Shu was practicing basic movements of his martial arts so they would be easier to use in the future. He also wanted to make it possible to use these techniques simultaneously against multiple people.
He lifted one leg and tried to position himself and mimic the movements of his kicks in a way that would be easiest for him to keep his balance and create a mighty moment so it would be easier for him to execute consecutive kicks during a real battle.
While practicing, he heard a noise coming from the other side of the door.
It was the voices of Edward, an old beastman who resembled a lion and seemed to be the one leading the slaves Shu saved, and Emilia Feng, the young half-demoness who explained the situation he was in when he was in the port of thieves.
Shu's ears twitched while he listened to their conversation outside his door.
"What do you think I can do to mend the relationship between my people and the young lord?"
Edward asked, in a tone that made it clear that he was desperate for a solution to the issue of him and the other slaves insulting Shu when he went to the shop where they were being kept.
"You can just go in there and ask for his forgiveness."
Emilia answered. And Shu agreed that this was the best possible solution.
"No, it can't be that simple. He is the young lord of the Redfox family. We insulted the family of the people who saved our ancestors. It is an unforgivable offense."
Edward said. And Shu was baffled by the old beastman's ability to ignore the best possible solution.
"If it's unforgivable, then you have nothing you can do but swear your lifelong allegiance to him."
Emilia said.
"Okay, that's what I'll do."
Edward sounded enthusiastic and then knocked on the door.
'I'm not even angry. He really doesn't need to go that far. But if I tell him that, he would know I was eavesdropping on their conversation.'
Shu thought to himself.
"You can come in."
Shu said, and Edward and Emilia entered his room.
Edward bowed on the ground for forgiveness and swore his allegiance to Shu.
"There's really no need for this. I don't hold any grudge against you."
Shu said, trying desperately to make the old beastman lift his head.
"All I need you to do is tell me if your people need anything."
Shu said to Edward, and Edward seemed to have been moved to tears by Shu's words.
"Young lord! You are truly too generous!"
Edward said.
Edward and Emilia left the room and started walking toward their rooms.
"Your plan to sound pathetic outside his door so he could hear me and feel sorry for me worked, thank you."
Edward said happily to Emilia.
Shu heard what he said, smirked, and mumbled to himself.
"That sly devil."
********
They neared their second stop, 'Port of the Human.'
"We are getting close to the port of the human, but don't let this name fool you. This port is named this way because most of the population are angels who serve the human god."
Dam explained before they went out to the docks.
"Why are we stopping here?"
Thomas asked since he wanted to find his daughter as soon as possible.
"We need to acquire a few things before we can use our farm properly, so we are stopping here to buy them."
Dam explained.
They went outside the ship and started walking toward the market.
The streets were silent, and no one was in sight.
"What is going on?"
Hannah asked.
"I don't know."
Dam answered, but it was clear that something was off.
Then, a giant image of a man appeared in the sky and said.
"Welcome to the passengers from the Cahol family's flagship. I am the new king of this land. State your reason for trespassing onto my island."
"We need to buy resources for our ship."
Dam stated, and the man in the image scanned the group.
"I will let you do as you please as long as the Vulpini comes to my castle."
The man said, and before they could even ask why, Shu started walking toward the man's castle.
Something about how he was moving gave his friends an unsettling feeling, but they weren't sure why.
He walked through the barren streets of the city until he reached a castle at the center of the island.
It was a big castle with many decorations and images of crosses to symbolize the human god.
He entered the throne room.
On the throne, there was a middle-aged man with black hair, red eyes, and black wings who smirked at the sight of Shu.
"So I'm not the only one."
The man said.
"Avraham Rex, GOD'S AUTHORITY. What is it you want?"
Shu said coldly in a weirdly familiar way. As if he already knew who the person in front of him was.
"So you know me. Well, it should be expected from GOD'S PROPHESY."
The man said.
"You used your ability to know everything in the area you declared your own. You are one fortunate angel to possess that gift, especially with your greed."
Shu said with that same monotone voice and looked around at the giant hall they were in. It was a glorious show of this man's greed, mountains of gold stolen from the vanished citizens' houses laid by his chair in the great hall.
"All I want is to win the competition, no matter how many lives it takes."
Avraham Rex said.
The man was surprised to see that Shu had no apparent reaction to what he said.
"How is it possible? I am the god of this island! How can the information I see and your reaction, not correlate?"
Avraham Rex started to panic.
"Divinity."
Shu answered and seemed happy to find out that the man in front of him did not know what is divinity.
"So we are not there yet... Disappointing that this is just a future memory and not the real me. If I could come back and undo some choices... Thomas... but it's impossible. Well, it's your time to die."
Shu said and dashed in Avraham's direction.
Avraham tried to attack Shu, he shot beams of light in the young beastman's direction, but Shu evaded everything as if he could see the future.
He reached Avraham, and with a single punch, he beat him.
"Too bad it's this early. If only it were one or two months later. Then, I should have been able to actually, kill him. Or is this not one of these timelines..."
Shu said and sighed.
His regular expression came back, and he went back to normal.
He joined his friends again and saw that the streets were full of angels.
"When did the streets get this full?"
Shu asked.
"Oh, you are already back. What did that guy want?"
Thomas asked.
"Just wanted to fight. I won. So there's nothing to worry about."
Shu answered.
He wasn't sure what precisely happened. He remembered some bits of information, but the thing he remembered the most was only a sing word, "divinity."
Hannah looked at him as he walked back toward the ship. For some reason, she thought the color of his eyes was brighter when he went to the castle.
********
They bought everything they needed and went back to the ship.
Shu went directly to his room and had a weird expression.
It wasn't an emotionless face. It was an expression of dread.
Emilia noticed this and followed him to his room.
He sat down on his bed and did not say a thing.
"Are you okay?"
Emilia asked with a calming tone.
"I don't know."
He answered.
"What happened?"
She asked.
"I don't know. I can't fully remember what happened. But I have a bad feeling that something is going to happen."
He explained.
She sat on his bed by his side and hugged him.
"If you ever need help, I'm here."
Emilia said.
"Thank you."
Shu said and hugged her back.
********
Dam and Hannah used a spell to send a message to everyone on the ship.
"In two weeks, we will reach the new lands. No more detours."
Everyone heard Dam's massage.
In two weeks, they will enter the decisive part of the tournament.