The Protector

It has been a week since I got back home. And today, Summer Class had just ended.

"Sighs.", and I literally sighed after saying that.

Now I can focus on practicing the flow of my L.E. since I couldn't bring Nephos with me at school. When a person owns a Sphynx, the person becomes popular and I don't want a bit of attention thus I don't bring Nephos with me.

As I walked down the street enjoying the sunlight and the fresh air, I saw an owner riding his Sphynx. It felt good. I can clearly see L.E. flowing between the owner and its Sphynx. I can also determine which class or category that Sphynx belongs to. Everything has changed since I came out from the mountain. Even my body feels lighter and I can move faster.

"Santius!", a man from afar yelled and ran fast towards my direction. It's Kion.

"Can you call me without shouting my name? It's embarrassing, man. what if someone hears it?" I said annoyingly.

"Whooo...hoooo..." Kion stopped and raised his hand as a signal for me to stop walking.

He was catching his breath. He looked at me and a wide smile greeted.

"You've got the highest score in our exam!" Kion shouted again but right into my face. He held my test paper and wave it in the air.

My hair covered my face as I looked down. I closed my eyes and clenched my fist. I opened my eyes slowly, looked at him fiercely, and said, "Will you keep your mouth shut? Or else I will be the one to shut it off."

Kion has trembled. He was sweating as he held his hands with his palms facing towards me. "Whohuhuh, scary, don't be like that Santius. I'm so sorry.", Kion asked for an apology and faked a smile while it's obvious that he was still nervous.

I immediately got my test paper from Kion's hand and continued walking ahead.

"I knew that I'm gonna be the Top 1 of our exam. I am not surprised." I said calmly without looking back.

"He is AWESOME.", Kion's eyes are twinkling as he watching Santius with awe." But still, a cold-blooded ash head boy.", Kion smirked.

"What did you say?" I quickly turned my head to him looking irritated.

"Fufufu, nothing Santius. Nothing.", Kion immediately replied.

We continued heading home. Kion also lived in Macsprine but he was born in Luzia. Luzia is the Capital City of Feldrinia, where the biggest buildings in the country are found. It has very progressive since the war is over.

We were almost home and were about to separate ways because Kion's house is in Street 22, and I live in street 28. When suddenly,

#CRAAASSSSHHHHHHH!

A loud sound of a car crashing somewhere was heard from nearby. Kion and I immediately rushed off to find it. We ran fast and found two men in the area. We were at the front of an abandoned building where a black was crashed.

"Give me all your money or your family will suffer. I already told you already that you can't escape from me.", a bald guy with very thick eyebrows and a dark complexion was grabbing an old man's collar by his right hand. The assumingly bad guy has a heavily built body and was wearing a white sleeveless tank paired with black shorts. 

"Ahhh... ahh. Yes I will give everything I have but keep my family off this.", the old man begged. He was injured. Blood flows down his face from a wound on his forehead. The old man near his 60's, he has a pointed nose, white short hair, and wrinkles around his round eyes. He was wearing a white shirt underneath a formal black suit and a black tie.

"Santius! We should help the old man.", Kion whispered as we hid behind the street light pole while watching the scene.

"Haha. I am not that kind of a person. If you want to help him, go ahead. But be sure to use your head, you should call the police first.", I replied seemingly uninterested to Kion and walked away from the scene.

Hearing those words, Kion felt disappointed and said. "Why did you help those families who begged for justice? Why did you appear just when Mr. Kurdon was about to kill me?  I know you're kind Santius. You are just pretending that you are not."

I stopped for a moment. The wind blew gently and the silhouette of my hair covered my face. "I didn't help those people, nor you.", I replied with calmly and continued walking away.

"Okay. Go ahead. I will just call the police and interrupt them to buy time. I can't just stand here and watch someone dying.", Kion said with an apologetic smile.

I immediately remembered what I said when Mr. Kurdon attacked Kion during the Summer Class. "I can't just stand here and watch someone dying." But I continued walking away from Kion to avoid being involved in anything. I do not want much attention and more of being called a hero.

"Wait. This man Is the owner of the famous restaurant. The CEBREAN'S ISLE CHICKEN.", Kion said as he looked closely at the injured old man.

I paused. I don't want to believe what I just heard. My eyes opened wide and my heartbeat races. I told myself, "If the old man dies, the restaurant will be closed for a week, or a month, or a year or on a worse case, it might never even open again. No, it cannot happen. But, who will help him? Is he dying for real? If he dies, will there be someone to replace him so the restaurant will continue operating? What if there is no one? Will I have to bid goodbye to my Fried Chicken?" I started to panic.

I ran so fast back to the area and appeared in front of the scene. I caught my breath and pointed my finger to the old man. Both of them turn their heads towards me.

"Whhaaaaattt? Santius. What are you doing?" Kion was surprised of my unexpected action.

"Hey old man. If you die here, is there anyone who will replace you to keep the restaurant on operating?" I asked the old man seriously while my finger still pointed to him.

The old man looked at me, his mind is puzzled looking at the familiar figure.

"N...no..onneee.", he said slowly as the bald guy choked him in his neck.

Hearing the old man's word made me worry even more. So I altered the direction of my finger and pointed it to the bald guy and shouted, "Release him, Baldy!"

"Huh? Haha Is this the protector you've hired old man?", the bald guy laughed hard as he asked the old man. "Get out of here youngster, or I will have to kill you first", the bald guy added and glared at me.

The dry road of the street became wet. Water flowed down the road. It came from everywhere. The whole street was flooded with water. A surge of spinning water was in the middle of the flooded road. Briefly, a Sphynx came out of the whirlpool.

The Hound type Sphynx had green fur. It was approximately two and a half meters tall. It had shaggy tails and its ears were round.

"No way, that baldy is an owner. Santius, Run!" Kion suggested. But I didn't consider backing off as an option at that moment.

"Aero, I'm sorry for this but please prepare yourself. I don't think we can beat this 2nd Class Sphynx but we can buy more time before the policemen could arrive." Kion talked to his Sphynx using telepathy while still hiding on the light post.

"Okay Kion, I got your back.", Aero replied

The Green Sphynx looked at me like it wanted to devour my flesh but I stood firm displaying not an ounce of fear. I glanced at the half meter water that flooded the ground where I stood, clenched my fist and looked at the old man.

"You don't know how I felt when I heard those words, Oldy. You don't know how it feels without a serving of that big and crispy chicken of yours for a week. So please baldy, release that old man!", I said it loud enough for both of them to hear.

"You're pissing me off, kid!", the bald guy was clearly annoyed. "Kill him!", he ordered his Sphynx.

I glanced at the Sphynx as it dashed towards me. "This is nothing compared to the pack of Sphynx that attacked me back then.", I smirked.

A gust of wind encircled me. It was spinning fast that it created a tornado; a small but powerful one. People who were there to witness were in shock and searched for cover. The enemy's Sphynx stopped as he can't get pass off the strong gale of wind.

"Impossible! He is an Owner!? But I can't even see any flowing L.E. on his body.", the bald guy muttered in disbelief.

"No way. How can Santius do such thing without his Sphynx? I'm sure an Owner can only use his L.E. with his Sphynx nearby as about a range of a hundred meters. I can't even feel Nephos' L.E. within the required distance to cast skills." Kion was puzzled. But from the looks of it, I'm sure he's prepared to protect me at any time.

The wind ceaselessly spun around me until I can't be seen from the outside anymore. But in a moment, the wind calmed down and its sound hissed out. I slowly landed on the ground. I held my chest as I was catching my breath. I tried to stand but, I could not move my body.

People were surprised of such sudden expiration of the powerful thing. The bald guy grinned and took it as an opportunity to attack me. "Is this all that you've got, youngster? Attack him!"The bald guy quickly ordered his Sphynx.

"Aero, Mud Whirlpool!", Kion finally showed up from where he was hiding with Aero.

Aero created a Mud whirlpool directly to the ground where the enemy's Sphynx was standing. Unfortunately, the latter was able to immediately dodge the attack.

The enemy's Sphynx threw a ball of water in the air. Aero tried to use Mud Shield but it was a little late. The ball hit Aero and the impact wrecked the ground. Water splashed from everywhere.

"Aero!" Kion screamed out as he saw Aero lying on the ground, injured and unable to stand.

"It's way too easy for me to kill these uninvited guest of yours, old man." The bald guy grinned

the bald guy rode on his Sphynx. He placed his hand up with his palm facing us. He infused a large amount of L.E. The water from the ground slowly gathered up and formed an enormous ball of water that floated about four meters from the ground. It was growing bigger by every second. In just a minute, the ball of water had tentacles which pulled us in.

Kion, Aero, and I were devoured by the big ball of water. Kion tried to swim across to escape but he was not able to do so. Aero can't even move because of his injury. I am running out of breath. I tried to move but my body disagrees.

'No, I can't die here.', I said to myself. I am now blaming myself for taking such a selfish decision again this time. I closed my eyes, when suddenly...

#Waaaaaaaooooooorrrrrr!

We all heard a loud roar.

The Roar made a shock wave that hit the bald guy and his Sphynx. They were thrown away and were crashed to the old building.

The big ball of water burst and the water splashed back to the ground where it came from. We eventually fell as well. Kion quickly ran towards Aero and transferred L.E. for Aero to recover quickly. I tried to stand up slowly and recover from my senses.

Standing in front of me was a girl riding her Sphynx. I looked at the familiar figure. Her long crimson hair flows like that of the waves of the ocean. She had eyes that were a perfect mix of sharp and puffy. She had a well-sculpted nose and rosy pink lips. She was wearing a white shirt underneath a long, red blazer. Her lynx type Sphynx had purple fur. It was approximately 2.5 meters tall. It has a unique body structure. With its long legs, flexible spine, semi-retractable claws, long tail, narrow and lightweight body, and long slender limbs, it looked like it is definitely built for speed. 



"Evolet?" Kion turned his head to her.

"You know her?" I asked.

"Yes, of course. I mean, every Owner knows her. She is Evolet Martha. And that is her 1st class Sphynx, Esra. She is an elite member of the top Guild in Cebreu; the 'PROTECTOR'.", Kion responded. He was done transferring L.E. to Aero.

"Protector Guild huh?", I said to myself and smirked.

"Hey burned head, are you alright?", Evolet asked.

"What did you say?" I irritatedly replied.

But yeah, no worries. Just help the old man right there", I said and stood up like nothing happened.

"Are you not going to thank m... wait, hey you're the Chicken guy! Right?", Evolet said looking surprised to see me.

Then I looked up and opened my eyes wide as I recognized her, "Yeah, I remember now. You're the cashier in the Chicken Restaurant."

Evolet looked at me closely. She's been hiding for quite some time; since we arrived and tried to rescue the old man for fried chicken's sake. She's been watching for us the whole time. We failed to rescue the old man and ended up being rescued by her.

But what she's amazed with was me releasing an Elemental Skill without my Sphynx. That was her first time seeing that according to her.

Aero stood up when the policemen and the ambulance arrived. They put the bald guy into the police car after putting the Sphyral Chain on him and his Sphynx. The Sphyral Chain is a special chain for stopping the L.E. from flowing into the body.

Evolet and Nurses quickly put the old man onto the stretcher. The Old man's name is Mariolle Tofem, the owner of the Cebrean's Isle Chicken. He turned to me and told the nurse to stop for a minute. Evolet, then, called for us to come near to the old man. So we walked towards him while he lies on the stretcher.

"Thank you very much to the both of you. How can I repay you? May I know your name?", the old man gave us a warm smile despite being badly hurt.

"Don't mind it, Mr. Oldy. I am Santius Zehcnas. Just continue your business and I will be grateful." I gave him a cold reply and walked away.

I have not walked far enough as I heard the old man say, "Zehcnas? So he is your son, levion huh? He grew up like you. I hope your fine up there." Our eyes met as I looked their way and he smiled.

"Ahh.. just don't mind him Mr. Tofem, hehe. I am Kion Cloffer. It is a pleasure meeting you. We will now take our leave. And thank you also Ms. Martha for saving us.", Kion replied and give a hearty smile towards the both of them.

"That bastard burned-head. He didn't even thank me! hmmp!", Evolet angrily uttered. Evolet and the nurse continued carrying him to the ambulance.

"Santius Zehcnas and Kion Cloffer! Cebrean's Isle Chicken will be free for the both of you from now on." Mr. Tofem said loudly and smiled. Evolet, then, closed the back door of the ambulance. 

Hearing those heart pumping words, I stopped. My eyes widened and shone as I think of the big Crispy Fried Chicken. My mouth is half opened. I looked plastered. My mind was totally lost as I see fried chicken floating everywhere. I felt overwhelmed. The world became so bright and happy with these floating fried chicken floating in the air like this. So this is the Chicken Dream I've always dreamt of.

Evolet and Kion, both riding their Sphynx, laughed so hard as they watch me spacing out.