Chapter 8:

  Jade was up before him in the morning, inspecting a map with intense focus, as if studying for an exam.

  "South of us is Gongadion, on the border of the great Arenosum desert. From there, we travel through the desert to Sunden, the capital. If there's anywhere we can get information on Nexus, it's there."

  She said it with confidence. Shogai couldn’t help but believe her. None of those names meant anything to him, but he understood the gist of it.

  "Does Armison know where Nexus is? He seems like he would."

  "No idea. I refused to ever read his mind because he deserves his privacy. If he knows, he clearly can't tell us. Maybe it's a test. Maybe he doesn't want the Nexeans to think we're weak, or maybe he can’t risk word getting out for unworthy hunters to follow." Jade traced the route on the map with her finger. "Either way, the capital is where travellers go for information. That's what my grandfather always said."

  Jade folded the map carefully and tucked it away.

  "In that case, let's leave before we get ourselves into trouble."

  The two returned their key to the front desk and left the inn. It was early morning, so not many people were around. A few shopkeepers were opening up, and a few children were playing in the streets. There didn't seem to be any threatening people around.

  Shogai inspected the remaining loaf of bread from a shopkeeper.

  "Hey, Jade, what's the plan for Gongadion? If it really is a two-day walk, we need more food than this. Can we afford it? Can we carry it? Do we have a tent? Where are we going to store the food while we sleep? How-?”

  “It’s… a problem, yeah. My leading plan is that we hire a horse and cart, but if we can’t afford that, well, we can always steal if we have to. We’d return it-”

  "No. I refuse."

  Jade raised an eyebrow at Shogai, seemingly startled by his defiance. She then looked past him and whispered, "Hide, quick!"

  With no hesitation, Shogai followed Jade into an alleyway, and they crouched down. Shogai glanced around the corner and saw the problem. The drunk man was up, with his two lackeys.

  "He's not drunk," Jade said quietly. "I can't knock him out without raising suspicion. Let's avoid him."

  "Got it."

  The two held their breath as the man walked around, muttering something about losing his money. He turned and walked back toward the inn. Shogai and Jade exhaled in relief.

  "Close call. Now let's go."

  A girl screamed behind them.

  The two turned to see the man grabbing the arm of a teenage girl. She had a hood up, and he was accusing her of being suspicious and stealing from him. The girl freed her arm and tried to run, but her hood fell off, and the man grabbed onto her purple hair. She yelped and called out for help, but people turned away. They didn't want to get involved in a mess.

  She screamed as the man yanked her hair, and Shogai was immediately taken into the village, flames around him, and the children screaming as Sekara cut them down. No… he can save her. For her sake.

  Shogai recognised the girl's expression change to something more serious. Her fear was replaced with a cold and calculated glare. The message in her eyes was clear: if no one was going to help her, she was going to deal with him herself.

  Shogai stepped forward to stop them both. He had a suspicion as to why he was doing this, and to put it plainly, it wasn’t to protect her. She wasn’t the one in danger.

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  "That's enough," he said loudly.

  Jade tugged on his arm, warning him of what he was about to get into, but Shogai was determined to talk sense into the man. Surely even someone like him had a moral compass.

  "You've been robbed. That's unfortunate, but what's the point in targeting random people? Just get over it."

  Shogai heard Jade sigh beside him. Had he said something wrong?

  Evidently so, since the man threw the girl aside and rushed at Shogai, punching him in the stomach. The impact sent Shogai stumbling back a few feet. The man smirked and held up his fist, which was lightly steaming, as if Shogai would be intimidated.

  So he had super strength as well. It was very unimpressive - Shogai barely felt it.

  Men like him deserved humiliation.

  "My turn."

  Shogai clenched his fist, and it became engulfed in red energy, growing to the size of a basketball. The glow lit up the area in an eerie colour, and some leaves on the floor rose in response to the energy being emitted. Compared to Shogai, that man was nothing.

  The man was terrified as he watched Shogai charge up. He slowly backed away. Shogai jumped toward him, pretending to launch the blow, and the man sprinted away immediately.

  Shogai powered down, and a few people around him clapped.

  "Are you alri-"

  The purple-haired girl was already gone.

  An old man in a top hat and a cane came up to Shogai.

  "That was a wonderful start to my day, seeing him put in his place. Thank you, boy."

  The man offered Shogai a few coins - silver and gold. Shogai insisted he couldn't take them, but the man was persistent. Eventually, the man gave in, seeing little point in arguing to give away his money. He still thanked Shogai expressively before walking away.

  "You were the one worried about money, you know," Jade said. But she understood him.

  "It felt more like a duty to step in, you know? Not a burden. No need to get paid for something so small."

  "It meant a lot to these people."

  The rest of the way to the south gate was uneventful. There were horses ready for hire.

  "Shall we go for it? It could make our journey a lot easier," Shogai kept his fingers crossed that Jade’s Plan A would work.

  The duo walked up to the horse owner and asked how much it would cost.

  "How much are you offering?" the owner asked.

  Shogai and Jade pooled all their coins onto a table and said they'd do it for half of what they had. The owner counted the coins and picked one up.

  "All the coins or nothing," he said, slipping the coin into his back pocket.

  "We can't afford that," Jade said. "It's fine - we'll take back our coins now."

  "Well now... maybe reconsider..."

  The man picked up another coin and flashed a badge on his chest.

  "I'm an honoured citizen of Harabel. You two are not. One word to those guards there that an outsider is causing disruption, and you're in the dungeons."

  Shogai's blood boiled, but the guard didn't notice.

  "Of course, I'm not unreasonable. Take the horse - I'm a nice guy. I'll just be grabbing these-"

  He greedily turned back to the table, and all the money was gone. The man jumped, gazing around sharply, confused. He then faced the two.

  "Stealing your money back, hmm? In that case, no horse!"

  He stormed away with his horses, hands clenching the two coins in his pocket.

  Shogai whispered to Jade. "You didn't do that, did you?"

  "Shh."

  Jade took off her necklace, which had a large jewel on it, and held it up for the world to see.

  "Jade, what are you doing? Do you want us to lose that, too?" Shogai hissed.

  "Trust me. Just be on guard. I need you to be fast," she whispered back.

  Jade then tripped - a very deliberate, dramatic topple. No one was going to fall for it. “Oops.”

  Her necklace flew out of her hands and soared through the air. Shogai watched it, fully on guard for whatever she was planning, and suddenly noticed a blur heading toward the necklace.

  Shifting to offence, Shogai jumped toward the necklace, attempting to snatch it before the blur did, but even with his speed boost, he was too slow. The figure grabbed the necklace and turned to run.

  "Oh no, you don't."

  Shogai leapt forward and managed to grab onto the thief, sending them both tumbling into an alleyway, out of sight. A few moments later, Jade caught up as the thief was slowly getting to their feet.

  Shogai didn't hesitate to pin them against the wall.

  "Jade, take over their mind. Find out what they've done with our money."

  "Got it."

  Jade’s eyes closed, and the thief put their hands up.

  "Alright, alright! I give up!"

  The voice was female. The thief pulled her hood off to reveal long purple hair with black highlights.

  "Hi, I'm Kiara. I'll return your money, so please let me go. Deal?"