Raze's fingers were twitching slightly, and he was wondering if this was a situation where he would need to use his magic.
The uniform he recognized well because he had seen it before. These were the clothes of the Red Brigade, the ones that were disciples.
The young man in front of him looked to be the same age as Raze. He was one of the students who were training to enter the Pagna Academy on behalf of the clan.
"I knew you would be here," the kid said. "I remember seeing your white hair before. You're one of the kids that visited the clan base, from the temple, so I knew you would stop here. So are you ready to apologize for what you did?"
The disciple started to point at himself and showed his stained clothing. The red uniform was stained with an odd brown color that went from his chest down his legs.
"You want me to apologize because you sh*t yourself?" Raze asked. "Are you crazy?"
The disciple's fist was shaking. Being a disciple of the clan, everyone treated him well and with respect in the town, and being one of the talented students, even the teachers and elders treated him nicely.
If he wanted, he could have asked one of them to find the person in question and get them to apologize directly in front of him. This was what being a Pagna warrior meant. Those who were powerful and skillful, showing potential, weren't just treated as if they were above others; they were above others.
"I gave you a chance to rectify the situation. My name is Von Cloff!" the disciple declared. "As the Disciple of the Red Brigade clan, I will rightfully deal punishment. You, who has attacked a disciple for no reason, and show no remorse, is the same as an attack on the clan itself!"
Raze knew where this was going, and he couldn't quite believe it, above others just because they were stronger? This world, it was no different than the last one he left. He swung his hand, ready to use his magic, until he had seen Von shift his feet and was directly in front of him.
Then, with the palm of his hand, Von hit Raze right in the stomach. His body folded inward, and it felt like all of his organs wanted to explode out of his mouth.
'He was fast, extremely fast, I couldn't even react with my magic in time!'
Raze's attacks were strong, but what was the point if he couldn't hit his target? From the single hit, his legs were shaking, and his back was hunched.
"You can still stand, I guess that just means I have to punish you further!" Von had moved again, too fast for Raze to use his magic, so instead, he had decided to use the two-step shift, but had done so backwards.
The fist that had been thrown by Von had missed this time.
"Interesting, so you can use some skills after all. I guess you have a good Qi base; no wonder why you could still stand up, but I am one of the best students!"
Von proceeded to do the two-step shift, closing the space between the two right after Raze had done it, and he could suddenly feel his whole head being grabbed. Before he knew it, Raze's head was flung down, and a knee was lifted, hitting him right in the face.
Raze's whole body was knocked in the air before it fell to the ground, lying on his back.
"You're filth who doesn't even know the way the world works. A no-name is not the same as us Pagna warriors."
Von then went ahead and stood on top of both of Raze's arms. It might have looked like no big deal, but due to using his power of Qi, it felt like a 200kg man was now standing on him; it was impossible for him to lift his hands.
"Don't… Don't touch me!" Raze shouted as he screamed and desperately tried to move his body, wiggling his legs and arms. But Von quickly kicked them behind him, making him stop before placing his feet spread apart on top of his arms again.
"I could see you were trying something with those hands of yours, too bad you won't get to try it. Now, someone dirtied my clothes, so don't you think it's only fair that I at least do the same to you?"
Looking down at the struggling Von, he spat right on his face. Not once, but three times he spat again and again, spreading it out on Raze.
Raze was grinding his teeth, but from the initial hit, he was really hurt. The Qi inside him had been disrupted, and he was finding it hard to focus at all. But in that moment, he did manage to do something. A flicker of darkness surrounded his right hand; he grasped onto something tight, and it didn't go unnoticed.
"What's that?" Von said. "Is there something you're holding onto? Maybe something you care about?"
Von lifted his foot and stomped on Raze's hand, his fingers being crushed by the weight, and out popped a box.
"What's this?" Von asked, walking over to the box.
"Don't touch that!" Raze shouted, getting up and going after the box, to which Von turned around and kicked him in the chin, sending him back again.
Raze laid there on the ground. It was clear from the fight they had just had that Raze was unable to beat him. He had even thought that even with his magic, it wouldn't have been possible unless he got a lucky hit in.
Just as he had been told, even if they were both Rank 1 Pagna warriors, there was a vast difference between the two of them. But there was still an odd smile on his face.
Bending down, Von picked up the box and opened it up. He could see the black earring inside. He took the earring out and threw the box to its side.
"What's this, it's just a stupid earring?" Von held it up to the light, but it didn't look like anything special. "But for you to have held onto it tightly this whole time, it must mean something to you, right?"
"That's mine, don't you dare take it, you damn sh*t box!" Raze shouted again.
From the comments before, it had just reminded Von of the situation that had occurred, and his anger was rising even more.
"Very well, I won't punish you any more than this." Von smiled. "But I shall be taking your precious earring. As punishment, you will have to live with the fact that every time you see me, you will be unable to do anything about taking it back. I shall wear this well for you."
Von started to walk back toward the town, not thinking anything about Raze who had his head sunken in his chest.
His shoulders started to shake, and when Von was finally out of sight, he lifted his head, bursting into laughter.
"HAHA!" Raze laughed.
Enchanted and sealed items were very special in many ways. For one, people were naturally attracted to them. They would begin to obsess over them due to the leaking power that emitted from the items.
Those who didn't practice the use of mana seemed to be even more affected by items, but regardless of that, Raze knew well that Von would take the item based on his personality.
The thing was, enchanted items' effects could only appear in front of a mage once they used their magic with the right incantation. However, their effects still worked, just not the way they would normally do.
Meaning, Von would have no way of telling the effects of the earring.
"Enjoy your gift, Von."