"Who are you?" Kyther asked while feeling the edge of their blade against his skin.
"Give us whatever you possess." The one leading them signaled his companion to check him. As the person was about to touch him, Kyther grabbed the blade that was against his neck which opened a cut in his palm, and kicked the other guy with full strength.
The other guy crashed to the wall and dropped down. Upon seeing this, the other masked men around jumped at him.
Kyther was itching to fight for a while. It was more than a celebration for him. He banged one of their heads into the wall. He dodged the swings of their boss and grabbed his arm before twisting it and taking the sword from him. "Ah!" The man moaned in pain when Kyther twisted his arm.
"He is not going down. What is he made of?" A man mentioned after he jumped at Kyther's back and tried to choke him. Kyther grabbed his hair and slammed him down to the front. He had dealt with all of them and saved their boss for the last.
"Do not come closer." Both the boss's voice and legs trembled in fear. He was cornered to a wall while Kyther approached him like a hungry bear. "You can take my possessions, just let me go." He tried to bargain that made Kyther laugh.
Kyther looked closely at the sword. "Children do not play with such toys. You do not know how dangerous it can be for your health."
"I-I will never play with it. I promise," The man said. "I will not even look at a sword."
Kyther placed the blade to his neck, but he heard some strange sound. It sounded like water gushing from a height. He looked down and realized what kind of p*ssy this guy was. "Now, tell me. Who do you work for? Why did you stop my way?"
"I-I work f-for no one," The man stammered. "I am just a thug. I rob people with my underlings."
Kyther glared violently at him which made the guy tremble in fear even more. "I-I am t-telling the t-truth, believe me!" He turned to his underlings who were recovering from their damages. "Why don't you all tell him!?"
"He is telling the truth," One sitting on the ground while holding his back mentioned. "We are just a bunch of thugs."
Kyther believed them, and let them go. "Do not come across me again or I will show no mercy this time," He warned, making the thugs run for their life.
Those thugs wasted his precious time. He had lost the trail of those two men. He ran to the way they had gone to but he could spot no one. "Damn it!" He cursed before he turned back as he had no choice, but he spotted those men again. They went inside a building at the end of the alley.
Kyther had to tell others about his finding, so he ran to the designated meeting place.
Joseph and Tyler waited for others at the fountain. "There are not here," Tyler said, looking around.
"Even Kyther is not here. Where did that bushy bear go?" Joseph wondered.
"He must be roaming around eating and picking fights with people." As he spoke, Tyler noticed Joseph getting lost in thoughts. "What happened?"
"I am thinking about the people here.Why they hesitate to talk about those masked men? Just who are they?"
"We know they are not an ordinary bunch of thugs. If they could attack and massacre the people from a warrior tribe…" Tyler's heart ached when he said this sentence. "… then I am not surprised if they terrorize a whole town."
"I agree with you." Joseph clenched his fist as the fire of vengeance grew stronger, but there was one more feeling that grew inside of him. It was the feeling of thrill. He belonged to a warrior race. His blood raced when he found his enemies stronger than him. "I can't wait to twist their necks…" He mumbled.
"I know how you feel, but do not get impulsive," Tyler advised him. Joseph nodded slowly at his words.
"Hey, guys, sorry for being late." They heard Kyther's voice coming from a distance.
"Where were you?" Joseph asked before he noticed blood dripping from Kyther's fingertips. "What happened to your hand? Did you get into a fight again?"
Kyther had got the wound when he had grabbed that thug's blade earlier. "Ah, it is nothing. I just came across a bunch of thugs," He replied.
"I told you to not attract attention. Don't get us into trouble," Joseph warned him.
Kyther did not like the way Joseph scolded him. He frowned. "I did not get into trouble because I wanted to." He ranted. "I had found a clue. I went to investigate it, but those thugs blocked my way. I had to fight them to get out of there."
"Clue?" Tyler mouthed as he and Joseph looked at each other in curiosity. "What did you find?"
Kyther told them the whole stuff. How he accidentally overheard a conversation. How he followed them. How he came across the thugs. How he lost their trail. How he spotted them entering a building. He told them everything.
"This is worth looking into," Tyler said with a quizzical expression. "It is not sure the sphere they talked about is same one we are searching for."
"We have no choice but to confirm it by ourselves," Joseph added before he patted Kyther's shoulder. "Good job, Kyther. It was worth bringing you along with us."
Kyther pushed his hand away. "I do not want your praise. If you want to thank me, you can…" He pointed to the cotton-candy shop. "… feed me some cotton candies." He scratched his head with an awkward smile. "Actually, I have already spent all my money."
Joseph and Tyler glanced at each other and sighed together as they had no choice.
"Woah! Yummy!" Kyther felt some sort of orgasm when he gobbled up a cotton candy out of the dozens he carried. "Man, you seriously need to taste this. It is so good!"
Joseph and Tyler had bought cotton candies for themselves as well. "It is actually good." Joseph was impressed when he tasted it.
Tyler noticed Niko near the fountain looking here and there in search for them. "Hey, Niko! We are here!" He raised his hand and called to him.
Niko spotted them and came running. "I thought you guys got lost," He mentioned as soon as he arrived. He saw them gobbling up cotton candies. "Were you eating cotton-candies this whole time?"
"We roamed around a bit, but yeah," Tyler said before taking a bite.
"So, do you want to stay at my place?" Niko offered.
Joseph did not know what to do with that offer. "I think you have already done enough for us. We will find a place to stay ourselves. We don't want to become a burden on you," Joseph said.
"How interesting." It surprised Niko how well mannered these kids were. Were they really the savages those books talked about? "I can not let you go on your own." He smirked. "You are my research subject from now on."
"Research subject?" Joseph pointed out.
"Never mind. I stay at the inn around the…" He pointed at the street ahead. "… second turning there. Do not worry, you will be comfortable with me."
Joseph could not deny his offer after he insisted. They followed him to the inn. As soon as they entered, they were surprised that the scene inside differed from outside.
The people gambled, were drunk, and they abused each other after every sentence they spoke. Joseph and others thought of it as a filthy place. The drunken old men leered at the serving ladies. "Hey you, the hot one," A bald old man said while pointing to a serving lady. "Come here. I will make you feel the greatest pleasure of your life."
The woman ignored him and walked away with the tray carrying jugs of beer.
"Do not feel awkward in here. It is common in the cities," Niko mentioned as he saw them feeling troubled by the people's behaviour there. "Let's go." He walked up the stairs as the rooms were on the upper floor. The others followed him.
The room had a bed at a corner, and a table and a stool at the opposite corner to the bed. Beside the bed was a window with white curtains. Niko, as soon as they entered the room, prepared to leave somewhere.
"I have some work to do. I will come late at night, so you guys can go to sleep. Just do not sleep on my bed, okay?" He picked up a leather bag hung beside the door and left in a hurry.
"What should we do next?" Kyther asked after they put aside their belongings and changed their clothes to something loose and comfortable.
"When did they say they will move the sphere?" Joseph asked.
"Tomorrow," Kyther replied.
"We will keep an eye on them. We are not sure if they are the ones we are looking for, so we have to confirm it first," Joseph said as they prepared to sleep.
Tyler spread the mattress and placed the pillow for everyone. Joseph laid down and closed his eyes. "Mogu, where are you? Can you speak to me again?" He thought.
Meanwhile, in a dark chamber, someone sat on a throne. It was dark, so only his silhouette was visible. "Bring the package," He ordered a lean old man in a loose shirt.
The old man went outside and brought a chest.
"Open it!"
The old man followed the orders again and opened the chest.
Mogu was inside. The old man picked him up and handed him to the one on the throne.
"Is it the same one?" The man on the throne asked. The old man nodded. "Hmm... what is the condition of the streets?" He asked further.
"They are not safe as the followers of 'The Temple' are lurking around everywhere," The old man answered.
"Those Temple insects. The lady has gone to the capital as some serious issue has arisen, so she will not be here anytime soon. But she wants The Sphere as soon as possible, so we will have to deliver it to the capital." After staring at Mogu for a while, the man on the throne handed it back to the old man who kept him back into the chest. "We will have to move it safely somehow."
Joseph could not sleep the whole night. Niko had returned just before the dawn, slept for half an hour, and again prepared to leave somewhere.
Joseph and others were ready to leave ass well. Niko noticed them putting on their battle armor. "It is the same armor I had read so much about. The one made of skin…" He touched Joseph's chest seductively and licked it. "… how wonderful." He drooled when he said it.
"Umm…" Joseph felt uncomfortable.
Niko sniffed the wolf's skin around his shoulders. "How wonderful. So you do really wear wolf's skin." He then stepped back, cleared his throat while trying to behave normally, and asked, "Are you going somewhere? It looks like you are preparing for a battle."
This man acted weirdly... way too weirdly. This is what they thought.
"We are not preparing for a battle. We are just comfortable in our armors," Tyler mentioned as he put on the hood.
"Ah, right." Niko nodded. Tyler could not believe someone could actually buy that. "I will take my leave now." Niko exited through the door.
Joseph and others were ready to take the first step towards finding Mogu.