Between Issues of Many
Malik was entertaining Xi'Lang with the pleasantries of New York's iconic park as the wind blew through the trees. The sounds of the ruffling leaves l his ear to soothe from the bleeding sounds of the city that surrounded them. Xi'Lang did not expect to see the autumn's effect on plant life, creating a natural canvas of colors that befitted the season. "Enjoying our walk, Xi'Lang?" He asked while placing his arm into his jacket pockets as Xi'Lang nodded with glee.
"My brother and I definitely enjoy walking through Central Park from time to time. Though, Ne Zha can be quite the stick in the mud about me wondering about. Especially with our visit with The Fairy Queen..." The Water Granimur announced with a minor worrying expression as she attempted to avoid any eye contact.
Malik couldn't help but chuckle regarding this detail. "I believe that I meant The Lotus Prince once before. Knowing him, I can imagine why Morgan was not pleased to meet up with old Nezha." He simply announced before his hearing began to perk up. They made out the sounds of an unexpected attack from the cobrivite with two goons, yet Malik took this auditory warning with a grain of salt. As much as he was aware of the extent of his unique hearing. When it came to future events, it was not something that was guaranteed to occur. The future was always uncertain as beings like Ra, Brahma, and others did their best to ensure this. Mainly because of Odin's paranoia regarding Ragnarok, one of the various names for the apocalypse. Divine such as the Allfather and their desire to control the flow of history often created these events, or worse, to come to pass.
However, Xi'Lang was quick to pick up on this as her head tilted in concern for the Shadow Sorcerer. "Something wrong, Malik?" Her voice rang out as she pondered what caused Malik's sudden shift.
"It's nothing. My hearing can be annoying at times... Right now, it is trying to be like the Spider-Sense from those Marvel movies is all." He joked as Malik quickly waved off the mild warning. "From time to time, when it acts up on its own about what might happen, I don't really think it is that important." He explained further as Xi'Lang came to understand. The Chinese woman was a bit relieved that she won't have to battle any time soon.
However, as the two hidden Granimurs continued with their walk. A man dressed in a modern-styled kimono colored with a rusted bronze, mulberry, and jade green had accidentally bumped into Malik. However, the man they had just encountered emitted a powerful aura. "I apologize, Sir. I am in a bit of a rush and did not see you two." He explained as Malik swiftly waved this minor incident off.
"Hey, mistakes can happen, pal. It is no big deal." Malik explained with means to ensure he was not bothered by this. Though, Malik did come to notice an odd detail regarding the person as his eyes shined with a silver coloring. Something he has only seen before, yet could not place where the mysterious man took his leave.
"Was not expecting someone to wear some kind of warrior's kimono in this time period..." Xi'Lang spoke aloud as it was another oddity that Malik came to realize. Despite the modern style of the kimono, he was dressed for war. Even though most Mythics and divine did their best to conceal their Mana from those who had a blissful ignorance regarding the nature of the world. Some had too much of it to simply suppress. Making Malik wonder who he truly was underneath his disguise.
The scene changes to the mercenary trio as they prepare to leave their hidden base of operations within the abandoned train station. Though, there was a particular problem that faced the cobnrivite among the demon duo. "You have never developed a human form? The infamous June Malbec of the Olympian Realm hasn't invested in a very crucial requirement to reside within Midgard?" Kinkaku questioned with an almost scolding tone towards Malbec, who was not amused by this. "Seriously, this was taught in Midgard 101 Class for any Mythic planning to live here!" The Golden Horn Demon press on further about the importance of this detail.
"If you know The Dragon Emperor of The Jade Realm, you can understand why I did not have the time to create one moron..." June spat as she extended her blades from her wrists as they oozed with their acidic venom. "He does not tolerate delays in any form, Demon. I would also recommend not taking that kind of tone with me if you wish to live." The Cobrivite woman warned as she marched forward to Kinikaku with narrowed eyes.
Ginkaku, thankfully, was quick to step in between the two before things could get out of hand. "At least we have the time to address this now before we head out. The less attention we draw to ourselves, the easier it would be for us to lay low. We don't want people like Macaque or the Paladin Drake catching wind of us." The Silver Horned Demon announced aloud, which calmed things.
"I did not expect to hear that some humans have not lost their ways with Arcane..." June announced as her blades retracted into her forearms.
"It isn't as uncommon as you think, Malbec. People like Drake and that Immortal Sorcerer from the Slavic Tales are examples of that." Ginkaku added before recalling another detail regarding the said sorcerer, "If the stories are to be believed regarding Koschei, he wouldn't be as much of an issue as he was left as a head in the ocean." He reasoned while doing his best to recall the Slavic Myth. "Plus, hopefully, The Captian of that ghost ship didn't stumble onto his head..." Ginkaku announced absentmindedly. June, though, was as none cautious as the Demon Duo was regarding the mentioned potential enemies, which she and even those which her bounty focused on. Ryequar did place quite the bounty on Esmeralda's head in all forms of currency across the Realms outside of Midgard. Either it was Tael, Hacksilver, or Drachma. Anyone who was made aware of Esmeralda's bounty, many would try to obtain it. She would not allow anyone to get in her way to obtain the bounty.
Meanwhile, with the training regarding Tyrik's newfound abilities, thoughts were indeed roaming around within his mind as the young adult was able to split his attention effectively between the training and the raging thoughts. As ADHD had its perks at times as he was using it to figure out how to track down his mother as well as Washta's sister. It would be important to track down leads, yet he did not have any actual leads for this. The only possible place for this was now literally up in flames thanks to his attempts to combat the Atchen, which was hunting his friends from earlier. Yet, it was questionable if it was destroyed within the inferno. After all, it was able to easily tank the very weakness that it had. 'Maybe I could take a play out of The CW Series, Supernatural, and try to find potential occurrences to find leads or just help those enduring the harshness of both sides of the supernatural...' He reasoned as Tyrik dueled with Drake's sword and shield with the enchanted longsword from the Arthurian Stories. 'It could help to find something to possibly bring us some kind of leads to search next or something...' Tyrik concluded as Drake soon managed to take advantage of Tyrik's split attention by landing a surprised blow that sliced his left cheek being smacked in the face with the heavy-duty Resulting in Tyrik being lifted into the air before crashing into the ground with brute force. "Ow... That really hurt..." He declared as the injuries began to swiftly heal themselves, like Wolverine's Healing Factor. Rubbing his forehead, Tyrik proceeded to stand upright to be greeted by a scolding expression from the paladin before him as Drake placed his blade into the sheath attached to his belt.
"You should be leaving yourself half distracted by your thoughts as you battle anyone, Tyrik." The Paladin advised as he crossed his arms, "If you do, it will get you killed by those who can pick up on this and take advantage of that as I did." He went on further as Drake was a bit surprised by Tyrik's fast-paced healing factor as the injuries which were made had completely vanished in seconds. They were indeed heavily damaging as The Paladin wished to ensure this lesson stuck in the Draconian's mind. Yet it was made clear that wouldn't remain as any evidence Tyrik suffered any form of broken bones was now nonexistent in a matter of seconds. "Impressive healing abilities. I thought you were gonna at least have a broken jaw, but it doesn't seem like that would be the case."He praised with a chuckle, "Haven't really that kind of healing anywhere before from an offshoot of the Dragon Race. Just pure Dragons and Loongs have this kind of healing." Drake declared as he pondered where the origins of Draconians began.
"Dahn't ya dink dat was a bet moehch fahr de yooehng lad fahr one mestake in de earlier stages o' 'is trainin, Drake? What if 'e dedn't 'ave dis level o' 'ealin? 'e wooehld 'ave been in de er fahr a good amooehnt to recahver frahm a brahken jaw and pahtentially cracked skoehll...[Don't ya think that was a bit much for the young lad for one mistake in the earlier stages of his training, Drake? What if he didn't have this level of healing? He would have been in the ER for a good amount to recover from a broken jaw and potentially cracked skull...]" Kathleen scolded aloud with an aggressive tone of voice. Though, this did not change Drake's course of action for Tyrik's training.
"I am not hard on someone's training unless I believe that they can endure it to further unlock their potential. You did say the same when I trained Esmerada and now look how far she has come." Drake explained with a sly smirk as this did not deter Kathleen's growing anger.
"It seems like you 'ave fahrgotten 'ow dings ended fahr you back den either, Ameranth... If I recall, you 'ad several majahr injuries when I gave you me own fahrm o' 'trainin'. Maybe we shooehld go over dem wance again, Smartass.[It seems like you have forgotten how things ended for you back then either, Ameranth... If I recall, you had several major injuries when I gave you my own form of 'training'. Maybe we should go over them once again, Smartass.]" The Wulver and Kitsune woman threatened as she cracked her knuckles to express how serious she was about this. Tyrik swiftly bailed from this, not wanting to get caught in the crossfire, which might start from their battle.