Alric glanced around, panicking and panting lightly as he ran. He could hear them behind him, the yells, the barks and the threats. The crowd avoiding him like the plague, fear flashed in their eyes, just like Alric.

Their footsteps were so loud.

Their weapons were almost nicking at his arms and legs.

I'm scared! I'm scared! I want to switch!

Fortunately, this body wasn't his previous body, or he would have been captured due to the lack of stamina. However, he still couldn't shake his pursuers off, giving him no chance to switch back to Xue.

If he stopped even for a second, his body would be impaled mercilessly. Even if Xue were to survive by some miracle, this wasn't a safe area to be in.

Kai: "Alric, you need to shake them off somehow! Or fight back!"

Alric: "I can't! I can't, I can't, I can't!"

Xue: "Use my spear."

Alric fumbled his hands about on his back, he touched nothing but empty air, panicking even more.

Xue: "Summon it."

Alric: "Summon it? A spear? Th-that's impossible!"

Xue: "It's bound to--"

Xue stopped himself, he didn't want to finish the sentence.

Kai: "It's bound to our souls! You know what to do, Alric!"

Xue: "It's not ours. It's my soul. Mine."

Kai: "Whatever! Alric, hurry!"

Extremely unhappy, Xue stopped talking and remained gloomy. If his "body" wasn't in trouble, he would not even be here, conversing.

Alric nodded, whimpering slightly and he continued running, stretching his hand out. He bit on his lip, images of Xue's spear flitting past his mind as he constantly chanted the word "spear" in his head.

Alric: "I-is this working?"

Kai: "I'm not feeling anything from the body!"

The cowardly merchant's head was spinning from repeating until he didn't know if "spear" was a word anymore.

Alric: "Is this working?"

Kai: "I...I don't think so."

An enraged yell from the pursuers startled Alric into concentrating harder.

Alric: "Is it working?!"

Kai: "That--Xue, you tell him!"

Xue: "Shut up and focus."

Alric was shedding tears internally, he wished a white knight would swoop down and save the day.

Spear, spear spear spear.

Spearspearspearspear!

At that moment, glowing blue particles floated into his vision and Alric felt a sudden weight in his hands. He lit up, glancing down...finding nothing in his hands.

"...?!"

Kai: "Xue?!"

Xue: "Remember the shape."

Alric lit up in understanding, the exact shape of the spear has been engraved into his mind, ever since the day he met Xue.

"Archer!"

"Look out, they are going to shoot someone!"

Bringing his head up, Alric knew he was the target and his concentration was broken. People scuttled away from him, screaming and shouting, and the archer launched the arrow, it pierced through the air.

Kai: "Dodge!"

Xue: "Dodge."

The two voices in his head barked at the same time, and Alric staggered back in fright, tripping and falling to the ground. The arrow shot past him, nicking his cheek and he was rooted to the spot.

"Finally caught ya, slippery bastard."

Alric felt himself being lifted up by the collar of his shirt, flailing his arms and legs helplessly. He was forced to turn around, finding himself surrounded with deadly weapons, wielded by burly men.

"They said we got permission to kill," the burly men grinned, revealing his stained teeth. "You are our first blood."

The other ruffians eyed Alric in glee, and the crowd around them had long dispersed. None of them wanted to get involved in this matter.

Xue: "Switch."

Alric squeeze this eyes close, wanting nothing more than to let someone else take his position, right this second.

Alric: "Ye-yes please!"

Xue: "Keep your damn eyes open."

He was more afraid of Xue than his pursuers, hence, Alric instantly snapped his eyes open.

"Hey! What the hell is that?" one of them pointed beside them.

From the corner of his vision, Alric could see a black mist forming at the empty space beside them. A figure appeared from the black mist, their steps slow and languid.

Upon seeing that mysterious figure, Alric paled.

Kai: "Isn't that...that weird guy we saw back at the academy?"

The mysterious stranger's ebony eyes curved, his voice holding a hint of boredom. "This isn't your usual gang, Xue."

Xue recognised the stanger and their lazy voice in a heartbeat, and his voice grew urgent.

Xue: "Run! Now!"

Alric didn't need to be told twice to run. Other than Xue, the person that caused him great fear was none other than this man!

The same man that beheaded the necromancer at the academy!

Alric didn't know why, but everything about this man just terrifies him!

He took advantage of the distraction to scamper away. Unfortunately, the ruffians weren’t hired for nothing, and they reacted quickly, catching Alric in time and dragging him back. 

The two men in Alric’s head sighed heavily, shaking their heads. 

The entire time, the new figure entering the scene, Veau, only watched with a smile as the thugs pulled the cowardly merchant back, his eyes glinting with interest. 

“Pl-please let me go, please!”

“You stupid? Why would we do that?” 

Alric glanced at Veau, inhaling sharply as he squeaked, squeezing his eyes close. The thugs momentarily forgot about Veau’s existence, growling at Alric's incessant pleads.

"Please, please...let me go. I-I really don't want to be here..."

All of a sudden, the man that seized Alric was flung away by a violent force and landed harshly on the gravel pathway, groaning. 

All the thugs were taken aback, staring at Veau with wide eyes, who now stood in front of Alric. His usual look of boredom on his face was gone, appearing intrigued by Alric. 

The cowardly merchant only opened his eyes when he overheard the scuffle, and he froze when he came face to face with Veau. 

“You aren’t Xue,” the smile on Veau’s face grew wider, and there was a hint of scarlet red swirling in his ebony irises. “I didn’t know you were capable of soul switching, or even communicating with one another."

***

Cecil and Zasiok stood side by side in the alley, finding themselves surrounded by the same people that had been spying on them all along. Zasiok clutched at his injured shoulder, and Cecil glanced worriedly between Zasiok and the arrow stuck in his shoulder. 

She brandished the daggers that she had concealed in her dress, gripping it firmly in her hands. Zasiok only clenched his fist, gritting his teeth. 

“The area is clear.” 

“No witnesses?” 

“They ran.” 

“Good, we can get rid of them.” 

Zasiok prepared to push Cecil behind him, wanting to act as a shield and Cecil noticed it, narrowing her eyes at him. She resisted, pushing Zasiok behind her instead and Zasiok was surprised to see her usual clear, indifferent onyx eyes blazing with anger.

“Don’t you dare, Zasiok,” Cecil hissed, not hiding how infuriated she was. “I am disappointed in myself, I am angry with myself, let me handle it.” 

“They are not just your average thugs, they are trained--” 

“Then I will fight dirty!” she exclaimed, interrupting Zasiok.

The group of men smirked maliciously, charging at Cecil and Zasiok. 

“AI500, buy 10 of those confetti and use it.” 

[ Where do you want to specifically use it? ]

“Fucking everywhere!” 

[ Duly noted, Cecil Lan. ] 

[ You have spent 1000 points in the Points Shop. 
Thank you for your purchase! Your item is now ready for use! 
Remaining points: 5730 ]

Cecil sprinted forward at the same time, not caring about the message blocking her vision. The attackers were already in front of her, she could hear them and smell their bloodlust, that was all she needed. 

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Ten confetti exploded in the air around all of them consecutively. The attackers including Zasiok, were distracted by the sudden noise and colorful objects appearing in their peripheral vision. 

“What the--”

The confetti served its purpose. 

Since this was a life or death scenario, Cecil wouldn’t hesitate to use whatever resources she can to triumph over her enemies. 

Using all the training she had learned from the academy, she slashed and kicked at them adeptly. Within that few seconds, she managed to injure two of them and render another one unconscious and the rest of them were startled awake.

“Shit!” 

“Get her!” 

Cecil ducked from a punch headed her way, and her attacker stumbled forward, granting her the opportunity to stab him in the shoulder with her dagger, making him cry out. She swiftly drew out her dagger right after, slashing him across the back and hopping backwards to create some distance. 

Her eyes then caught sight of another attacker standing further away, drawing out his bow and she widened her eyes, swinging the dagger in her hands and she tossed it in their direction. The archer hastily dropped his bow, avoiding the dagger and she rushed at him, not allowing him to catch a break. 

The attackers didn’t spare Zasiok either, two of them pouncing onto him and Zasiok staggered back, avoiding one of them as he reached for the arrow stuck in his back. He pulled the arrow out forcibly with a grunt, his face twisting in pain and he sidestepped the other attacker. The other attacker was exposed, and Zasiok didn’t hesitate to thrust the arrowhead into their neck, causing blood to spurt out, staining Zasiok’s solemn face. 

The attacker only choked on his words as he wobbled, clutching at his neck, falling to the ground. 

“Damn you!” 

Zasiok ignored the pain in his shoulder, disarming the next attacker as he dodged their knife, taking hold of his arm and twisting it. He proceeded to kick the man in his knees, forcing him to the ground and swiftly punching him multiple times, knocking him out quickly. 

“Ow, this hurts.” Zasiok grimaced, clutching at his shoulder and turned around to look at Cecil. 

Cecil managed to corner the archer, impaling his palm with her dagger, ensuring that he wouldn’t hold the bow again and knocking him out with a spinning kick. Suddenly, someone leaped onto Cecil from behind, tightening his arm around her neck and Cecil furrowed her eyebrows, struggling and the attacker tensed his arm even more.

She could feel her airway being cut. 

Cecil opened her mouth, sinking her teeth into his arm without mercy. 

“You bit--” 

Not letting him finish his words, she jabbed at his waist and his thigh with her dagger, pulling it back and the attacker staggered back with pained yelps. She didn’t think twice, doing a roundhouse kick, hitting his jaw and he flew, landing on the ground, motionless. 

Zasiok who wanted to move in to help realised that he didn’t need to. 

“Sorry, Zasiok,” Cecil panted heavily. “Two of them slipped past me."

He smiled, relief coursing through him. “It’s fine.” 

As long as you’re fine, Cecil. 

Zasiok felt his knees buckling and he sank to the ground with one knee. 

Cecil gasped, rushing forward as she sheathed her daggers, hurrying to support him. 

“Zasiok!” 

However, Cecil halted in her steps when Zasiok began to cough harshly, blood pouring out from his mouth. 

He’s coughing blood?! Why? What happened?

The--the arrow! Don't tell me...

Zasiok lifted his head up, wiping the blood from his mouth and his vision was growing blurry, making him squint in his eyes. 

“I guessed that the arrow was poisoned,” Zasiok coughed again, struggling those words out. “I was right.” 

Cecil widened her eyes in horror. “Yo-you knew that it was probably poisoned, and you still shielded me?” 

“If I didn’t, you would be poisoned instead.” 

“That's fine with me! Why...why would you shield me?!” 

“Why wouldn’t I?” 

That response rendered Cecil speechless.

***

《 start 》

An arrow, a knife, a sword, whatever it is, I'll protect you.

I'll protect you, no matter what.

Even if it kills me.

《 stop 》