Do you think yourself invincible ?

"What?! 20 gold coins for 8 days worth of food? Are you kidding me? is it a joke ?"

In the local market, Thomas was speaking to the grocery supplier.

"Sorry Thomas, I can't do anything about this. Apparently, a gang of thieves appeared near the mountain pass between Thesas and Nivalia; when they heard of it, the merchants from Nhancia increased their price once again".

Stratem belonged to the Thesas Kingdom, but the town was very close to Nivalia's border in the north-east. Due to Thesas being three times larger than Nivalia, Stratem was actually a lot closer to Nivalia's capital's Nhancia than Alderon, the capital of Thesas.

A vast mountain separated the two Kingdom, acting as a natural border; travelers and merchants caravans could use only a few mountain passes, this situation was the same in most other countries, rendering invasion by others more difficult, favoring stability between the original races of the continent, but it has downsides too...

Thomas grumbled.

"People will all die from starvation at this rate."

"I know, but I can't do anything to change that; I don't want to starve myself."

"Here, take it and give me the food."

Thomas stormed away from the market. The situation was becoming unbearable.

"You're late !"

Arriving at the town's gates, Thomas was 'greeted' by the Hero, Shin.

"..."

'Stay calm, stay.....calm,' Thomas exhorted himself. His patience for these guys was wearing thin.

The two of them finally departed Stratem, they went on foot, as Irumin's forest was only two days away and they were no free horses left in Stratem too...

A few hours later, the two men took a break; Thomas's new physical condition was so good that he feigned tiredness. He felt like he could continue like this forever; even increasing the pace was not a problem.

"AHAH! You are so weak old dude; look at me, I could hang on for at least two hours more".

"Conserving strength is always a good thing; there is no need to rush if it means depleting our stamina over nothing." Not reacting from insults, Thomas actually tried to put some sense inside this guy's head.

"Speaking of it, I wanted to tell you, when we arrive, don't mindlessly charge at our enemies if they are here. We will scout them and retreat if they are too many."

*Tump*

Reacting strongly to Thomas's words, the 'Hero' trow a tantrum, like a kid.

"WHAT? We are not fighting ?! Fuck it! I am not a pussy who hides when encountering demons !"

"Stay the little frightened pussy you are, old dude! I will act like I want and slay as many demons as there is!"

"Fool, do you think yourself invincible? what's if they are a hundred of them? a thousand ? or more ?"

"Powerful as you may be, do you think your mana could support you long enough to defeat waves upon waves of demons for hours? If your mana can't support you anymore, how long will it take for your body to break down?

This idiot really was impervious to all logic; how where the goddess even chose them? Making Thomas wonder about the goodness of Hiskala's eyes.

"Wars issues are decided by intellect and tactics; charging like a fool without a plan in mind will only handicap your allies at best."

"Fuck you, coward!"

Annnnnnnnd that was it...

In a flash, Thomas's grabbed his neck; suddenly, the hero's feet didn't touch the ground anymore, as he was suspended in the air, his throat in Thomas's hand.

His face was cold and hard; a hidden demonic light flickered in existence in Thomas's eyes, wakened by his furry.

It was not that Thomas's personality has changed, but he already felt awful inside, and this idiot worsened it again.

From the dept of Thomas's soul, darkness burst from, and he was struggling to keep his mind calm.

A normal man in his situation, disposing of Thomas's power, would already have broken the opponent's skull and drunk his blood( metaphorically speaking, of course, Thomas is not this kind of demon).

"Listen, Shin, if you're even able to listen to human words, I don't care who you are, I don't care where you come from, and your status isn't enough to impress me."

"We are stuck together for a few days, and your impudence really starts to annoy me, so..."

"Shut your mouth before I snap your neck like a pig."

It was only half a bluff...

*Kof! kof!*

Releasing his grasp, the 'Hero' fell on the ground; after a few seconds, he managed to stand back up, glaring viciously at Thomas.

"I will make you regret this, old man..."

"Kid, I stopped caring about dumb things like regrets for a long time now."