Flun was overlooking the crowded ground from a window of a house. He had a sharp and angular nose. On the right side of his face, a burn mark ran from his temple down to his cheeks, giving him an intimidating appearance despite his age.
There were five more 20-year-olds present in the room, waiting for their turn. This activity was slowly turning into another casual Monday for them.
"I spotted one. That skeleton guy in a white shirt is mine." Flun declared as he passed the binoculars to another guy in the room. "The curtain is about to fall," he warned as a bald guy took the position near the window, which served as an outlook.
The four guys, who were sitting around a table, paused and looked at Flun before continuing playing cards. They were waiting for their turn to spot a prey.
One common thing these young men shared was full sleeved shirts. They appear to be hiding their arms despite being muscular young men.
"I am tagging along," Martin got up from the table as he slammed his cards on the table. He was shorter than Flun but had longer hair and narrow, cunning eyes.
"Take your first loss like a man," the muscular guy at the table sneered at Martin. He slammed the tables and the playing cards on the table bounced a little.
"You fools can't beat me in a million years," Martin said without looking back at the table. The guys at the table quit complaining when they turned his cards.
"I am not interesting in sharing the reward with you", Flun smirked as he responded to Martin. He left the room in a gust of wind, but his spiky hair remained unmoved.
His eyes were electric as he rushed in the same direction as Atlus.
. . .
Atlus headed away from the crowd of the ground. Steams of people were coming towards him and it felt like he was the only on going in that direction. If possible, he wanted to drink the potion near the sea. Crococliff seemed like the perfect place.
His hand shielded his pocket as he walked, fearing that someone might pickpocket the potion.
He decided to cross the road since the wind told him the sea was in that direction. A horse carriage was incoming, but he crossed the road anyway, while leisurely eying the horses.
The old carriage driver gave him a stern glance as he passed by.
But it wasn't just the carriage driver who had noticed him. Two shadowy figures had been following him since he left the ground. They also quickened their pace, almost panicking as they saw him cross the road.
"Got of a wind of us, has he?" Martin said. "Let's give it a chase."
"No wait," Flun caught Martin's arm. "Running here will make people notice."
So, they stuck to their quickened pace and kept following from the opposite side of the road. But to their pleasant surprise, Atlus was taking the road less traveled.
But the duo's joy didn't last for long as Atlus turned to look back.
His eyes met with the spiky-haired Flun. His novel instincts screamed that he was being followed. He tried to act nonchalant. He even slowed down a little as he took a carefree turn into a nearby corner.
And as soon as there was a house to block the sight of the duo from him, he ran. Every youngster he met knew how to use magic. There was no merit in taking a fight - no cause to fight for, no person to save except himself.
"I will pay back this humiliation a hundredfold," he screamed in his heart, realizing shamelessly running was actually fun.
However, fear gripped him as soon as he heard the sound of running footsteps behind him. Trusting his novel decisions was the correct move, as it was turning out.
He turned his head to see the pursuer. A spiky-haired guy was 100 meters away from him and the distance rapidly closing. Sooner than he realized, a hand was pouncing on him. The fingers were curved like a snake's mouth and orange sparks were flashing between them.
Atlus looked at the sparks with wide eyes, accepting that he couldn't outrun this person. He looked for an opportunity. And there it was between Flun's legs.
He abruptly turned his body and executed an upward kick. Although he slipped, his leg traveled well on its way to hit the mark.
Ahhoooo!
The pain made Flun's soul howl like a wolf. His hands moved to cover his vulnerable spot as he sat on the ground like an emotional girl with inverted legs.
Atlus was just betting on a hail mary, but evidently magic-users were men too.
He laughed out loud as he stopped to observe his defeated foe. "Mess with the king and you shall get the kick."
Before he could finish Flun off with another kick, Martin appeared in the distance, running towards him at full speed.
Atlus smirked. This person was nowhere near as fast. This head start would be enough for him to get away. But as he was about to run away, Flun's hand touched his leg.
Zzzzzzzzz!
A zap of electricity entered through his leg and traveled towards his heart. He felt his muscles went tense as the shock overtook him. In the blink of an eye, his mind went blank. He lost all sense of his surroundings and fell on the road.
Martin's smiled widened as both Atlus and Flun were down on the ground. His running accelerated, his eyes on the prize which was most likely hidden inside Atlus' clothes.
He was about to close the distance when a few round marbles rolled down on the road, silently sabotaging his steps to make him fall face first on the ground. In time, he used his arms to lessen the impact of the fall.
But a rabbit masked guy suddenly punched on him and knocked him out with a single punch to the head.