A few hours passed. The scene seemed too silent. Suddenly, Tigris was woken up by a loud bang. He looked around inside the tent to find Fini sound asleep. He quickly changed into his military scarf, grabbed his swords, and went outside to check. Clyde was standing there, fully prepared to fight the ten or so bandits around them. They all were large, and terrifying for a regular bystander. Tigris, however, was ready to fight.
'Great, you are here. Where is Fini?' Clyde said in a hurry as the bandits approached. 'She is sleeping.' Clyde let out a sigh and said there was no time to wake her up.
'They are just kids. But looks like they have lots of cash on them.' One of the bandits said as he sprinted towards Clyde for an attack. Clyde, already wearing his trusty bladed fists, leaped upwards, giving the large sized bandit an equally large sized uppercut, which sent him flying onto a tree. 'Let's do this' Clyde encouraged Tigris as he dashed towards the other bandits. 'Let's do this' Tigris repeated.
'Make sure no one dies.' Clyde said hastily, and went right back to action. Tigris knew the swords he held had the capability to kill. He told himself to be careful and went right in. He swung his sword around like a master, but Tigris knew he had a long way to go. A sneaky bandit reached Tigris from the back. Tigris, being effective with his legs too, toss kicked the bandit towards the tents.
There was metallic clashing between Clyde's bladed fists and the bandits' cheap knifes. Clyde had been trained by Memphis Vetusan in all sorts of fighting techniques. It was easy to see why he was the platoon leader.
The fire was still ignited. One by one, Tigris and Clyde finished off all the bandits around them. Clyde tied them to a tree and looked at Tigris, who didn't seem the least bit exhausted. 'Good work, Tigris. We can become the strongest tag team.'
Clyde was planning on sending a letter to General Hearty about the situation at hand. Once again, a thud was heard. Clyde and Tigris got into position to fight once more. From the depths of the tree's shadows, appeared a menacing figure. He had an equally threatening weapon in his hands. Holding a mace, the silhouette slowly approached Tigris and Clyde.
'I have seen this man!' Tigris claimed as he tried to remember. 'His name is...Lestus.' Clyde knew who he was. 'Sipione Lestus, is it? You're the crime lord who escaped prison yesterday.' 'I am glad even kids know me.' He said in a girthy voice. 'However, I will have to punish you for doing this to my followers' he added as he shifted his vision towards the tied-up bandits.
Even Tigris backed off a bit after looking at Lestus's stature. Clyde repeated his words 'Let's do this' and gestured Tigris to attack together. 'From the left, go' said the Leader as he went from the right. Tigris leaped forward and from the left, went in. Lestus however, went for Clyde. Without any respect for Tigris, Lestus swung the mace towards Clyde. Clyde managed to block a lethal blow with the bladed fists, but the shock knocked him back onto a tree, where he became unconscious.
The fearless Tigris backed off from the left flank. He thought to himself, 'He knocked out Clyde in one shot. I have to think more carefully.' Before he could think, Lestus had arrived close enough to Tigris to deliver another dangerous blow. Tigris closely dodged the attack and climbed a tree. He felt like he was cornered. 'I never thought this would happen on my first mission!' Tigris thought of different ways he could defeat someone who had titanically more fighting experience than him. Almost given up on hope, he spotted an arrow sailing towards Lestus. It pierced through the thick neck of Lestus, which gave Tigris and opening to get into a better position.
'It is I who protected you after all. Remember that.' Fini told a pumped-up Tigris. 'I owe you, but right now we must take care of this man.' Tigris briefly explained the situation to Fini. 'Why don't we use the crystals?' 'What if things go wrong?' 'Do you trust me?' Fini said in a caring voice, contrary to their circumstances.
Activating the crystal needed a strange method. The user had to bring the crystal in contact with their own saliva or blood. Tigris slid open the locket containing the Eye of the Tiger, and lightly licked the Crystal.
His eyes began glowing orange. Darker orange marks appeared around his eyes. His canine teeth grew longer, beginning to resemble fangs. A tiger's fangs. The two swords in his hands changed colour, turning darker. He could feel powerful blood flowing in his veins. To an onlooker, a crystal boost seemed almost godlike.
Tigris looked at Fini who had also activated her crystal by licking the head of her bow. A pink hue dominated her body. Light red colored marks appeared around her eyes. She seemed to have gotten the grace of a flamingo. Feather like patterns slowly appeared on her bow. She felt much more powerful now too.
The crystals were not just for aesthetic. Lestus, who had pulled out the arrow from earlier, charged at the two with his mace. Tigris, who previously had to dodge the attack and stood no chance, positioned his swords in a cross pattern against the mace, and managed to stop it with relative ease. With another hard dual swing towards the mace, he broke the heavy iron object. Lestus seemed to get redder with frustration. Tigris shouted 'Switch!' and retreated as Fini sprung from the ground to get a better angle for the final shot.
She stood in a pose which resembled a flying bird. Her right leg was folded to maintain balance mid-air. With one precise release of the string, the arrow which previously only pierced the neck of Lestus lightly, penetrated deep into his throat. Lestus fell to the ground, shocked. He screamed profanities at Tigris and Fini as he fainted.
Tigris and Fini exhausted themselves with their first experience with a crystal boost. They looked at each other and laughed. 'Heh, that was a good shot.' Tigris said, panting, as he fell to the ground. 'Your strike wasn't too bad either.' Fini replied as she fell to the ground as well, beside Tigris.