Chapter 16

After the dungeon incident with the Lich, Lewis was forced by Ariel to remain in the house. That rule was forced on him three days ago, and Lewis was itching to get out. Unfortunately, Ariel had coerced some guild members into acting as guards, and they patrolled inside and outside the estate day and night. The only thing Lewis had to look forward to, was the letter from Aaru that was due to arrive at any point that day.

"If only I wasn't so fucking weak right now, I could just slip by these hired goons with ease." Lewis complained again.

"I'm sorry you're distraught, master." Pasiphae bowed.

"Why do you still talk so damn weird." Lewis sighed.

"Why do you whine so much?" Tali groaned.

"I hate boredom, and I feel like my skills are stagnating. Ariel is just too damn protective." Lewis kicked a trash can out of irritation, sending it out the window and into the courtyard.

"Quit throwing shit out here you grimey little shit!" One of the guards shouted shortly after.

"Suck my balls, Tony!" Lewis responded while giving the bird from his window. Lewis needed some entertainment after all, and tormenting the guards was a fair distraction from his boredom.

"At least I can leave whenever I want, prison boy!" Tony taunted.

"At least I don't look like an orangutan's toe." Lewis shot back.

"At least I don't need women to save me." Tony replied.

"At least I don't smell like raw hippo juice." Lewis stifled a laugh.

"Ah, you got me, I don't have a response to that. Take care Lewis." Tony laughed and continued his patrol.

"Boys are so odd." Tali shook her head in disappointment.

"I concur." Pasiphae sighed.

"I'm just bored." Lewis replied.  The mail truck wouldn't be around until later that day, so Lewis went back to complaining.

***

The day passed, and no letter arrived, Lewis was stuck in the mansion with no real purpose to keep him occupied. There was a simple training area in the back yard, where Lewis began practicing with the lance and sword, combined with the versatility of the now ashen red vines. Lewis held the lance in his hands, while he used one of the vines to utilize the sword. The control Lewis had developed with the vines had reached near-perfection, almost as if he had extra limbs. Using the training dummy set on level three, Lewis practiced his spearmanship and swordsmanship alongside the vines. Lewis noted that the difficulty of simply functioning in the direct sunlight was suffocatingly straining. Whereas, while the sun began to set, he felt more invigorated and his mind a little clearer.

"I really hope it's not vampire syndrome… this world is already difficult to understand as is." Lewis sighed, sweat dripping off his body.

"He viajado un largo camino para pelear contigo amigo. Así que por favor, no seas una puta decepción como el resto." Lewis heard someone say from behind him. Lewis turned and looked at the source of the voice. Leaning against a tree was a young boy, roughly the same age as Lewis, dressed in the crimson colors of Midgard Academy.

"How'd you sneak in?" Lewis questioned.

"I didn't. I fought my way in." The boy replied as he approached Lewis. He had light brown eyes, short dark brown hair that stuck up on the front and top with a single streak of sky blue running down the right side in an arch. He had a strong jawline that angled down smoothly and his face was detailed with prominent cheek bones and an angled nose. From what Lewis could tell, the boy was of hispanic heritage, the thick eyebrows and light caramel skin tone being a dead giveaway.

"Through all fifteen guards?" Lewis continued to ask questions.

"Joder, haces demasiadas preguntas. Yes, all of them! I don't know the exact number, I just fought through them." The boy replied with an exasperated tone in his voice.

"Damn, alright guy, chill out, just a fucking question. What do you want?" Lewis was now fully facing the boy, obviously on full alert.

"Now that's a proper question. First, introductions yeah? My name is Juan Carlos Velasquez Delgado, more famously known as El Perro de la Guerra, you may call me Juan. No need to introduce yourself, I already know who you are." Juan introduced himself with dramatic flair.

"You know who I am?" Lewis asked the boy, still remaining cautious.

"Si, Lewis Padova! You gained quite the popularity in my guild after the dungeon you cleared, being one of three survivors of a sixteen man raid team. You came out still fighting, and you even proceeded to decimate a colosseum a few weeks later. In my guild, we've taken to calling you; 'El Dragón Conejo'. The Rabbit Dragon. Meaning you're like a small animal with too much power to handle. But that works for me, I want to fight you, turn you into experience and make myself stronger." Juan explained his motives to Lewis, but he didn't sound insane like the others did, he just sounded driven to achieve great results, improvements, or accomplishments. 

"Hmm, alright. I don't see a reason to deny you, but I wouldn't necessarily be into the fight." Lewis shrugged, his ashen blood vines creeped around him and formed armor, the lance readied in his hands and the sword held by a vine.

"Oh, but I think I could make you interested in the fight. Remember your dear old landlord?" Juan reached into the space next to him, his arm vanishing in a void, and pulled out the severed head of a terrified looking old man. Lewis stared in blank confusion beneath the mask formed by the vines.

"No, who's that? Why are you carrying a severed head with you?" Lewis inquired dumbfoundedly. Now it was Juan's turn to stare at Lewis in blank confusion.

"Your old landlord?" Juan answered questioningly.

"Never met him." Lewis shrugged. Juan tossed the head away.

"Well, that didn't go the way I planned. I mean, it makes me feel like all that time spent torturing him was wasteful. I mean, it's not like he was a good person, what with the charging women sex as rent." Juan sighed and monologued.

"I… I didn't ask though? I… did you get the right landlord? How did you even learn about that?" Lewis lowered the lance and asked the poor kid.

"I don't particularly like killing innocent people, makes me feel uneasy for some reason. But, if I learn anything heinous and morally wrong about them, I feel better and it's easier to kill them off." Juan responded. The tension between the two vanished at that point.

"So you investigated the Landlord? All that energy spent… couldn't you have spent that energy directly into looking for me without the proxy?" Lewis pointed out. Juan stopped and looked at Lewis silently for a moment.

"If it were that easy, do you think I would have used the proxy? Por Dios, es bueno que no seas conocido por tu cerebro." Juan pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.

"Right, Hephaestus… Wait, are you calling me stupid?" Lewis processed the comment finally.

"Si, you're very slow. So you can understand Spanish?" Juan looked at Lewis and bluntly replied.

"Uh, yeah… Look, I ain't in the mood for a fight anymore, the atmosphere was ruined entirely by the head, man." Lewis entirely lowered his guard and the vine armor began to recede.

"I can tell, but I'l be back… after I find out what this code key is for. Certainly it holds a clue to what may put you into the mood for a battle." Juan held up an old slip of torn paper with the key to a code that this world's Lewis had created. The armor quickly reformed and Lewis pointed his weapons at Juan.

"I need that key." Lewis stated. Juan looked at Lewis with even more confusion, but it was quickly replaced by excitement.

"Alright! I won't question the oddity of values you hold, but it certainly is curious." Juan put the code into the weird void space and pulled out a Spanish Conquistadors sword. A brief moment of stillness ensued between the two, as they studied eachother, observing and waiting for the first move. Lewis decided to launch the first attack by sending three vines out to pierce the boy. Juan swatted each vine to the side, and watched in joy as the vines pierced the concrete with ease.

"Those are some impressive plants!" Juan lightly swung his sword towards the vines, but found that his sword couldn't cut through them.

"Just hand over the key." Lewis again repeated his demand as he rushed towards Juan. Juan met Lewis head on, blocking the forceful forward thrust of the lance with his rapier.

"You really are like a dragon! But, you seem so inexperienced, it's disappointing!" Juan pushed Lewis back and away with extreme force. Lewis landed on his feet and stood to face Juan, but Juan was no where to be found. An impact struck Lewis on the side and he was sent through the manion walls into the entertainment room. Lewis found himself laying on top of a broken pool table with Pasiphae looking at him from the doorway. Juan stood next to the spot Lewis was standing in.

"I don't expect Ariel will be too thrilled to find out that her 'Precautions' are cosmically useless when it comes to you and trouble." Pasiphae commented.

"At least it's not boring anymore." Lewis replied as he got up and faced Juan.

"I'm astonished! The durability of those vines are top notch." Juan walked into the room and again vanished before appearing next to Lewis and plunging his rapier towards Lewis's ribs, but using the sword and vine combo with the lance, Lewis was able to block the attack.

"Using the same trick twice is a real amateur move." Lewis stated as he jumped away from Juan.

"Just checking your battle intuition amigo." Juan laughed as he launched forward while aiming for Lewis's throat. Lewis moved to step aside, but Juan anticipated the move, predicted it even. Juan spun to the side quicker than Lewis and pierced the armor, though slightly, and sent Lewis through another wall and into the dining area, where Tali was currently enjoying chicken nuggets. Lewis kept himself standing using the vines, but he was starting to get irritated by Juans speed. Dark electrical charges began to crackle around Lewis, giving the crimson ash colored armor a villainous vibe.

"I see you found yourself some entertainment." Tali stood up from her chair and looked towards Juan with a furious look, her chicken nuggets were taken out along with the table when Lewis flew through the room while using his vines to keep from falling.

"There's a lot of girls surrounding you huh? I'm feeling a little envious towards you Lewis." Juan tried to use his speed again, but Lewis flashed forward first and swung his fist hard into Juan's face, the force wasn't incredibly strong, but it was hard and fast enough for Juan to feel it. His lip was busted and his nose was bleeding.

"Your speed is annoying." Lewis commented as he used the vines to slam Juan away, finally sending Juan through a wall instead. Juan ended up flying through the foyer, where he latched onto the staircase banister and spun himself back towards Lewis like a bolt launched from a crossbow. Lewis sent all of his vines forward and formed a shield, the sword hidden behind, bracing the shield for extra support just as Juan slammed into it. The floor splintered and cracked as the two collided. 

"You became a little bit faster! This is amusing!" Juan laughed as he stepped back. Lewis was re-encased in the vine armor, the dark electrical charge still sparking around him.

"You know what's really annoying? You holding back because you know I'm not at full strength. It's like you're toying with me by making me feel like you're weak." Lewis exposed Juan.

"I know, it's far more infuriating for me! But I'm not patient, I couldn't wait for you to regain your strength, I just wanted to test the potential you hold. There's no way that this is the level you fought at when in the colosseum, that's how I knew you were in a weakened state. But, if you insist, I'll show you that the outcome would still be the same, regardless." Juan's eyes changed, becoming abyssal like an oceanic trench. The earth and air trembled as Juan exerted the pressure he had been restraining. Pasiphae turned pale and began to tremble, a look of pure terror on her face. Tali even began to sweat, and became defensively hostile towards Juan. Lewis felt waves of fear wash over him as he stared at Juan, it was as if he was facing off against an ancient predator from a long passed era. A creature that if it still existed, would be at the top of the food chain, a true apex predator. Lewis, not wishing to back down, chose to challenge Juan with his own intimidation, which was unaffected by the weakened state he was in. The two auras clashed together and caused the very air to warp from the bloodlust the two boys exuded. Juan began to laugh, suddenly very amused by Lewis, more so than he had been initially.

"To think you'd attempt a counter despite knowing you're up against a stronger opponent. Bueno esto no tiene sentido. What accomplishment would I achieve by destroying you at your weakest? This isn't over, Lewis, rather only delayed until next time." Juan stated before turning and walking away.

"I'll look forward to the day then, when I kick your ass." Lewis responded, behind Lewis, the bay window wall collapsed with the sound of a loud crash and shattering glass. Lewis glanced behind him briefly and turned back, but Juan was already gone, leaving the three staring at a destroyed first floor.

"I don't think Ariel is going to be entirely pleased by this." Tali broke the silence with a statement.