Chapter 2:
(West Coast of Givnu Island, Samuh Kingdom)
"What? You want to rob us?" Mira shouted, her voice thick with tears. "But why? We aren't some rich village or city; we're just normal people! We haven't even done anything to you! Who are you, and why do you want to rob us?" she asked, still crying.
"I am Serbhij, an unofficial hunter. It wasn't me who came here to rob you; it was you who were in need of our help, weren't you?" At first, I thought I would help you for a good amount of money, but I found out you're all really weak. Even if we protected you for a while, someone would just loot you after we left. So, why not I do it? It saves us some time. But before that, I wanted to enjoy my life for a bit, and these morons ruined my plan," the man in the coat, Serbhij, said.
"Anyway, please finish faster. I have many houses to rob," Serbhij said to Dulga.
"Yes, Boss, but don't you think we need to ask who he is?" one of Dulga's men asked in a low tone.
"No, we don't. Whoever he is, I don't care. Just kill him already!" he roared at his man, then punched him.
"Yes," Dulga said and started attacking Vibho.
"Hey, you know right?" Vibho said. "Any unofficial hunter can't fight anyone without a commission, request, or quest. If you do, you can be suspended for five years or even get your card canceled."
"Oh, is that so? I don't need a Hunters Card to fight you," Serbhij said, starting to laugh.
"If you return the money, apologize to them, and return where you came from, I won't complain about you to the association. How about it?" Vibho said in a serious tone.
"No, I don't need your sympathy . Just die! Dulga, what are you doing? Just kill him!" he shouted at Dulga.
Dulga clenched his teeth from irritation but nodded.
He started attacking Vibho, swinging his sword like a veteran in war. He moved his left sword directly towards Vibho's right shoulder.
Vibho dodged and moved back.
Dulga moved fast, swinging his right sword, aiming at Vibho's open stomach. Vibho again moved back, but before he could take two steps, Dulga kicked him in the stomach and pushed him to the edge of the cliff. Dulga found an open space and moved his left sword toward Vibho's head to cut it off.
But before he could, Vibho's Meteor Punch landed on his head and sent him flying back to Serbhij.
Serbhij glared at Dulga and said, "Can't you even handle one man?" He kicked Dulga to the side.
"Now, you won't be getting away from me," he said and took out a mace from his pants.
"Wow, how did you fit it in there? Can you teach me?" Vibho shouted, amazed by Serbhij. (He was 5 feet 9 inches tall, and he took out a 4-foot mace; it was impressive).
"Now, you won't be getting away from me." He launched at Vibho, swinging the mace, aiming for his head. Vibho dodged it, but got hit the second time, taking a blow to the head.
Vibho also attacked him with a Meteor Punch, which sent Serbhij backward, giving Vibho a little space. Then, he ran towards Serbhij and attacked with a Meteor Shower, aiming for the head, stomach, and any other body part at high speed. After several rounds of attack, Vibho stopped. Serbhij hadn't even tried to protect himself. Is he dead?
But Serbhij wasn't dead. He was laughing as if he felt nothing. He was wounded all over his body, but he looked like he didn't even care. His body was healing at a very fast speed. Not only that, he wasn't even getting injured past a certain limit.
"See? You can't kill me, nor can any of you. I am invincible! No one can kill me! I can't even feel your attacks!" Then he started swinging his mace at Vibho, one after another, as Vibho was still in close proximity.
Vibho was getting wounded, but not much. Serbhij was stronger than Dulga, but still weaker compared to Vibho. Then, Vibho grabbed Serbhij's hand, flipped him, and threw him with full force.
Serbhij tried to stop himself, but crashed into a tree. He stood up again like nothing had happened and started laughing with a pain-free expression, as if he had felt nothing. But suddenly, a big branch broke down and fell upon Serbhij.
This time, Serbhij felt pain and screamed. But before he could stand up, Vibho sat on his back, leaving Serbhij in a position where he couldn't attack.
Mira and Arun were fighting the other eight men. Mira and Arun were pushing them near the edge one by one, and Timini was attacking them with her tail. They had unconscious them and bound them with ropes.
Mira looked toward Vibho, who was sitting on top of Serbhij. Then, she took a rope and ran toward Vibho, and with his help, she bound Serbhij so he wouldn't attack them again.
"Release me, fish girl, or my men will burn your whole village!" Serbhij shouted.
"No, they will not. I already took care of them," Mira said in a furious tone, though she was still a little afraid and hesitant in her voice.
"You think just because you can bind me, you can do whatever you want? Once I'm free from here, I will burn your whole village, and you won't even be able to stop me because no one can kill me, nor can I feel the pain of your attacks. I am immortal! No one can stop me!"
Mira was scared. She saw how Serbhij was able to recover and fight without any pain, like a ghost or a maniac. But before she could get more scared,
Vibho said:
"You have a Ver-Dan, don't you?"
This left her with both surprise and fear. She spoke in a slow, normally loud voice, looking toward Vibho:
"You mean a Ver-Dan, which is like a dream... no, no... it's a thing you can't even get in a dream. He has it! Doesn't that mean he should be very strong?" she asked.
"Yes, it is a Ver-Dan, and it won't let me die or feel any pain from anyone who wants to hurt me," Serbhij said in an irritated voice. "And I am not weak, fish girl. But how do you know about it? No one should know about it here."
Just then, two men, fully clad in black clothes from head to toe, arrived. They had serial letters and numbers on their headbands and backs. One was ZE1708, and the second was ZE2510.
"Give me a report," ZE1708 said.
Vibho went near him and said something in his ear, and they started discussing something.
Mira was looking at the other man, ZE2510. He had started collecting all of Serbhij's group one by one, tied them together, and was taking them away as if he were carrying a lunch box, without any problem. He left as if he had only come to collect them. Even though all the other men were opposing, Serbhij and dulga was silently following orders as if he were the victim here.
On the other side, Vibho was laughing widely, but 1708 was totally annoyed and said loudly: "You don't need to tell me anything. We have a Shunya code. We can contact him. Just go away!"
As he was about to leave, Vibho stopped and grabbed his arm, saying: "Can you tell Shunya to come here? I don't have my vad."
"Okay, but let me go first," he said, and just as Vibho released his arm, he ran as if afraid of Vibho.
Mira was confused for a second but soon realized that the sun was about to set. She was still looking at those men in black until they left. Then, she turned and said, "Arun, please deliver all the goods as fast as possible. I don't want you or me to get into any trouble again."
"Yes, you should go home, too. It's late. And I should also deliver all these goods to Madam D and tell her the whole story, or she will punish me again," Arun said and left to get workers.
Mira turned and found that Vibho had lain down and fallen asleep. She then lifted him onto her shoulders and slowly took him toward the edge where Timini was waiting and said:
"I think we need to take him to my sister for a check-up and to say thank you, so help me." Then she took him onto Timini's back, also sat down, and said, "Let's go and be fast."
(She was totally going to regret it.)
(East Coast of Givnu Island, Samuh Kingdom)
A young woman was running as she moved through the crowd. Her outfit told a story: half performer, half professional. She wasn't just serving drinks; she was commanding the room, her clothes as much a part of her craft as the bottles lined behind her. She wore a burgundy-and-white shirt with its sleeves neatly rolled to her elbows and a snug black vest. She was Mira's older sister. She said loudly so everyone could hear her: "We are going to close early today. Mira is late, and we don't have any more bottles and food supplies."
"Oh no, again! It's the third time this month! Don't tell me this is again because of those hunters," one person shouted.
"Yes, if they do anything more, we won't be sitting silently like last time!" another shouted.
"Yes! They take tax every month and even demand many things from us. If they do it again, I will beat them to a pulp!"
"Okay, okay, you can do anything you want, but for now, enjoy what we have and go home. There is still some time before the sun sets, and please take everyone's dinner boxes before going," she said, looking toward the crowd and pointing towards the sun.
Everyone started eating and drinking what they had.
After two hours,
She entered the backyard, which had a lake where Timini stayed, and shouted, "Timini, are you back?"
No response came. But after some time, she heard a sound: "Timini-timi." Her face lit up quickly, but it turned pale just as fast. She froze in one place. Timini was holding a human in his mouth, half out and half in.