Chapter 23: First Blood

Dya and I left for the Census Office, which was less than half an hour by foot. We took the road that lead us through a agrarian floodplain.

It appeared that the inhabitants made good use of the volcanic ash in the soil, as the wheat and barley grew tall and shiny.

I was spacing out while gazing upon the golden hue that the grains reflected on it's surroundings.

Although that could just be the medication.

In order to break the silence, Dya asked me more about my life before I was send here.

I tried to give her a short summary about how I had been wheelchair bound until I was fourteen. And that I had been struggling for years to learn how to ride a normal bike.

She was amazed by this, telling me that I have a lot of perseverance. A trait that she and many others greatly admire.

I looked away, trying to figure out how to explain what it feels like to be the only one in a town who is different. And that it did not matter how hard I tried to be normal, I would never be so.

Even if I did everthing the same way like everybody else. Unable to formulate a decent response, I held her hand and queezed it softly.

Dya smiled and wrapped her arm around my waist.

''You are not disabled here, though.

How do you think that happened then?''

That question went straight to the core of my being.

The residue of the painkillers in my blood made it hard to think, and I haven't even considdered this. I jumped into the air and looked how high I could jump.

It was the same as normally, so it had nothing to do with the gravity of this planet. I figured that this planet must have the same amount of mass as the Earth has.

''Have you considered that you.. never were a disable person, Heiro?''

I looked at Dya in confusion. She looked really sincere in her body language. I rubbed my temples softly, pushing my brain to it's limits in order to think.

''It is not outside of the realm of possibilities. But that would mean that my entire life on Earth is a lie, Dya.''

Dya kissed me on the cheek and said:

''Well, you are with us now. And the Earth is not this place. You are on Averoneia now and we do not consider you to be lacking in any way.''

I smiled at her, feeling touched by her kindness. My nose pressed softly against her nose, and I closed my eyes.

Our romantic moment of privacy was sharply interrupted by a screechlike laughter.

''Sjihahahaha, what a cute sight.

Too bad that I am not going to allow it to continue for much longer, sjihahaha!''

We looked at each other, and then at the man before us.

Well.. he was not a man.

He was clearly a tall and slender boy, with a piglike nose and a sloped forehead. He has cyan coloured eyes with the same intensity like Dender has, a Carapace.

The smell eminating from the boy was that of fish. It must be the heat that was causing the smell.

I started to grit my teeth. I never liked the smell of fish or seafood. And this boy smelled like someone had dumped a pile of fishguts in a pig pen.

He made his way over to the two of us, in his hands he held a pair of papers; our wanted posters.

''Well, well, it appears that I will be going home rich tonight!

Two landrats with a combined bounty of 7.225 korees, Lord Dender will be most pleased.''

Hearing Dender's name made my blood boil. I guarded Dya with my body, who seemed to keep her head cooler than I did.

''Over my dead body, you stinking prawn.''

The boy looked at me like I had said the most horrible thing in the world. And his cyan eyes were almost glowing at this point.

''Yes, I will not be able to collect my bounty while you are still alive.''

He drew a folding knife out of his pocket.

I placed my left foot in front of my body and turned my entire left flank toward the boy.

He looked at me in amazement and started to laugh.

''Are you really serious, Kid. Just give up, you cannot bring fists to a knife fight!''

He charged toward me with his knife in front of him.

I allowed my instincts to take over; my brain was not much of use at this point anyways.

When he almost struck me, I turned away from him like a matador would have with an angry bull.

The fishy boy did not have a good balance. He had anticipated that I would have been long dead by now.

He turned his head toward me, only to be greeted by my hands grabbing his wrist and elbow. I turned around my axis, pushing him toward the ground in a fluid motion.

He could not respond to this in time and fell on his face on the ground. My body was now on top of his right arm, rendering him unable to wield his knife against me.

Feeling confident that the prawnboy was now properly subdued, I wrapped my right arm around his neck and squeezed as hard as I could.

My left leg was now holding his knife wielding arm in place. My left hand now pressed against my wrist, tightening the grip on his neck.

The now helpless Carapace started to flail wildly with his free arm and legs. I did not let go and squeezed his neck even harder while yelling in his ear!

''Just stop it already, you fishhead!

You are defeated, you lost!!''

The lobsterboy now stopped struggling.

''I.. I lost? I am defeated??''

His knife fell on the floor and his body became limb. The cyan in his eyes lost all signs of life; Lobsterboy had died on the spot!

I let out a loud scream. Dya came over to me in order to calm me down.

''Heiro, you did nothing wrong; this is just how Carapace biology works.

When they are defeated in combat, their brain starts to deteriorate with neckbreak speed.

We don't know how this works, but it seems to be a core mechanic. Because the Carapaces have found many solutions for their weaknesses, except for this one!''

I looked at her with surprise in utter silence.

With the level of adrenaline now slowly dropping I sank to the ground. Dya pulled me in a warm, loving hug.

She rested her head on my shoulder and stroked my arm softly.

''Not bad for a disabled person, Heiro. How did you learn how to fight like that?

I have not seen anyone move like that for a long time.''

With my eyes closed I told her that as a child, I fell on my head. And now I have a dent in my skull. I placed Dya's fingers on the right side of my forehead.

Mom was very worried; she wanted to prevent me from ever falling on my head again.

So she had me trained in the martial art called the Way of Softness. It is a defensive technique in which you use the strengh of the opponent against the enemy.

Although I mostly focussed on falling down and getting up again; I did had seven years of martial art training under my belt, literally.

Dya was now almost sitting on my lap, and she came close to my ear:

''That explains why you can fight, but it does not explain how you learned to fight LIKE THAT.''

I realized what she meant and I gave her the answer that I owed her:

''I have an older brother. This shrimp is nothing compared to a beast like him.''

I groaned and looked away.

Dya was not having it and gently turned my face toward hers by cupping my cheek.

''Troublesome siblings..

That is something we have in common, I guess. Although your older brother sounds like a complete cock, he prepared you well for this fishbrain here.''

She kissed me on the cheek and rubbed my face against hers tenderly.

I felt really grateful that I had a good shave today.