"No man is as alive as one who has faced the wrath of a dragon and walked away bearing its mark."
— Anonymous
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Walking through the city, I stumbled upon a shop selling affordable clothing. With my meager budget, I could only afford a single cheap pair, and even that purchase consumed most of my Lien. Still, it was a significant improvement over my current attire, simply because it was brand new. I needed new clothes—my old ones were starting to look ragged. Weeks of washing them in seawater on the island had taken a toll.
Which reminded me—I still hadn't decided on a name for the island. I really should get around to that.
After purchasing the clothes, I ignored the strange look the cashier gave me as I exited wearing them. I began wandering the city to get a better sense of my surroundings and to expand my Map for future convenience.
Vale was a beautiful city. The architecture, the people—everything about it was eye-catching for someone as foreign as me. Though I tried to control my wandering gaze, I often found myself glancing at the Faunus people. They were fascinating. I mean, come on—they were basically this world's equivalent of demihumans. Of course, I mentally chastised myself for even thinking that term; it came across as derogatory. Regardless, as a former fantasy enthusiast, I couldn't help but marvel at the real-world examples walking on the road.
Still, no matter how curious I was, I didn't want to be rude, so I turned my attention back to the scenery.
Before I realized it, I had wandered quite deep into the city. Vale was enormous, and by now I was essentially lost, wandering aimlessly. But I wasn't worried—my Map ensured I wouldn't be truly lost, and I could always portal back to the island if necessary.
I checked my Inventory, where I had stashed the remaining Lien, to see if I could afford a meal. My hunger was growing, and I had passed several tempting cafés and restaurants on the way. The return of my appetite was oddly reassuring, as my lack of interest in food and water during my time on the island had been more than a little unsettling. The only reason I wasn't in full panic mode was that I hadn't noticed any negative side effects from not eating properly.
'Doesn't hurt to check for a cheap place and glance at their menu.'
I mused.
'If I can't afford anything, I can just slip out quietly. Awkward, maybe, but survivable.'
With that plan in mind, I set out to find a place to eat. If nothing worked out, I could always return to the island and collect more apples to sell. Speaking of which, I realized I should have done some market research on apple prices while I was at the market. Oh well.
To save time, I entered an alleyway to cross over to the next block, where I spotted a crowd that seemed promising. Midway through the alley, though, I froze at the sight ahead.
***
Two rugged men had cornered a young woman in a shady alcove of the alley. They wore dangerous grins as one of them spoke.
"Alright, lady. Let's not make a fuss, yeah? Hand over the purse, and we'll all be on our merry way."
The first spoke, his grin confident yet promising a bad time if things didn't go as he wished.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be. We've got places to be, and I'm sure you'd rather be somewhere else too. Just give us the purse and that watch, and we'll call it a day."
The second thug added.
Their grins widened. Meanwhile, the young woman—a short, brown-haired girl who might have been in her late teens—studied them with a peculiar, introspective look.
The whole scene screamed damsel in distress, with two ruffians cornering an innocent girl. All that was missing was the hero swooping in to save her.
Apparently, I was that hero.
I sighed, already regretting the decision to intervene. Fighting wasn't my thing, and I had no experience dealing with people like this. Growing up in a good neighborhood—and probably with a healthy dose of luck—I'd never encountered thugs like these before.
And yet, I couldn't just walk away.
Bad apples existed in every world, it seemed.
'Heh. Bad Apples. An Apple reference.'
Momentarily distracted and amused by my own thoughts, I started walking towards the trio with a firm resolve. It helped that I was empowered by leveling up and fighting the Grimm alongside my dragons.
"Hey!"
I called out, reaching close enough for them to hear my voice and notice me.
All three turned to face me. The thugs looked surprised, while the girl… well, her expression shifted into a small, almost amused smile.
"What do ya want, chump?"
One thug growled, trying to intimidate me with his glare.
Too bad for him, I'd fought Grimm and lived alongside dragons. Real monsters made these guys look like amateurs. So, I stayed calm as I responded.
"What I want…"
I emphasized the word.
"… is for you two to leave her alone and get lost."
Predictably, that didn't go over well. One of them pulled out a brass knuckle, and the other produced a pocketknife.
Well, that escalated quickly.
'Oh. They're armed. Just my luck.'
I sighed and narrowed my eyes, keeping track of their hands
"Look, we don't have to do this."
I raised my hands in a placating gesture, trying to de-escalate because I wasn't exactly gung-ho enough to fight two weapon-clad men while I was completely unarmed.
"Just leave, and we'll all walk away happy."
But even without a visible weapon and against two grown ass men with weapons, I wasn't afraid.
I had the hand-made spears in my Inventory but they were inside my Inventory and I couldn't just pull it out of thin air in front of these people. That could be problematic.
Not that I didn't plan to do it regardless in case it turned out that I'd be hurt or worse otherwise.
"Screw you. You need to be taught a lesson. Don't put your nose inside other people's business!"
The second thug threatened, stepping towards me menacingly while baring his knuckle-covered first, all while the other one turned to double his efforts to threaten the poor girl.
'Shit.'
I tensed as the second thug approached, watching his movements closely. So focused was I on his approaching form that for a second, I didn't realize my perception had sped up and the approaching guy was looking like he was walking in slow motion.
Soon though, I realized that, and by that time he was close enough to attack. I noticed the motion of his hand clearly and with my enhanced reflexes, tilted my body to the side to avoid his knuckled fist which was aimed at my stomach.
It probably would have caused me quite grievous harm if it had hit me when I was still normal. And I wasn't interested in testing my resilience against it now either. As the man over-reached due to missing my form, I moved, grabbing his extended hand with my left hand and clenching my right fist to deliver a haymaker punch to his side, returning the favor.
I didn't, however, put my all into the punch as I realized that my punches might be too strong for a normal person, perhaps to the point where they were deadly if they hit a vulnerable point.
Still, the punch I delivered was strong enough to make the thug's eye bulge out with a painful surprise causing him to groan in sharp pain as he slumped to the ground, unable to get up.
I glanced at the other thug—and froze.
It was my turn to be surprised as I saw him lying on the floor in a very awkward position, with his face kissing the ground and hips raised, all while he clutched at his privates.
All of this had happened in the small time-frame when I was dealing with the other thug. How?
'Uhhh…'
I stared at the man, then at the girl who was just standing on the side looking almost… innocent.
I looked around to see if there was anyone else present who did this and upon finding no one looked back at the groaning and croaking man clutching his groins and then finally back to the girl.
"What just happened?"
I blurted out.
She smiled but said nothing.
'How did she…?'
I eventually shook off the confusion and instead approached her, leaving the second thug who was also clutching his side and groaning on the ground to his own fate.
"Are you alright, miss?"
I asked reflexively out of politeness. It was unexpected, but it turned out the girl wasn't as helpless as I had assumed at first.
It came out as one heck of a surprise though.
She nodded and glanced at the groaning thug with disdain before turning back to me and smiling.
I returned the smile reflexively.
"Good to hear. Should we call the police? Or…"
I trailed off, gesturing vaguely at the thugs. I didn't have a cellphone, so I was hoping she'd have one and make the call.
The girl tapped her chin in thought, then shrugged, dismissing the idea. I didn't push her. I hummed and didn't push. If she didn't want to call the police on them, I'd not bother either.
'Although…'
I quickly turned and collected the weapons they had, pocketing them for now and planning on putting them inside my Inventory later when I was not being seen by anyone.
The girl looked at me while I did that, a clear expression of curiosity written on her face.
I finally turned to face her after collecting the weapons from the thugs and explained.
"Just in case. It'd be better if they didn't have such weapons to threaten others, since we're not calling the police on them."
She merely shrugged again, neither agreeing nor protesting.
For better or for worse, she didn't seem overly affected by the events just now. I too shrugged off that thought for now and followed her out of the alley and into the streets, silently putting the weapons inside my Inventory when she wasn't looking. It'd be problematic if someone caught me with such things in public later.
When we reached the main road, I turned to her.
"Alright, I'll be on my way. Take care and try to avoid alleys, yeah?"
I politely recommended and waited for her to reply. She instead looked at me without speaking anything, just staring at me.
The silence stretched, and I started to fidget, wondering why she wasn't responding. Finally, she nodded and smiled faintly.
I returned the smile—awkward but polite—and turned to leave.
"Alright, I'll, uh, go then. Bye."
I turned to walk away, leaving the strange girl standing there.
Walking away a couple steps, I briefly glanced back, noticing her just standing there watching me with an inscrutable expression.
'Okay. This is weird. I'm definitely not imagining it. She's totally weirding me out.'
I turned back and focused on moving away from the oddly silent girl, trying to put her behind me and focusing on my original goal of finding a restaurant. The important thing was that she wasn't harmed or gotten her things stolen by those good-for-nothing fellows. So, what if she was a bit odd?
***
It turned out I could afford a few things even with my meager Lien. After some deliberation, I bought a small burrito wrap and a cola, planning to eat while exploring the streets of Vale.
Despite trying to focus on the city's sights, the image of the silent girl kept resurfacing in my mind. I wasn't sure what to make of the whole incident. First of all, I was confused about how to refer to her—was she a young woman or just a girl? Her age was unclear. Then there was her silence, which stood out, and her lack of reaction when confronted by two thugs. Whatever the case, she wasn't a typical person; that much was certain. She was an enigma.
Taking another bite of the burrito and a sip of cola, I strolled along a wide, main road that led to an imposing tower in the distance. It immediately piqued my curiosity, so I headed that way, still in full tourist mode and managing to enjoy myself despite the odd encounter earlier.
As I got closer, signs and boards helped me figure out the structure's purpose: it was the Vale CCT Tower, part of the system connecting the four kingdoms via the CCT network.
'CCT—Cross Continental Transmit System.'
It was essentially this world's solution to near-global internet connectivity. And it looked awesome. It reminded me of a mix between a colossal fantasy tower, complete with supporting spires, and a high-tech sci-fi rocket silo.
Access to the CCT grounds was open to the public since the site served as a telephone and internet hub, much like a futuristic internet café, surrounded by a sprawling park. Intrigued, I wandered into the area to marvel at this technological marvel. These towers were some of the most advanced achievements of Remnant that were publicly known, serving as a backbone for digital interconnectivity between otherwise isolated kingdoms. The CCT also powered Scrolls— the Remnant equivalent of smartphones.
There was a fair crowd of people, mostly humans though I could see some faunus present as well.
They milled about the multiple gates and pathways at the tower's base, tending to their business.
I was eager to check out the computers of this world. From my memories—both instilled and original—it was clear that technology here surpassed that of Earth. They had functional robots, translucent smartphones, weaponized mechas, and more. There was a special flare to the technology of this world that fancied me.
Looking down at my almost-finished burrito, I realized I had been slowly nibbling at it while marveling at the tower and its surroundings. Unfortunately, my cola was long gone, tossed in a dustbin before entering the CCT park.
The burrito, however, was worth savoring. I probably would have wolfed it down otherwise.
Scanning the area, I found an empty bench nearby and decided to sit down to finish the wrap. Something told me I'd not be welcomed inside on the systems while holding a burrito, my hand a smudged in sauce. Thankfully, I had been provided napkins alongside, to clean my hands afterward.
Finishing the burrito, I cleaned my hands and threw the used napkin in a nearby dustbin, landing a perfect dunk.
'Hah! Score.'
I mentally celebrated.
It must've been my enhanced physical attributes, allowing me to pull off an effortless throw like that. The pre-enhanced version of me definitely would've missed.
As I chuckled to myself over the minor victory, I didn't immediately notice another figure sitting at the far end of my bench.
Turning back briefly, I halted as I saw the figure of the girl who had sat beside me.
.
.
.
'Huh?'
[Notice!]
[A System update has been released! Click on the [Change Log] to see all the new add-ons and changes to the System.]
***