people I kill are nobodies that should have kept to themselves," He answered.

"How interesting. Is that a god-complex, arrogance, or just psychopathic tendencies… Perhaps it's all of them," Allura giggled. "I wonder how you will continue to grow Raza. Will you be able to stay on this path, or venture to a new one?"

Raza ignored her question. He crossed his arms and waited for their ride to stop.