Chapter Six: Accept Defeat
The door of the Chief's house was broken in by tall slender elf men who barged into the house. Their slanted eyes became slit when they saw a stranger over their Chief and the Chief's daughter.
"Seize him!"
"Um... you really shouldn't..."
"Stop!"
The weapon the elf girl rose to the air and pointed at the men. The old elf shivered, and she carefully rested him on the wall and left the ground. "This is my father's guest."
"Guest?" a young elf man mocked. "What is he even? Are you bringing other species in here again!"
Benign's ears pricked up at the 'again'.
The elf girl held unto her weapon but kept it pointed at the men. "He is a member of the protectors of the realms and confirmed it by saving my father from glitching. What do you make of that?"
The men gasped and turned to their chief. "Sir, you experienced a glitch?! Did this young man save you?"
The chief breathed slowly, and most of his composure had returned to him as he was no longer in a panic. He nodded and spoke. "He is a strange man, but he did save me."
The gasps increased and the elf women standing behind the men began murmuring. Some children stared at the guest in an admiring way while some feared him.
Benign stood there, not really liking the situation. He should've been proclaimed a hero, not like he committed a crime.
"And Legal, you should really stop the habit of waiting for me to ask you for a solution before telling me. I'm new to this so need the tips. Okay?"
[I should not let you think for yourself and give you all solutions in a platter of gold? Noted.]
Benign grunted. His system must need a timeout. How long had he been doing this that he sounded so tired already? He looked up when the murmurings increased again. A huge elf of almost ten feet matched towards him, holding an axe over his shoulders. The elf girl lowered her weapon and pushed it in Benign's hand.
"Excuse me?"
"He'd want to duel with you as you say you're a protector of the realms." The elf girl explained.
Benign cocked his brows. He had no idea that protectors of the realms were real, and usually fought with trees to prove themselves.
"I shouldn't kill him, right?" he asked, as his own weapons looked more efficient than the one he was being handed.
The girl's eyes widened, then she smiled. "Please, hold back a bit. He's just trying to protect the village from those he thinks are fake." Then she jumped back.
Benign looked down at the weapon. Could he make it float and disengage like she usually used it or he'd need a certain amount of magic to do that?
Also, this had nothing to do with what he should be doing now. There wasn't time to test out his skills compared to elves that were obviously more flexible.
The elves watching had circled him and we're anticipating the match to happen. Some began chanting the name of of their warrior.
The huge elf stood before Benign, dropped his axe from his shoulders to the ground and it stuck there. "Greetings, protector of our blessed realms. Would you grant me this grace of duelling with you—"
"How about no?" Benign interrupted.
The elf paused. Benign nodded and repeated. "My answer is a no. I have been wandering the desert for long and finally found a village to gather information and you want to fight me? Speak about rude. Sorry, I'd pass."
There was silence amongst the elf men. The elf girl face palmed but Benign could care less... until the axe left the last position he had seen it.
With a loud thud, it broke down the rock Benign had rested on after giving his answer. He had to move half a second before the impact or he'd have been turned to splat.
"You don't listen, do you?" he gripped the weapon he got from the girl, and blocked the next hit. The elf's strength was immense, and the impact made him stumble. The elf used his advantage, pushing down his weapon on Benign.
"Are you really a protector, you wimp! I could even do better!" the elf man yelled as he hit the weapon pit of Benign's hand and it stuck on the wall behind him.
The girl tried coming to stop them, but Benign blocked her, and he grabbed the revolver with his other hand. "If you could do better, why aren't you a protector, huh!"
He shot twice at the elf but it got slapped off with the shin on his fists. The others cheered and the huge elf wore a smirk on deflating the bullets. "What other truck—"
But a smirk grew on Benign's lips as the bullets ricocheted on the weapon stuck on the wall, then bounced back to the elf man and him.
There were screams when the bullets lodged on the elf's man's shoulder, and the other in Benign's stomach. He hisses in pain, but kept his smirk.
"Now let's see who'd die or who'd heal first? You better not lose a battle of endurance after having such impressive strength." He mocked as the man's face twisted.
An elf woman ran forward but the elf girl raised her hand and she stopped. "Your husband proposed a duel." The girl reminded. "Respect his decision, Nala."
The elf woman sobbed and ran back to her but, and that made Benign feel guilty as as his wounds were already healing due to his gifts.
The bullet dropped to the ground when the outer layer of his skin healed, and those who saw it gasped in disbelief. The elf man crouched to the ground, struggling with his pain.
"Do you accept defeat? You should have known strength wouldn't be all about being a Protector of Realms? I protected your chief and that should be enough."
Worry seeped into the heart of the elves who watched as their warrior resisted the pain. Benign only wished he'd be less prideful and accept his lose.
He was surely stronger than he was, and even if he had his best weapons back in his 'human' realm, he'd have a hard time dodging him or matching his speed.
"You lose." Their Chief announced suddenly.