POW!

And the gunshot fired.

It was a sound that was felt more than heard, one that squeezed Sariyu’s guts, yet she proceeded forth.

Though she pushed the elf girl away, the shot was fired before she even touched her. Sariyu and others turned their gaze downward diagonally. There was a hole in the pillow right next to Lirzod’s head.

“I wasn’t going to kill him,” the elf girl shook herself off from Sariyu’s grip, “not when on this ship, obviously,” she pointed the revolver at Sariyu’s stomach, “but I won’t let you take him. We can’t let him walk free, not with those things thriving in him.”

Both 777 and Hundred looked tentative.

“That elf has a point, too,” Hundred somehow managed to speak out, looking at Sariyu. “We don’t want anything bad to happen to Lirzod, but we should at least talk this out.”

“That’s what I’m doing,” Sariyu’s features hardened. “Shoot me if you want to, but I’m not letting anyone take him.”

“You think I will hesitate?” the elf girl cocked the hammer with the thumb.

They were about the same height, with the elf a little shorter, but both the girls, their eyes abounding with doggedness, exchanged unyielding stares.

“Whoa, what’s going on here?” just then a voice invaded the room.

When everyone looked toward the entrance, there was a face, familiar to all of them; it was Sean.

“Commander, you’ve come at the right time,” the elf girl pulled the revolver back and decocked it.

“Mulyk! Explain yourself!” Sean barked right away after seeing the revolver in her back.

“C-Commander, I have a good reason,” the elf girl, Mulyk, said and then quickly explained everything that had happened.

“I get what you mean, but still,” Sean’s face was filled with displeasure, “I didn’t give you that gun so that you can point it at people whenever you feel like it. You think you can call back a bullet you shot? Your hands are still young.”

“S-Sorry, Commander.” She tilted her head down, seemingly from regret. “I will learn to use it better.”

“If this repeats, I’ll take it back. No questions asked,” Sean said, and Mulyk could only nod. He then looked at 777 and Hundred. “Are you their offsiders?”

“Still in the process,” both of them replied simultaneously, in a respectful tone.

“Of course.” Sean’s gaze then shifted to Sariyu, “You won’t be liking what I’m going to say, miss, but I’m totally on Mulyk’s side regarding your friend’s matter. I have no idea what that disease is, so I can’t let him roam free, knowing that he can spread it to others through blood or God knows what else.”

Sariyu’s jaw tightened.

“But there’s good news, too,” Sean continued. “Because I’ve sent a request to a certain person to come and take a look at your friend. And I’m positive that she can do something about this situation.”

Sariyu’s jaw loosened, and her lips parted. “Who’s that?”

“Well, you’ll see for yourself. She should be here any minute now,” Sean said.

Sariyu narrowed her eyes, “Why, why help now—after so many hours?”

Sean smiled, exposing a bit of his awkwardness. “What matters is that I’m here before it's too late, right?”

Sariyu pressed her lips, trying to contain her dissatisfaction. I’d like to believe that he’s helping without any motive, but my gut says otherwise. She glanced at Lirzod and weighed in the options. In any case, I can’t be rash when Lirzod’s in need. At that time, Sean was scratching his head while glancing at her now and then. “What is it?”

“Uh, it’s nothing,” Sean hesitantly spoke. “Now that you are here, why don’t you come to my hall and kick some of my pupils?”

“What?”

“It’s hard to find someone who moves so swiftly, yet so smoothly in a fight and still hammer hits on their foes,” Sean said, but Sariyu didn’t respond. “If you are worried about your friend, then fret not. I will guarantee his safety. You can let one of these men stay here to look after him.”

Sariyu didn’t breathe in more than twenty seconds. This guy, just what does he want? If I don’t go with him, he might change his mind about helping Lirzod. She bit her lip. I guess I don’t have much choice now. She looked at both 777 and Hundred, but her gaze stopped on the latter. “You want to be his offsider, so you stay with him, yeah?”

“Sure thing,” Hundred replied rather smoothly.

“Don’t let her do anything to him,” Sariyu stressed her words, directing a threatening gaze to Mulyk.

Hundred nodded twice, reservedly.

“You are overthinking, human girl,” Mulyk saltily stated. “I’m not a killer by any means-fu.”

Sariyu walked out of the room without saying another word. Sean followed her with a pleased look on his face.

When they both entered the Drill Hall, Sean said, “Thanks for agreeing to demonstrate some kicks to the young fellows. I mean, you are younger than many of them in age, but I’m talking about the fighting experience.”

Sariyu replied in a nettled tone, “I’m in a bad mood. Choose your men wisely, or they will get their wills broken.”

Sean was a little surprised and could only smile it off. “I appreciate you for warning me beforehand.”

777, in the meantime, was following them both from a distance.

“All the Golden Ants, line up!” With a howl to his pupils, to the crowded center of the hall, Sean led Sariyu. “Everyone else, gather around and keep your eyes open.”

Having experienced similar situations before, most of the pupils knew exactly what was happening. Those who didn’t know just followed the rest and clustered at the center of the hall, leaving enough room for a fight in the center.

“The rules are simple. Only kicks are allowed,” Sean said aloud. “Let’s start.”

“I’m lucky!” the first man in the line, a six-foot-tall one, stepped into the ring made by men, among whom the blonde youth was also present. “Don’t take it personally, girl. Beating you boosts my popularity, that’s all!” he lunged ahead and thrust his foot straight at her face.

This fire in my belly… Sariyu ducked as she moved in and struck the back of the ankle with her foot, causing him to fall backward, but he managed to land on his arms and used that momentum to flip once again and get back on his feet. Sariyu jumped onward, neither foot touching the ground, spun and delivered a foot strike on the man’s jaw, lifting him off his feet and driving him into the crowd. I must quench it soon, or… Her eyes showed a hint of pain as she landed on her feet, eye-pleasingly.

“Wow, did you see that flying spin kick? She made up the height difference so easily.”

“Her legs must be quite springy!”

“Her arms look slim, but she can carry herself on them.”

“Oi, look! He’s not getting up.”

“This golden ant’s out for the count.”

Even after counting to three, the man whom Sariyu just kicked didn’t get up, so the next golden ant entered the ring.

“That guy attacked you straightforwardly, but don’t expect the same from me,” he carefully approached her and tested her with a few kicks to see how she would react, but just as she reached the edge of the circle, he suddenly launched a barrage of successive kicks at her ribs, all on one side. Though Sariyu blocked the attacks and skipped the other way, he followed her and didn’t let her move forward. She ground her teeth as her body rattled from the force of the kicks.

The blonde youth watching the battle from the front line in the crowd looked as if he wasn’t surprised. You are definitely skillful, miss, but that senior isn’t bad either. As a man, he has the natural advantage of strength, so it’s not a surprise you’re struggling to block his kicks, and unlike you, most of us are used to fighting in this type of setting, so your loss is only a matter of time. You shouldn’t have come here with the master. Now, they’re going to make an example out of you just like previous times.

The crowd, though, backed their senior with blatant tongues.

Sariyu, meanwhile, had a frown taking shape on her face. He has kicked like fifteen times already, but the kicks aren’t slowing down. Quite a ferocious kicking style. She glanced at Sean once. He must’ve put his pupils through similar routines.

“What’s wrong?” the man in the ring smirked as he continued to storm forth with his kicks. “Why don’t you let me—” As his next kick closed in, she ducked and dodged the foot.

“Taste a bit of my knee!” she sprung and crashed her knee in his face, cracking his nasal bone, and a mini fountain of blood gushed out as he fell on his back.

So fast! His eyes whitened the very next moment.

The blonde youth was left in shock. N-Never mind. She’s not your typical woman.

The crowd fell silent there and then when Sariyu’s sneeze ricocheted across the neighborhood as though it was the only sound in existence.

“Ah, that hurts,” she rubbed her nose.

“His nose is the one that should be hurting!” Many men in the crowd barked at her and redirected their irritation to their senior.

They splashed water and woke him up just to scold him. “How could you lose like that when you were at such an advantage? This is disgraceful. You brought shame to our master.” Their words made him lose more face.

Sariyu, on the other hand, was massaging her left arm, for it felt heavy and lethargic. “Your senior has not lost for naught. You should commend not chide him.”

“Shut up, girl!” some men among the crowd rebuked her. “This is our problem. Don’t interfere.”

“Then send me the next one, so you get to yap at another one of your seniors,” Sariyu said, aggravating the mood of the crowd further.

“This girl’s putting on some air.”

“That swelled head of yours will certainly steer you to disaster.”

“Yeah, you just poked your nose up in the air and are expecting to smell ether! How assuming! Just let us teach you the ways of the world!”

As the crowd snapped and yelled at her, she opened her mouth wide, causing other mouths to stop. Everyone thought she was about to say something, but her mouth opened up for a soundless yawn.

Everyone in the crowd felt prickly sensations and almost danced with rage.

“My, my,” Sariyu put her hand before her mouth. “This place is abundant with flatheads who get easily offended.”

“This girl…” the crowd was so angry that even silly things drove them to nuts. “How presumptuous!”

She glanced at Sean. “I think I’ll change my opinion. You didn’t train them well in the mental department.”

Sean awkwardly smiled. “You can only lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

“Indeed,” Sariyu measured the crowd. “So the horses need a spanking breeze to bring them into the mood, huh.”

“Move it! Move it!” a hulking man wearing a blue-colored diamond earring began to push the crowd away. Many members were surprised by seeing the six-and-half-foot-tall beefy figure making its way to the ring.

“Move aside! Back off, buddies! Big Dick’s coming through,” one boy in the crowd shouted.

“Ngh!” the beefy man glared at the one who just yelled.

“I-I meant Big Nick, senior,” the boy shied away.

“Hmph,” the beefy man came straight to the ring, for nobody dared to stand in his way.

“Who’s this guy?” some new pupils couldn’t help query their seniors.

“He’s Big Nick, the one who subdued a rampaging wild horse with his bare hands,” the seniors proudly said. “He’s known for chasing after women until they fight with him, and if they lose, they have to sleep with him. Now that he has his eyes on her, she’s done for!”

“Are you sure it’s a horse?” Sariyu voiced her mind, “It might have been a donkey.”

Her words baffled the crowd.

“Hmph,” Nick, however, smirked. “It neighed during the fight.”

“Even if it can neigh better than it can scream hee-haw, a donkey’s still a donkey,” Sariyu let out a cheeky smile. “You can’t say it’s a horse.”

“Hmph,” though the crowd got piqued by her words, Nick still didn’t lose his composure, “when I heard it’s a girl, I was excited that it might be a wolf, but even if that’s not the case, I was at least expecting a nasty fox; however, it’s just an average everyday jane who doesn’t eat enough, afraid of losing her frame.”

“Heh, so your head is more than just meat.” Currently, she was still covered in some dirt, smoke, and blood, so she looked besmirched and off-color, to say the least.

“You can try guessing what’s exactly in it,” Nick bent his spine and knees a little, stretched his arms wide open and charged at her like a bear, roaring at the top of his lungs. Just as his speed increased, he leaned more and tried to catch her with his arm-bind technique, but to his surprise, she ended up appearing behind him. She pushed in rather than back away from me!

“No hands, remember,” she said, and he was a bit too late to realize that her foot was still in his way. In consequence, he tumbled over.

Seeing their senior fall in such a manner was a sore sight for the crowd.

“Oi, oi, did she just get the better of Big Nick in that exchange? Are we seeing things?”

“He’s never hugged the floor like that before.”

“How’s that possible?”

The blonde youth narrowed her eyes. When brute strength isn’t enough in a fight, you can only depend on your brain. Your skill, technique, and experience will help increase your overall strength several fold and makes it possible to fight bigger foes or even multiple enemies at a time. He then remembered Sean’s words that were told to him in the past. “A little bit of cleverness is all it takes to turn the tide in a fight that otherwise seems forlorn.” This girl… Even though she’s not in a bad situation, she probably realized that she can’t beat Big Nick directly, so she used his own strength against him and made it look as if he made a fool out of himself. He looked at Nick, who was grinding his teeth. His pride has taken a dent. His calmness seems to be gone. He then looked at Sariyu. She won half the fight with her first move. How fearsome. She’s not your average everyday jane. She’s a practiced fighter!

However, Nick didn’t stay down for long. He got back in a frenzy and attacked her without a second thought.

She kept parrying his punches.

“Why can’t I hit her?” he kept throwing his fists madly at her.

“You are using your arms again…” Sariyu’s lips formed a flat line before she turned into a blur and disappeared out of his sight.

“What?” Nick was dumbstruck. She slipped from my vision? Impossible!

"One second of pain...” a voice came from underneath, and when Nick’s eyes rolled down, something struck him in the chin. “Bairn Knock!”

Nick no longer moved and stood stiff like an electrocuted chicken that had no idea what had just happened.

“Oi, Nick! What’s wrong?”

“Big Nick! Why aren’t you moving?”

“What happened to you, senior?”

“Why’s he suddenly become like a boat on the ground?”

“This must be one of his jokes.”

“Hey, Nick, tell us that you are…”

As the crowd asked in shock, Sariyu said, “Don’t disturb him. He felt the breeze and just entered the domain of dreams.”

EHHH~~!!

Only after she spoke, the crowd realized that Nick's eyes were cloudy white.

Sariyu looked at Sean, “I’d rather sleep by my friend’s bed than play these humdrum fights.”

“Very well,” Sean said and looked at the crowd. “The rules stay the same, keep crossing with your legs, except,” he raised his voice, “three each get to fight her at once! Attack!” he waved his hand.

“Yes, Master!” three golden ants entered the ring without delay and rushed at her like wolves hunting down a fox.