The man farthest in the front slipped off his big weird fluffy mount and onto the ground, marching towards Vaien.
As such Zhang Han stopped staring at the weird animals and back to the crisis at hand.
There were only three men in total. Tattoos were painted all of their skin, they carried big scimitars and ropes, were muscular, and altogether seemed threatening. In Zhang Han's opinion, they matched what he imagined as the generic criminal-type that he'd come across in the past.
And the thing about it was that Vaien was actually much shorter than them, at least by one foot. Nevertheless he was glaring down the one near him, his pupils contracting and fangs poking over his lips viciously. The other man crossed his arms and did the same.
Zhang Han wasn't sure what was happening. Two stray dogs sizing each other up?
Vaien finally said, "Hey, do you really think we're gonna hand over our stuff?"
"Of course. Or do you guys want to die?"
Vaien grinned with a raucous air. "You guys will be the ones ending up dead if you so much as step another foot forward."
In return, the man mocked, "Why so prickly? ...oh, I see. You smell just like your friend over there," the man crudely motioned at Zhang Han. "Are you his little wife? Little wifey is sticking his neck out for his husband? But you two should quietly give it up. We don't want any new dead bodies for the hyeni to chew up."
The other two strangers also had knowing looks and started laughing with ridicule.
S-Smell…? Zhang Han's face was beginning to turn pale as he drew out his laser gun. What did these guys smell on Vaien?! It can't be that they can smell...um. No way. Nope.
The three robbers didn't want to wait any longer. They weren't for petty conversation over nothing, and the one in front took a step towards Vaien.
In a split second Vaien's eyes widened ferociously, he lunged at that man, spinning his fist into him from the side, around his right lung, and a heavy squishing noise of fleshing being pulverized sounded out.
"You-!" that man's next words turned garbled as he was slammed into the ground from Vaien's raw power.
The other two were taking steps backward and staring at Vaien with a new expression.
Vaien smiled and spoke in a low tone. "I said if you take another step, you're dead."
"You...were repressing your aura!" said one with a grimace. "Which tribe do you come from? Who are you?"
The one on the ground tried to stand back up by propping up on his elbows, blood was dripping from his mouth and he appeared terrified, but Vaien's boot came down on his head with force. His face was shoved into the dirt with a 'crack' that sounded like his nose got broken. He gave a muffled groan of pain.
"Stay the fuck down," Vaien hissed. "And I have no interest in answering questions."
Zhang Han was a bit lost and confused.
'Aura'? He was unable to see the shift in between the three men approaching and them realizing suddenly that Vaien was very dangerous. He stared closely at Vaien, but all he saw was a slight glow within his gold pupils, shining like sunlight, and his hair that was softly blown from the wind.
But it was certainly true that Vaien did look pretty threatening when he was half the bulk of these other men, but could stand on one's head without any difficulty.
Another one spoke up to Vaien, their once menacing features turned soft and pleading. "Great one, we didn't realize your powers. We don't want any trouble with a man like yourself!"
Vaien scoffed, pressing his foot harder into the skull of the man on the ground. His head began to almost seem like it was bending, and he made hurried wheezing noises as he began to suffocate into the ground.
"Didn't you guys just call me a little 'wife' a moment ago? Huh?"
The other two dropped on the ground and started groveling.
"W-We didn't mean it..."
"..." Zhang Han was stunned by this turn of events. Was this normal in this world...switching from proud to groveling depending on the power of the person you met?
Vaien rolled his eyes and kicked away the body of the man beneath his feet.
"I want two of your mounts. Give them to us right now, or I won't let you die easy."
"..." Now this was just plain coercion, thought Zhang Han. An eye for an eye? Meh. He figured it seemed fine, not like they were taking from the weak and helpless innocent.
Their opponents seemed unhappy. The one who'd been slammed into the ground slowly stood back upright, his face purple from suffocation.
"Take them, sure...of course you can," he muttered, put-out.
Vaien had his chin held upwards, looking haughty as ever when the two men forked over their big fluffy, three-eyed mounts. They took most of their own supplies off the simple blanket saddles on the creatures and hoisted them on their own backs.
Finally, Vaien shot them a look of disdain and indifference.
One bowed his head. "G-Great one, we'll be on our way, thank you for sparing our lives."
And so the group of three wanderers who were also robbers went off back onto the plains, leaving Zhang Han and Vaien behind with two big mounts. They were lazy looking, not interested in following their old masters, apparently, and started grazing on the grass with long pink tongues with contentment.
The robbers had weapons at their sides, but didn't even draw them to fight! Zhang Han had been preparing himself for an all-out battle that never came to be.
Vaien's gaze slid over to him.
"Looks like I win the bet," he chuckled. "My reward, I look forward to it!"
Zhang Han stared at him, then faintly raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"
"Aura~" Vaien explained. "Is what we have to prove ourselves to others in strength, without even lifting a finger. It's why you and I don't have to worry about all the little dumb creatures attacking us while we travel. Only things with more power and boldness will attempt to attack us. And those losers had neither."
"Yeah, but then why did they approach us in the first place?"
Logically, if you see a goliath killer, you hide and avoid it. So if those guys saw Vaien as a similar threat, they would avoid us with their mounts.
Vaien was playful. "I suppressed my own aura to look weak. If they didn't try to rob us, how was I gonna win the bet?"
Zhang Han furrowed his brow. "I see."
"Don't think over it too hard, stuff like this is normal here."
So it IS normal, to be robbed and to rob others. Fine then.
Vaien sauntered over to a mount and patted its big derpy snout.
"These are called snoufle, cause' they shuffle through stuff with their noses. They are great at wandering long distances and one of the few animals that can be tamed."
The snoufle lifted its head and sniffed Vaien profoundly. Likewise, the snoufle closer to Zhang Han that was eating grass also looked at him with its sky-blue third eye before lifting its head. It sniffed him, then licked him with a big tongue.
Zhang Han felt the sticky saliva brush over his arms and got goosebumps. He took a step back. Yes, they seemed to be gentle herbivores, but still. He was unsure how to interact with them in an acceptable way. He had absolutely zero experience with pets or animals and kept a stoic distance from the beasts for now.
Vaien burst out laughing.
Then he turned and loaded his sack of luggage onto the snoufle nearest to him. There was a leather strap and crude buckle that one could use to tie it down into place. Blankets over the backs of the beasts were done with tassels at the bottom, red, and the fiber they were made from was soft and patterned with triangles.
Zhang Han had the urge to try sitting up there and see what it felt like. It would probably be comfortable, much less tiring than trudging on foot through the grass.