Writer’s corner: Greetings friends! Some more cohercion from our little manipulator this chapter!

SO, as always, I read each and every comment posted on this and Insania chapters, so I’ve taken all of your feedback on the whole story about beast and magic. For now, my final verdict will be putting the beasts mostly organic, with some biologically acceptable skill. And then, I go and give some Psy for the strongest ones, as it is within the lore of this story.

BESIDES, Tomorrow be Insania day, so I hope you guys are ready for some crazyness!

Beep, and enjoy your story!

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The crowd cheered wildly as Yllivia moved away from the unnamed man she had just knocked out. Even if the duel had been extremely brief, a crowd like this that came for destruction and carnage could only get happier, and strangely enough, the two commentators only fanned up the fire with their comments and feeble attempts to analyze what happened.

Although Gaz couldn’t help but feel confused about their motifs, it was clear that they were doing a good job of changing the unexpected situation into a profitable occasion, with the heated up crowd once again making the money move with bets and so on.

Shaking his head, his attention went back to the morfian and lynnian who were both discussing what happened, and the other robot that seemed confused on what was happening. He noticed as the Hugger started to look around, as if waiting for something.

The dwarf that was his owner opened the cage that he used to carry the robot around and started shouting at the robot while pointing to the cage. He was a bit curious about why the robot had his legs fixed, but didn’t seem to care about it too much. Still, Hugger seemed to flinch for a moment, before relaxing and looking at his owner.

[Gaz… Stop him.] Ekis said briefly,

Her words also caught the attention of Ruby, who looked around until she found the four-legged robot staring at the dwarf. Once he started to flex its legs, she paled and prepared to shout at the oblivious dwarf who kept ordering the robot to come in.

He only noticed what was happening once the Hugger leaped towards him, all of its legs open while aiming to grab around his head.

In a swift movement, Gaz quickly leapt in front of the dwarf and slammed his body on the robot, flinging him away and surprising the crowd. The dwarf looked shocked at the scene, and started to shout orders, like ‘get in here’ and ‘stop’.

However, the robot simply got up again and turned towards the dwarf, its body almost looking like it was shaking in anger. However, before he could move, Gaz put himself in front of the robot, showing his teeth as if threatening the robot.

[STAND. DOWN.] Gaz said instinctively while raging.

The robot stared at him for a moment then towards the dwarf. It understood that the wolf in front of him was protecting the hated dwarf, but he still remembered the defeat it suffered to him, so in the end it finally relaxed its legs and tilted its head down.

Gaz nodded satisfied before turning back, seeing as the Dwarf looked at him in shock, immediately grunting as thanks to him. However, the moment that he took a step forward towards the Hugger, Gaz put himself in front of the dwarf and showed his teeth menacingly again.

“Leave it.” Ruby said briefly. “The control chip broke in the fight.” She said coldly to the dwarf.

“And how can you be so sure?” He asked back irritadely.

“Who do you think that repaired him?” The dwarf blinked surprised before turning to the robot, for the first time it sunk in that its legs were working again. “I have my way of dealing with him, but if you try, I can’t guarantee you’ll get out unscathed. I’ll give him to you later”

[I call bullshit.] Gaz said playfully.

[Shut up!] She complied, but she didn’t sound annoyed at all.

The dwarf stared at the girl for a moment, and then at his robot. He seemed in doubt whether to trust her or not, but once he saw as Hugger slowly approached the girl, laying on the ground besides her, he frowned.

“You think you are fooling me?” He asked angrily while extending his hand towards the strangely pacific robot. “He’s just a bit bugged.”

The moment he said that, though, the robot quickly twisted one of its legs around the dwarfs arm and started tightening its grip. The dwarf’s face twisted in pain, and the only thing that actually saved him was that Gaz threatened the robot once again.

Hesitatingly, the dwarf retreated while rubbing his hurting wrists. He looked angrily at Gaz for a moment, before sighing loudly and nodding. He took out a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote down some numbers and letters on it. He once again hesitated delivering the card, but knowing how difficult it would be to find another person to mod the Hugger, he ended up giving the kid his card.

“Take him there once you are done.” He said briefly, clearly having mixed feelings, before sighing loudly. “And later I’ll have a talk with these ‘judges’.” He mumbled angrily, furious by the fact that he had to leave his robot with the one who beat him.

However, not long after he left, Yllivia looked away and towards a certain direction.

“More coming.” She said briefly.

Ruby blinked surprised and turned to the lynnian. She opened her mouth, ready to ask how she knew, but shook her head since it wasn’t worth getting bothered over it.

Just like the lynnian said, soon dozens of other bodyguard/judges appeared from all around the arena, all of them holding their guns ready while pointing downwards. Yllivia frowned slightly and took a stance, as if ready to attack them.

Ruby stopped her, though, holding her hand before she could start.

One of the guards took a step forward, this one being a sleek looking male lynnian wearing sunglasses. He clearly looked stronger than the elf before him, even Yllivia and Gaz could tell that.

“I do not want to buy a fight I can’t win without taking losses, so do we have any chance to talk this politely?” He asked briefly while exuding a cold aura.

“What exactly do you mean?” Ruby asked, and the man smiled satisfied.

“Follow me, will you?” He said while pointing towards the exit of the arena.

Ruby nodded and made a quick motion for Yllivia to follow her, which made Yllivia look at her confused, but a quick look at the girl’s face and she noticed that she had a serious look in her face. She held back a sigh before nodding and following him.

Following the man out of the arena, followed by Gaz and Hugger, who walked each on one side of her.

[You sure are liked by the robots, huh?] Gaz said as he noticed their new companion.

[hmm, he doesn’t feel as angry as before.] Ekis said cheerfully. [But it looks like he is still in pain…]

[We can take care of that once we get back home.] Ruby said sadly. “So, what do you want to talk with us?” She said turning her attention back to the bodyguard.

“Well… I think you already know what has been going on around here, so I can cut to the chase.” The man said while walking ahead. “Not only have you ruined one of our most important tournaments by defeating the one we were supposed to make the champion, but you also revealed a… Fault, in our systems.” He said briefly before stopping in front of a door. He opened it and made a mention for them to walk in. “The boss decided to have a talk with you to see if he can make the two of you leave before you cause any more damage.” He said while closing the door behind them.

However, beside them, the other bodyguards stayed behind, guarding the door.

Now they were inside a corridor where the group walked forward, surprised by the sheer amount of space they had to cross before reaching the door. As if sensing their surprise, the lynnian fixed his glasses before turning towards the girls.

“You see, this corridor is the last line of defense of the boss. We have a few traps set around, as well as two bunker doors that come down if needed.” He said with cold eyes, as if saying that they shouldn’t try anything. But then he sighed loudly before turning away. “But then, it does seem to have some problem to act when there’s an overload in the electric system…”

Ruby and Ylli blinked surprised for a moment, while Gaz started smiling in his mind.

[I think I like this guy.] Beepy said mischievously.

[But… Why would he…] Ekis asked confused.

[Not like we can do much, though.] Ruby said with a mental sigh. [If at least Sorius was here…]

[Oh, he is.] Ekis said cheerfully, getting both Gaz and Ruby by surprise. [I saw him in the corner of Ruby’s vision earlier there.]

[You did?] Ruby asked surprised.

[Yeah, but it was when we were leaving, so I didn’t have a chance to warn you.] She said with a wry tone.

[We still have no way to talk with him, though.] Ruby said with a sigh. [If only Mirage were to come here…] She said with a sigh.

Gaz laughed dryly at that while following them through the corridor and until the door on the far end. Should an alarm sound, the boss would have more than enough time to run away before anything could happen.

Stopping in front of the door, he turned to the group and said in a cold tone, as if warning them.

“Do not think that you will be alone in there, okay?” He said briefly. “A few of my best men are guarding this place.” He said briefly before turning back to the door and opening it. “I brought them, boss.” He said briefly while sending the two girls in. “I’ll be taking my leave and go on patrol.”

“Thanks for you work, Jay.” The man sitting on the table said briefly while dismissing the lynnian. Jay nodded before closing the door. Gaz didn’t miss the smirk he made before closing it. “Strange, I heard that the tall one was an elf?” The morfian man said while leaning against the chair. “No matter.” He said after shaking his head and fiddling with something on his table.

The morfian had a fairly fit body, being a bit taller than Yllivia should he stand up, with his marking over the white of his body being a toxic purple that almost oozed off dangerousness. Wearing surprisingly simple clothing composite of a social shirt and jeans pants, he wouldn’t look anything different from half of the people walking on the streets.

One he finished, he took out what looked like a bag of coins and threw it in the table.

“There’s two thousand credits in there, all in untracked coins.” He said briefly. “All I ask is that you take that money, and say that you cheated your way through the tournament. I do not care how you do it, as long as they think you cheated in the end.” He said coldly while staring at the girl’s eyes.

Ruby looked back at him for some time, staring at him without a hint of fear, and then towards the money. It was a lot more than they needed in the end. But still…

Just as she was about to give her answer, she felt as something brushed lightly against her leg. Lowering her gaze she managed to see Mirage, who was looking up to her with a playful look while carrying something in her mouth.

A better look revealed a that the thing in her mouth was a small piece of paper with the words ‘Blackout soon’ written in it.

A small smile appeared in her face as she turned back to the man.

“Just two thousands?” She asked tauntingly. “I’m sure you do a lot more in a single night like this than that.”

The man grimaced while sighing. He fiddled with something again inside the desk and took out another bag, a bit smaller this time, but Ruby shook her head slightly before he could put the bag down.

“I don’t want money.” Ruby said, and Gaz didn’t miss as Yllivia’s ear twitched slightly. The man looked confused for a moment before widening his eyes in anger. “I want the alloy. All of it.”

“No.” The man said shaking his head. “I can give you any of the other prizes, the class one, two or three. Any of them. But the alloy is something I can’t give you, no matter how much you ask.”

“Is that so?” Ruby said with a sigh before shaking her head. “Then you wouldn’t mind if we spread the rumors even more and end up wrecking your business?” She asked mischievously, making the man frown before bending forward.

“Look here, kid. You might be smart, but understand this.” He said in a threatening tone. “Just because I am trying to resolve this peacefully, it doesn’t mean that I can’t resort to violence, okay?” He leaned back on the chair. “So, are you sure you want to keep this negotiations?”

“Sir.” Ruby replied with the same dangerous smile, making the man blink in surprise. “Let me give you a tip. The woman with me before was an elf.” She said simply, leaving the man some time to understand her words. “Besides, we do other allies out there that works my friend here.” She said dangerously. “Are you SURE you don’t want this negotiation to continue? After all, all that we want is some metal!”

[Tricky little bastard.] Gaz said with a smirk at Ruby’s choice of word.

What she said was true enough that she could easily say it without thinking of it as a lie, which would greatly reduce the chance of being caught, but not only that, she left unnumbered the amount of reinforcement they actually had available and their skill. This left the man in a tight spot, as he knew of Yllivia strength, and having more people with a strength like hers out there is quite worrying.

With this little exchange, the man was left in a corner, and under the pressure, the man ended up losing his focus for a moment, his eyes wandering towards a certain part of the wall that didn’t look all that suspicious.

“I see, so the alloy is there, huh?” Ruby said with an evil smile.

The man’s face paled as he noticed what happened, feeling like a prey under the gaze of a predator, the owner of the arena sat back on his chair while the small girl in front of him smirked in a way that shouldn’t be possible for someone of her age.