"Ohh, and who's this? The loner boy, Lucan," Lors mocked. "Are you finally recognizing Sieg as your wilderness brother in arms, hahahaha?"
"Yes, yes, he's also a wild boy," the fat follower laughed, his narrow eyes almost closing along with his smile.
The short one sneered, his cheekbone jutting slightly as he looked toward Lucan.
"Why aren't you replying, huh? Didn't you come to help this trash?" he mocked, sneer still on his face. "Boss Lors, looks like we need to teach him too how to behave."
"You're right, Jeff. It seems today we need to teach both of them about how to behave," Lors replied. "You and Fuen, take care of Lucan while I settle scores with Sieg."
"What do you mean, Lors? Why are you including others? If you have guts, fight me," Sieg interrupted, giving Lucan a nod with a small smile. "Thanks for speaking up, but don't worry. I can take care of them myself."
"Hmph," Lors snorted at Lucan, then sprang toward Sieg, with the short boy Jeff and the tall, fat Fuen surrounding him.
Coming in front of Sieg, Lors took a step forward, swung his hand, and punched Sieg toward the head.
Sieg, battle-ready, ducked down and slammed his right palm into Lors's chest, causing Lors to stagger back a few steps.
"Tch, looks like Caroline has taught you to fight, huh," Lors taunted, ignoring the slight tingling pain in his chest.
Opposite him, Sieg didn't reply. He rushed toward Lors, kicking toward his chest from the side. Lors caught the kick between his hands and chest, only for Sieg to jump and use his other leg to strike the chest again, causing Lors to lose his grip and fall, taking Sieg down with him.
"*Cough**Cough*," Lors coughed as he tried to stand, his chest aching, while Sieg had already stood and was ready for the next move.
"How dare you!" Jeff shouted from the side as he decided to join the fight after seeing Lors's condition.
With Jeff joining in, Sieg shifted some of his attention to him while keeping an eye on Lors, who had now stood back up.
'It's almost the same as in the game,' Lucan thought as he watched the fight in front of him. Sieg was now facing both Lors and Jeff, but he wasn't losing. In fact, he had the tendency to suppress them both.
'But—' Lucan's gaze moved to Fuen, who was now also making his way toward the fighting trio.
Lucan stretched his hands a little, then took silent steps forward toward Fuen.
"Hey, did you forget about me?" a shout rang out as Fuen was suddenly pushed from the side, almost losing his balance.
He immediately turned to see Lucan, his body in a shoulder-tackle stance.
"You little—" Fuen roared as he quickly threw a punch at Lucan, intending to take him down in one shot and then rejoin Lors and Jeff.
But to his surprise, his fist hit nothing, causing his large, heavy body to lean forward.
Lucan had crouched low, a glint flashing in his eyes as his years of fighting instinct in the wilderness kicked in. Supporting his weight with his right hand, he swung his left leg and kicked Fuen's ankle from the front.
The extra kick to the ankle, combined with Fuen's forward lean, knocked his balance completely, sending him stumbling to the ground.
Seizing the chance, Lucan delivered another kick - this time squarely between Fuen's legs.
"Eaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" A sharp but painful scream ripped out of Fuen's throat as his tall frame folded into a crooked posture, with both hands clutching between his legs.
Nearby, Sieg and the other two froze mid-fight, their eyes locked on the scene ,especially that last kick - and an involuntary chill ran down their legs. The fight paused for a moment.
Taking advantage of the pause, Sieg struck first. His fist drove into Jeff's stomach, sending him sprawling to the ground and leaving only Lors standing. Growling, Lors stepped back into the fight.
A few moments later, two more bodies were lying on the ground besides Fuan , gasping in pain.
"Hey, thank you!" Sieg smiled at Lucan as he walked over. His left eye was darkened as if punched, his face slightly swollen, and his clothes a bit messy. The fight had not been easy for him.
"No need~ no need~," Lucan waved his left hand in a nonchalant manner. "They were the ones ganging up, so of course I'd step in. Especially after they called me your 'brother.'"
"Hey, Sieg! What are you still doing here?!" an angry voice suddenly rang out from the corridor ahead as a girl of similar age appeared.
She was about Sieg's height, with golden hair tied back in a ponytail. Her small face was filled with anger.
"Don't you know how important the current awakening ceremony is? I was just away with Sophia for a while, and you weren't ther-" she stopped mid-sentence as her eyes landed on Sieg's swollen face and blackened eye.
"Hey, hey, how did you end up like this in the short time I was gone?" she hurried toward him, completely ignoring Lucan, who raised an eyebrow from the side as he watched her.
'The main heroine, Caroline.'
The information regarding her quickly flashed within Lucan's mind.
As the main heroine of the game, she was the childhood friend and eventually the love of the MC. She had literally grown up alongside him.
Different from him, the MC, Sieg, had been adopted at the age of two. But because he came from the wilderness and had suffered from poor nutrition early on, he grew up frail, often alone, and a frequent target of Lors and his gang. Caroline was the only one who stood by him, got to know him and helped him fight back against the bullies.
"Tell me, who did this to you?" Caroline asked sharply, her eyes narrowing as she studied Sieg's face.
"Ahaha, it's Lors and his gang. But don't worry,I already took care of them," Sieg replied, forcing a laugh as he pointed toward Lors and his two followers.
The three stood a short distance away, struggling to support each other. Lors and Jeff glared at Caroline and Sieg with barely restrained fury, while Fuen's gaze fell on Lucan. His expression twisted with fear, and a phantom pain made his tall body twitch as he remembered the blow between his legs.