Chapter 2: Within the walls of Verul
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How's the pace so far? fast? slow? or just the right amount?
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"Impossible, he was right there..." The crowd buzzed with questions. "Huh? Tch, that old trick again." Yorin sheathed her sword and then issued commands, "All royal soldiers, guard the gates and walls. Scan the whole city; we must find the child and that man no matter what!" "And get a medic squad, treat the wounded!" King Hurvel continued.

"Tsk, the effects are wearing off already." Scurrying away from the celebration, Varwog looks for a place to hide. After a moment he spots a dark alley 200 meters away from the village square.

After arriving Varwog directs his attention to the child. "Hmm, you're quite resilient; a normal child would've died." Lowering his head, he pressed his ears against her chest, noting normal breathing, a normal heartbeat, and a bruised stomach. He then laid the child down; and placed his heavy bag beside her. After quickly scrambling through his bag. He brings out 2 potions; with a light touch, he raises the kid's head.

"Hurry, he shouldn't be far; we need to take the child back!" King Hurvel, sweating as he commands. "Relax, King Hurvel. At this pace, we should be able to scan the kingdom in less than a day; our horses are of the purest breed." Yorin patted him on the shoulders. Both of them mounted on the horses, secured their balance, and then scattered throughout the kingdom.

"This should work immediately." He pops a potion open and shakes it, the scent from the bottle drifts through the girl's nose. Suddenly, the girl woke up terrified; she screamed. Varwog immediately covers her mouth.

"Over there!" Yorin, with the king and some guards, rushed towards the alley. But to their surprise, they saw 2 opened bottles and random materials beside a garbage bin. "What's with this stench? Tch, they must've went this way." She then shouts at the remaining soldiers "Don't follow, go straight towards every opening in this kingdom and lock them down! We'll take care of hunting Varwog down." The sound of the horses' hooves becomes faint as they pass through the alley.

"There, you can speak now, but don't force yourself; I only woke you up, I didn't fix your pain yet." A slight groan slipped through the child's lips before speaking "What did you do? Why can't they see us? Where are we? Who are you?" The child bombarded Varwog with questions that he couldn't keep up. "You know what, let's talk later; we need to get out of here." The child nodded; Varwog picked up the materials he brought out and tidied his bag before carrying the girl. "let's find a place to treat you first, that kick must have been painful," He muttered to the child. The child nodded again. Varwog then fled with haste.

Meanwhile, the crowd continued to celebrate and ate until they were full; some of them went home. Suddenly, the closing of the gates shook the whole kingdom, interrupting the celebration.

Varwog, while scouting for a place to hide lost his balance, he knelt. "M-mister, are you okay?" the child asked. "Don't worry, I just lost my balance." He stabilizes his body and proceeds to look for a place to refuge. "What was that shake?" the child asked once more "Tch, they probably put down the gates, don't worry I'll find a way to get out. For now, you should rest." With a slight groan, the child nodded her head before falling into sleep.

Meanwhile, Yorin and King Hurvel arrived at the heart of the kingdom. "Nyehehe, now with the kingdom on lockdown finding those two should be like capturing two rats inside a mouse cage." Yorin chuckled as she unmounts on her horse. "Now let's see how long they would last."

King Hurvel unmounted his horse. "follow me" he orders Yorin and the guards as he climbs the royal platform. At the top of the platform, the king turned around and faced them, "you might want to cover your ears." he warned,  the royal guards, and Yorin complied. Then at the top of Hurvel's breath, he announced. "ALL VILLAGERS OF VERUL, LEND ME YOUR EARS. WHOEVER FINDS A MUSCULAR MAN CARRYING A HUGE BAG, WEARING TORN CLOTHES AND BLACK ARMORED PANTS, ALONG WITH THE DAUGHTER OF THE DEVIL SHALL BE REWARDED WITH A SOVEREIGN ARTIFACT!"

Hurvel's announcement spread like fire, the people and guards directed their attention to the proclamation of the king

"A sovereign artifact?!" The villagers murmured among themselves.

"Hah, this is going to be easy," a man in gray robes spoke with arrogance, the crowd turned towards the speaker. "It's Alfred the thief!" A man among the crowd warned. A warrior seated in a corner took a sip of tea before speaking to Alfred "Oh you're not taking this one kid, this bounty's mine." he spoke with a heavy tone. 

Alfred sneered at the warrior's defiance. "Hmph, why should I, you don't even look fit for the job, I suggest you give the bounty to me rookie."

The crowd went silent and moved away from the two, for they knew that all hell would break loose if they joined the chaos.

The warrior stood up "Huh? Who are ya calling a rookie? I've been part of guilds for 12 years by now, ventured about 4 branches one of them being the guild from Kingdom Insignia. And you? Heh I bet ya only took bounties from this small ass kingdom" 

The crowd stood amazed at what they heard, "This guy looks strong", "Woah, that's some amazing feat" "Such a person exists?! unbelievable!" Murmurs filled the crowd.

"Hmph, so you're some big shot eh, let's see if you live up to that title then." Alfred smirked.

"Tch, you're annoying, I'll settle this quickly" The warrior immediately charged Alfred with his heavy battle axe. Before he clashes with Alfred he activates his concept, [Basieg!] he shouts. Rocks formed around Alfred's legs immobilizing him. He takes a direct hit to the body.

The surrounding crowd stood amazed at the warrior's power.

"Heh, told ya I was gonna finish this qui-" The warrior stepped back at the sight "Tsk, That was a direct hit, how are you not hurt." His eyebrows furrowed.

"What's the matter? signs of old age perhaps?" Alfred Smirked

"Grrr, don't underestimate me kid" The warrior landed blows after blows. The immobilized Alfred barely flinched "That's it? I thought you were a pro guild member or something, guess it was a fad after all." He chuckles.

"I still got some tricks up my sleeve, and I'll gladly show them to ya!" The warrior backed up for a while before proceeding to attack. "Taste this! [Basieg: Surround!]" The surrounding floor rose encasing Alfred. [Crush!] The warrior commanded. 

 The walls crushed Alfred with immense force shaking the surrounding villagers

The discontent warrior casts [Besieg: Barrage!] Surrounding rocks became pointed and then shot at the encased Alfred penetrating the rock pile.

Clouds of dust surrounded the area. "I guess that was all, too bad you did not live up to your name" Alfred sneered. "N-No way, not even a Magikata could withstand that" The warrior's face painted disbelief, as he analyzed the situation "Wait a second" he narrowed his eyes looking at the ground near Alfred, "Are those hair?"  "Finally figured it out?" Alfred then destroyed the rock pile revealing layers of hair 

"So your concept is hair?" The astonished warrior ran away. "Correct, pretty surprising no?" He walks in the warrior's direction. 'Crap, what have I done, I didn't expect him to wield a special concept.' The warrior thought to himself. "Heh, not even a little bit." The warrior took out the horn from his waist and blew it, after a moment a party of 22 people came.

"Come my friends and join me, this guy is annoying me let's kill him! Show him what you are all made of!" the warrior positioned himself at the back of the party

"GAHAHAHA, 23 versus 1? That's some coward move for a big shot like you" Alfred's eyes gleamed with confidence as he spoke

"Coward move? How is calling a friend a coward move? I'll let ya call your allies as well" The warrior retorted.

"Allies? Pfft, I don't need allies to defeat you I alone is enough" Alfred then went into a battle stance.

"Tch this guy is too arrogant, let's kill him!" The warrior alongside the party charged at Alfred, mixtures of tangible concepts and weapons barraged him:  eruption of rocks, barrages of arrows, scorching flames, crawling vegetation, and such were hitting his location. Noises of chaos disrupted the happy celebration in the village square.

"He's probably done by now, there's no way he still has the stamina to endure those attacks." The warrior then commanded them to stop attacking, the smoke cleared, but the party were dumbfounded at the sight.

Layers of hair surrounded Alfred, Some strands were on the ground burnt, others damaged and cut "Grrr, that concept of yours is annoying" the warrior frowned, eyebrows furrowed.

"Alright, my turn." Alfred lowers his shield made of hair. The bystander villagers went away from the scene far enough for safety but also near enough to witness the battle occurring.

Alfred with a flick of his finger cast [Retract] pulling out the hairs of the attackers, the party screamed due to the intense pain, Alfred then clicked his finger and cast [Follicle Lunge.]

every fiber of hair straightened like needles and was fired against the attackers, piercing their bodies from head to toe. Some stray hairs hit the hiding villagers. Houses were full of holes and the ground was covered with hair.  Echoes of anguish shook the kingdom. The surviving villagers ran and tried to yell for help.

"What was that" King Hurvel took attention towards the source of the screams, then he pointed to a guard, commanding him to investigate. "King Hurvel, why not send more troops? Y'know, there might be injured people" Yorin told Hurvel while scratching her head. "Those adventurers are fighting over a sovereign artifact, of course, casualties are imminent. I'll send some later once we confirm the situation"

"Tch, not another one" Yorin mumbled to herself.

The soldier, while rushing to the source of the screams, was met with the heavy scent of iron, scattered blood, tons of hair, rocks, vegetation, and balded dead bodies. A glimpse of Alfred can be seen from afar.

After some time passed, the soldier returned and reported to Hurvel, "Sire! It's Alfred the thief! He murdered a total of 23 people! Some  survived, while most of them were injured, I request a medical force to be dispatched, sir!"

Hurvel chuckled "Permission granted, also can you guide Yorin to this Alfred guy, he's likely a candidat-", "And, no" Yorin interrupted Hurvel, "but why not? He just proved himself right now, and also I've seen that kid before he's blessed with a unique concept, his tangible prowess originated from the human body!" "No, I'm not looking for new candidates, even if they possess unique concepts" Yorin's lips curled.

"This isn't a request Yorin, this is an order from me." King Hurvel asserted. "Isn't finding the child our priority?" Yorin stated. "Don't worry about the child for now, they're locked up within these metal walls anyways, and also the whole kingdom is searching for them, no need to dirty our hands."  "Tch, fine if he passes my test then I'll recruit him, though a little bit of warning Hurvel; it isn't always about the concept, sometimes it's how the user utilizes the concept." Yorin was annoyed as she uttered.

"Oi, you the Alfred you speak, where is he?" She lifts the guard by the neck almost choking him. "A-at the village s-square Ma'm Sword hero." Yorin throws him down and then leaps from the royal platform. Within the blink of an eye, she vanishes leaving a trail of light behind.

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