Chapter 31: The Poacher

  “Stupid egg?” Came the far more perplexed than offended response from the man armored in his fancy [Mark 3 Enkidu Evolution Suit]. “What does that even mean?” The blonde-haired man in his lizard suit took a moment to consider. “Ohh, it's a translation thing, you are calling me a dickhead or dumbass, right?”

  That sounded right to me, but I still quietly asked Diaochan to confirm for me. The A.I. spirit made a cute little harrumph noise and insisted she be left out of this madness before vanishing. I could probably force her to come back out and do what I said, but what would actually be the point?

  “Yeah? I think so,” I called back up to him. “ Either way, get down here so I can hurt you for poaching in my forest.”

  Had he been me, I know how I would have reacted, and I don’t think it's unfair to say there is a very good chance I would have launched into an attack before I even reached the ground, hurling myself to fly at the upstart who had dared to claim somewhere I was could ever belong to a person not named Lu Bu.

  Then again, despite my best efforts, the softness of Abeyance City was seeping into even me. Earlier that day, when I had been attended by the pair of old man barbers, I had let several minor slights go, including the chubby one with normal person skin like my own chide me for how I had kept my hair. Back in my previous life, I probably would have at least slapped the man; killing an elder for so little was a tiny bit too disrespectful to the natural order of things, also they did give me a fine haircut.

  “That is, umm, not a very tempting offer.” Said the blonde man with a raised eyebrow.

  In response, I shrugged and yelled some more.

  “Either you can come down, or I come up there and throw you down.”

  “Seriously, you will come up here?”

  “Yes.”

  Actually, it was a lie. I couldn’t really fly anymore, nor flood Qi to my arms and feet, so I could stick to the wall like he was with his claws. It meant I didn’t really have a feasible way to both ascend so many stories high, nor fight effectively once I got up there.

  It turned out not to matter as the man in his lizard armor released his grip on the crumbling building wall. The speed at which he plummeted spoke to a significantly higher weight than I would have thought simply by looking at him. While falling, his armor seemed to reorient itself, twisting like a cat mid-air to land gracefully on all fours.

  To my surprise, he stayed like that, his mechanical tail lashing back and forth as he began to circle me like a predatory animal. Despite his actions and his bestial body language, there was something strangely jovial about this man. I could tell he wasn’t much older than my current body, and though I didn’t know why a young man who could afford this kind of equipment would let his hair be so lank and dirty.

  I know the measure of a warrior isn’t how they look, but if you can’t fight with a little style, a little flair, if you can’t show up looking a bit baroque. What is honestly the point? I know I didn’t work as hard as I did to climb the treacherous path to power, so I could go into battle and ply my craft while looking slovenly.

  Apparently, this man subscribed to a very different school of thought on the matter. In fact, now we were closer, I could see the green paint of his [Enkidu Mark 3 Armor] was chipped and faded, the metal of the false lizard body was scarred with signs of battles, both new and old.

  “I don’t know why you are upset,” he said, meeting my gaze from his weird machine-assisted crouch. “ This place spits out drones pretty quickly; you will be able to farm all the XP you want by tomorrow or the next day.”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  I had no idea what XP was or how one farmed it, but my HUD elaborated for me, proving that despite what she said, Diaochan was still paying attention.

  [XP: A slang term derived from certain hobbies on still living worlds. He means the points that get displayed to fill your Soul Expansion Gauge.]

  “That doesn’t make you any less of a thief,” I growled at him.

  Still on all fours, he looked around as though seeking someone to explain what was happening for him.

  “There are no markers here, none of the clans claim ownership of this particular hunting ground.”

  “I am here, I am Lu Bu, and I say it belongs to me.”

  The man’s eyes went wide for a second before he burst out laughing.

  “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, but that is kind of amazing. A level one in scrap gear, and you are just willing to declare that to someone in an Evolution Suit. If I had that kind of ego, I don’t think I’d ever need therapy again.”

  Dioachan didn’t explain what therapy was, but as I didn’t care what this man did or didn’t go to, it was fairly irrelevant. The lizard-man might think this interaction was on the amusing side, but I did not. While I understood his laughter wasn’t directed at me exactly, so much as he was amused and impressed by my attitude. I, on the other hand, did not find anything about this interaction funny.

  So, naturally, I charged at him with my spear raised to strike. I didn’t know much about this man, had no idea about his stats, and obviously had never seen him fight. I did, however, know a little bit about the nature of Evolution Suits from the siblings explaining them to me, and my own research. Not to mention, I could intuit a few things from the damage I had seen done to the local drones and his movement right now.

  It went without saying that he was going to be fast, given that his suit was level eleven, probably faster than me by a wide margin. The tail would doubtless act as a fifth potential weapon, and he could likely switch between moving like a man or moving like a beast depending on what the situation called for.

  Such a high-level suit could likely withstand multiple stabs or slashes from my spear’s energy blade. His face, however, was entirely unarmored, which is why I came in with a low thrust, only to change the angle at the last second and send it surging towards his eyeline.

  I had plans ready for just about anything the poacher might do in response. I was ready for a counterattack coming from any one, or even multiple of his limbs. I had a theory about disrupting his tail should he lash it at me. I was even ready to hurl myself into the air should he unleash an energy attack.

  The lizard-man did the one thing that I wasn’t prepared for: he threw himself backwards in a sort of reverse pounce, and scuttled backwards up the wall he had just dropped off of.

  “Whoa there!”

  Despite my surprise, I pursued all the way to the base of the wall and unleashed a hail of lunging thrusts every step of the way that he only barely managed to keep ahead of. I might be weaker and slower than I used to be, but my sense of timing had not diminished. Anyone who could avoid more than one attack from me was to be respected, at least a little.

  Once the poacher was out of my reach once more, I shot a glare up after him.

  “So much power in your suit, and you are still a coward. Are all raindrops so pathetic?” I spat.

  He sighed and pinched the flesh between his eyes in frustration. I would have thought that an insane move with his armored hands, but the bladed claws retracted back into the gauntlet a moment before they would have cut him.

  “Look,” he said, clearly frustrated. “I’m trying to work with you here. I know that a lot of the sky-tier citizens that come down here in evo-suits, it's whole hunting the poor type thing, or get the fuck out of our way if you want to live type thing, so I get you don’t have a reason to like me, but I’m just a chill guy.”

  He clenched onto the wall with his bladed feet to gesture with his hands as he spoke.

  “ I’m just here to level up my suit. I did that already, I didn’t know you were laying claim to this place, so what if I apologize, and buy you lunch or something? Or if you really want, we can kill each other."

  I considered for a moment, and was about to activate [Man Within Ogre] before throwing my spear at him when Diaochan appeared in front of me once again.

  Bu isn't a subtle guy.

  Neither am I for that matter so whoever gave me that 2.5 rating you a hoe