"Whoa, this place looks sick…"
This was Wang Jin's first reaction to the restaurant Maher had taken him to. It wasn't too far; about a minute of walking.
What really took his breath away was the entire appearance of the place. Namely, it was situated quite closely to the main road, and as such was very hard to miss.
The entire restaurant itself was all outdoor. Dozens of chairs, each paired in groups of two were neatly placed around the main kitchen, where the staff worked.
Thankfully, it wasn't too busy at this time of day. Grabbing a nearby seat, Wang Jin sat down and continued looking around in elation.
"You just sit tight. I'll go get us some food." Maher said.
This place was truly an oasis in the desert, a paradise in a wasteland. Everywhere Wang Jin looked, it reminded him of the calmness and tranquility of the fields where he used to live.
"Help! I'm being robbed!"
The voice of a young girl caught Wang Jin's attention. Looks like crime never rested, no matter the time. The same went for heroes.
"In broad daylight, seriously?" Wang Jin looked around and didn't notice Maher anywhere.
Not wanting to burden his patron any further, he figured he could spare some time to save a damsel in distress and return before his caretaker noticed he was even gone.
And so, with the speed of a Windshear Hare, Wang Jin ran through the nearby alleys, following the voice closely.
No less than a few seconds later did he arrive at the source of the sound.
There, Wang Jin spotted four figures, surrounding a helpless girl in the alleyway. One of them was holding the girl's purse in his hand as the victim tried to pull it back.
But that wasn't what surprised him. Sure, a robbery was taking place, but Wang Jin couldn't figure out how Maher had managed to make it there before he did.
"Oh, Wang Jin? Apologies, my friend, but you'll have to starve for a bit. Got some ruffians to take care of here." Maher explained, cracking his knuckles while he did so.
"Gotcha! You worry about the thugs, I'll save the girl."
Boosting himself with his wind magic, Wang Jin instantly appeared beside the girl. Unfazed, he pulled the purse back, before kicking the thieves in the direction of Maher.
Wang Jin's sudden speed had caught Maher by surprise, much so that he raised an eye in astonishment. But even so, that changed things for the better, and made his job way easier.
"Go, get out of here, missy."
In another split second, Wang Jin had brought the girl with him to Maher's location and let her free.
"Your speed is unexpected of your rank, Wang Jin. Are you perhaps an outlier?"
"What's that?"
"It's a term the people of Tthur use to refer to fighters who display talents unexpected of their rank. From what I can tell… you're D rank, no?"
"Bah, what about it? Gonna rub it in my face, Maher?" Wang Jin replied, a bit hurt.
"No, of course not. I meant it as a compliment. But let's talk later, shall we? For now, let's send these thugs in."
No more words were spoken between the two. Still, they both put on their respective grins before getting into their battle stances.
With a halfhearted mutter, Wang Jin activated Iron Style, wrapping his arms in a metallic shell.
On the other hand, Maher preferred to fight without enhancements for this battle.
"Shit! Get them!"
Realizing they had nowhere to run, the thieves made a last ditch effort to maintain their lives of crime. All five of them pulled out extendable metallic batons and charged towards the duo.
Not waiting for his enemies to get to him first (and perhaps a bit too eager for action), Wang Jin shot forward, his wind propelling him to the thieves. Maher followed close behind, somehow managing to keep up with his speed through sheer physical ability alone.
"Gah!"
The first thief was sent flying backwards when Wang Jin's elbow made contact with his solar plexus.
The thugs clearly outnumbered them in manpower, and they clearly knew that. Two of the thugs branched off from the other two before approaching their respective opponents.
"Too slow," Maher remarked as he easily sidestepped an overhead swing from one of the thieves, before retaliating with a backhand chop of his own.
The other one seemed to be the more skilled in combat technique, knowing basic martial arts. He engaged Maher carefully, gauging his strength.
But upon seeing his opponent dispatch one of them in a single swing, his mind instantly went crazy.
"Let me guess, you're thinking… how am I going to get out of this alive? Right?"
"Well," Maher continued, "the answer is you won't!"
The thug shrieked in fear before blindly charging, only to meet an immovable wall that was Maher's palm. A simple sideways sweep from his ankles, and the man lost his balance and was knocked out upon hitting the ground.
Maher turned to Wang Jin, who was still engaged in combat with the two thugs. However, instead of engaging, Maher simply leaned against the wall and watched the latter utterly decimate the two thugs.
"First… a pop! Then, papap! Finally, a vroosh," was what Wang Jin said as he performed a point blank jab, two straight kicks, and a single roundhouse kick.
That was all to it. The thugs were left to experience the unbridled and perhaps pent up rage of Wang Jin as he mercilessly removed their consciousness from the present world.
"Good job, Wang Jin." Maher clapped. "Where'd you learn to fight like that, my friend?"
"Oh, here and there, ya know. But more importantly, are cases like this common? Are assaults this widespread?"
"Unfortunately, yes." Maher replied, sounding solemn. "The Guardians do their best to maintain peace and order, but I'm afraid that group has too many members."
"...what group?" Wang Jin asked, his tone suddenly appearing nervous.
"The Sand Riders." Maher replied, not noticing Wang Jin silently sigh in relief.
"If you guys don't mind, I'd like to help in clearing them out of Sahara City." Wang Jin asked.
While it seemed like he was going on a detour from his original mission, this was actually a rather smart move from Wang Jin's part. Knowing basically next to nothing about this place, he knew it would take months, maybe even years to uncover the third edition book if he had no assistance.
And if he were to help The Guardians in some way or another, then he would most likely be able to ask a favor in return.
"That'd be wonderful! You know, the city has been in a real dire need of more capable fighters that we'd even take anyone, as long as they aren't criminals, haha!"
"Well, good thing I ain't a criminal, hehe." Wang Jin replied, joining in the joke. "I'll head back to the restaurant now, I'm kinda hungry. See you there."
Just as Wang Jin turned around and was about to leave, he felt his body weight drastically shift from light to heavy. The feeling was similar to the first time he encountered the C rank demon back in the entrance exam. This was the most terrifying amount of killing intent he had ever felt, though, aside from that one time in his early childhood. It was deep, and held an outstandung amount of hatred.
Maher's voice quietly echoed from the end of the alleyway. "Well, I don't have qualms about a liar, either."
"What do you mean…?" Wang Jin asked, almost suffocating under the pressure.
"You know what I mean. Spill it out, my friend. I know you didn't come here to simply visit a friend."