Wait! I'm not a Demigod, I'm a Gamer!

Chapter 41: Prove

While Yuuya, Sam, and the Solarclouds were at the Magic Tower, Damian and Aurora were waiting for them at the Adventurer's Guild, being watched by every adventurer within. Damian sits at a vacant table cleaning his sword while Aurora is lying by his side, her eyes open by a tiny fraction as she watches their surroundings. A cup is gently placed on his table, halting his cleaning. He looks up and is mildly surprised to see Amanda to be the culprit. "Uh um I-I just wanted to apologize for my behavior earlier...It was wrong of me to act that way towards you and your party...to Yuuya especially..." She speaks slowly and bows to him. Damian sighs and continues to clean. "You should apologize to Yuuya if you really mean it." Amanda stutters immediately. "I-I will! I kn-know he's a good person and would never harm anyone. It-it was wrong of me to judge him so quickly after he revealed his true self...after everything he's done." Damian looks up again, seeing her look down in shame, the glossy look in her eyes as she tries to hold back the tears. He sighs again and sheaths his sword, finally taking the offered cup and taking a sip. "Good, he'll really appreciate it. He takes everything to heart more than he should. He likes a giant teddy bear." Amanda smiles hopefully and looks over at Aurora, noticing her gaze. She gulps down her fear and speaks, "I-I wasn't s-sure what to offer the Sacred Beast of Earth. Is-is there anything you-you would like?" Aurora moves her head and curls her lip at her, "A warm lemon tea will suffice miss, thank you." Amanda blinks in surprise at the warm voice in her head and smiles before bowing to her. "Of course! I'll be right back." She speed walks away, leaving the two to watch her leave. "Maybe there is hope that people will accept Yuuya." Damian mutters behind his cup, praying that more people turn up like Amanda, supporting Yuuya and his party. Aurora lays her head on his lap, "One must have hope for a better future, for without hope there is no future. I know Yuuya has hope for his friends and I have hope for him as well." Damian looks up and thinks, occasionally petting Aurora's scales that emits a purr out of the raptor, before he finally speaks out a response, "I have hope for him too, and in this party. With Yuuya around, the future will be brighter. I'll make sure he gets the better life he deserves." She looks up at him, "We all will." Damian smiles at her, "Yeah, we will." He rubs under her chin as she grins at him.
Their happy moment is shattered when a group of adventurers barges out of the arena, pushing each other around as they laugh loudly. Damian glares while Aurora huffs and gets off his lap, lying back on the floor but still close to his side. The adventurers immediately silences the moment they see him or rather when they see Aurora in her shrunken form. They glare at them as they slowly walk over, their weapons closely by their sides. "Well well well, if it isn't the beast-man lover and his killer pet." Damian's eye twitches, but he makes no move. The adventurers surrounded them now, Aurora's eyes were wide open, her pupils mere slits in alert. "Looks like your little beast-man isn't around, did he leave you his pet behind so you could act as its pet sitter? Or maybe you're its snack." Aurora let out a low growl making some of adventurers flinch while the main guy continues to throw insults at the pair, unaware of the danger. "Perhaps you like being that beast-man's little bitch. You let him do whatever he wants and in return he gives you his little trinkets and trophies." He flicks the Leonis talisman around Damian's waist with his knife as he leans closer. "And I bet you like it, being treated roughly by that savage, you and that blue haired kid. It's the only reason why anyone would stay with a beast-man." When the man was right up against Damian's face, he smirks in a smug fashion as he says, "How can you stand being around beasts that have mercilessly killed our own kind, even your mother was a victim." That was the final straw, the man never saw the fist that the ombré haired man threw at his face that knocked right off his feet into another table. Damian was already on his feet before the other adventurers were aware what had just happened to their boss, barely able to react to his attacks. One adventurer made the mistake of drawing his weapon, giving the trained man permission to draw his darkened steel. The adventurers attempted to push the one human down, but he wasn't alone. Aurora roared at the adventurers that weren't occupied by Damian and summoned her earth magic, creating barriers around them, thus trapping them in tight cubicles to the point they were immobile, all they could do was cuss and squirm. Damian swung his sword and blocked each attack, not once using his magic. Aurora heard some of the adventurers chanting and saw incoming magic attacks coming straight at Damian. She quickly stands in between him and uses her own earth magic to create powerful earth walls, surprising Damian when he heard the sounds of explosions behind the wall. The distraction allows the adventurer in front to slice at Damian's shoulder, eliciting a shout of pain. With one hand he holds his shoulder to stop the bleeding, his blood running through his fingers, while he holds his sword up with the other, shaking slightly. Aurora turns swiftly at his shout, her eyes narrowing as her body glows an earthly brown. Her body grows larger, not to her true height, but just enough to curl herself around Damian, shielding him from the adventurers with her head nearly hitting the ceiling if she was standing up straight. She growls menacing at them before she lets out an earth shattering roar, making all of the adventurers shriek and run out of the main hall. The only ones in the main hall are the two Orion's Pax and the adventurers attacking them, they had stepped back quite a bit when she roared, but they refused to run. She lowers her head, hiding Damian from view, as she continues to growl. Damian was shocked over this predicament and tries to coax her, sadly his calming skills was no where near as impressive as his friends. "Aurora, it's okay! I'm alright, it's just a scratch." Aurora says nothing as she continues to glare at the adventurers, almost daring them to make another move against them. The boss from before moves past everyone as he pulls out his long sword. "That's it! Enough of this shit! It's time, for a little extermination." Just before he could take a step forward, a giant glowing magic circle appears between them, blinding everyone. When they looked up, a group of people were suddenly in its place, in the center stood a beast-man, his violet eyes glowing dangerously.
Yuuya stares at the group of adventurers surrounding his familiar, his ears twitching in slight irritation. "What the hell is going on here!?" He yells in a demanding tone. Sam looks around in surprise, still not used to the fact that Yuuya has the power to teleport, then back at their situation, his eyes widening at Aurora's size change. "What the-Aurora?" He wasn't the only one, the Solarclouds were in a daze, one minute they were in the Magic Tower discussing over leaving, the next they were back at the Adventurer's Guild. "What just happened?" Matthew finally asks. Ivory looks down then up at Yuuya, his eyes never leaving the adventurers pointing their weapons at his familiar. "I believe...Yuuya just used a teleportation spell." Diana spins her at her. "Are you serious!? Do you know how long it takes for a human to cast that? How many humans it takes to cast that? Yuuya did that with barely any time and without even casting!" Ivory simply sighs, "Chalk it up as another mystery of Yuuya." Speaking of, Yuuya walks over to his familiar and strokes her snout, Aurora purrs at the comforting feeling. Yuuya smiles as he looks around worriedly, "Where's Damian? I heard your message." Aurora's purrs instantly quietens, she leans back as her body glows an earthly brown, her body shrinking. When she's back to her raptor size, Yuuya finally sees Damian as he looks around confused before his eyes land on him. "Yuu-" He doesn't even finish his name before the beast-man pulls Damian into his arms, clenching his teeth when his shoulder throbbed, but he didn't want to push him away. "Damian! Are you okay? Aurora told me you were in trouble-" The smell of blood makes him freeze. He quickly pulls back and sees the steady stream of blood flow from Damian's shoulder, his eyes widening in shock. "Damian..." He gently rests his hand on his shoulder, using his light magic he heals the wound as the blood slowly dissipates while the wound closes, leaving behind a rip in his shirt and jacket. Yuuya looks over at Damian, still seeing some dirt and cuts on his clothes, but thankfully not on his body. Still, Yuuya couldn't help the anger growing deep within him as a wildfire, spinning out of control. He looks over at the adventurers, his eyes glowing as he clenches his fists tightly. "Which one of you hurt my friend?" Most of the adventurers' faces went pale and they backed away as they dropped their weapons, only a handful stood their ground with one of them being the boss. "So the savage wants to defend his bitch huh? Well then, let's go." Yuuya narrows his eyes and cracks his knuckles, "For the record, you asked for it." Even though he had gotten a taste from Damian, he was unprepared of the power behind Yuuya's fury. Yuuya's speed was on a completely different level to the ombré haired's, a mere blur to the adventurer as Yuuya punches him right in the stomach. The force of his punch has him crash into a small group of adventurers behind him, the man unconscious the moment Yuuya made contact with his fist. Everyone's jaw drops to the floor when Yuuya managed to incapacitate about four people in under two seconds with a single punch, the other adventurers looking at him with fear. Yuuya looks at them, the glow in his eyes hasn't dim, "Who's next?" A sudden wind shift is the only warning the beast-man gets before he suddenly jumps back when a giant, spiked ice ball lands right where he was standing, leaving cracked floorboards in its wake. Aurora growls louder at the threat, quieting down when Yuuya raises his hand behind him. He looks over and sees four people have entered the Adventurer's Guild, a man in front of the group holding one hand up indicating he was the culprit for the spiked ice ball, he narrows his eyes at the beast-man. "This is no place for your kind. Get out while you're still able to." Warns the man as he steps further inside, drawing his long sword. Yuuya glares as he observes the newcomers, noticing all of their expensive looking gear. One man in the back with long black hair tied in pony tail and dark blue eyes was wearing dark bulky armor with one shoulder pad in the shape of a skull that looks like it could take a large amount of damage and still remain sparkling clean, his weapon of choice was an equally large dark red war hammer. Yuuya silently wondered if the war hammer was as heavy as his own collection. The other man in the back was in a navy blue robe that was ripped up at the edges and covering not just his face but whatever weapons on him, only his pale green eyes were show along with a scar across his right cheek and his spiked gray hair. The third member was woman in what looked like a general knight outfit but she was wearing a white fur lined blue cloak that just screams magic item as she was holding a golden lance, her blond hair pulled up into a braid as her bright pink eyes stared daggers into his soul. Lastly, the man who was in front of the group and who threatened the beast-man, was in a what looks like sparkling sterling steel armor holding a long sword that had a few runes etched in the blade that gave off a magical aura, the man himself had striking red eyes and short white hair. Yuuya crosses his arms as he stands his ground, "I didn't do anything wrong, I was protecting my friend. Plus, he was asking for it, literally." The white-haired man glares at him and points his sword at him, "Last chance: Get out, now." Aurora jumps in front of Yuuya, catching both parties off guard as she growls loudly. "Enough! Cease this fighting before others get seriously hurt." Yuuya's eyes widen before he whips his head around, noticing several tables destroyed from the fight, not just with him but also before his arrival. Many of the bystanders hid behind what little remains of the furniture in the reception area, Amanda being one of the few. Yuuya's ears fold down in shame at the mess his anger caused before looking back at Aurora, carefully placing his hand on her scales. "She's right, we shouldn't fight here. If you have a problem with me, then let's take it in the arena." The man slowly lowers his sword, keeping his eyes on the beast-man. "Very well, but only just so we don't drag more innocent people into this." Yuuya couldn't help rolling his eyes at the comment, "Innocent people, yeah right." The man glares at him, but Yuuya merely shrugs it off and turns to towards the direction the arena, not bothering to wait for the man to follow.
When Yuuya and the man reached the arena, every adventurer had filled up all the benchers, this time cheering for the newcomer. Yuuya can't help rubbing his arms as he awkwardly walks into the center of the arena, trying not to recall how everyone used to encourage him in the past. Sam and Damian each place their hands on his shoulders, "It'll be okay, you're not alone." Sam whispers encouragingly. Damian nods, "Yeah, just ignore these fuckers. They haven't realized your, how did you say, your 'awesomeness.'" Yuuya giggles at Damian's attempt at copying his old world's slang, his cheerfulness bringing a smile to his friends' faces. Aurora comes from Damian's side, her snout nearly in front of Yuuya's front. "It'll be okay, but be careful. This man seems to be very skilled and experienced." Yuuya narrows his eyes again, his giggles dies down as he takes a closer look at his opponent. "Yeah, I sort of got that vibe off of him when he threw that spike ice ball on me. I didn't even hear him chant, plus he used an ice spell." He looks over at Sam. "Didn't you say it takes a human ages to master ice spell chants? He seems a little too young." Sam nods. "Yeah, I only got lucky because I have you as a teacher." Yuuya nudges him gently with a warm smile. "Hey, don't sell yourself too short. You still learned quickly. It took half of the people in your village with water magic more than a month to be able cast ice spells without chanting. You got it in two weeks. I'd say that's an outstanding achievement! I only showed you the ropes, you did the rest all on your own!" Yuuya can't help the excitement in his voice, he was super proud of his friend when he was able to cast low level water spells to complicated ice spells in a short month. He's excited to see what his friend will be able to do in the future. Sam blushes brightly at the compliment, chuckling shying. Damian grumbles, not liking how he wasn't getting any attention despite receiving teachings from the beast-man as well. Aurora, noticing the ombré haired's jealousy, decides to poke some fun. "I'm curious Star. If ice spells are what is considered complicated for water magic. What is complicated for fire magic?" Damian's eyes widen at the subtlety while Yuuya eagerly answers the question, "Ah well that will have to be inferno spells. The problem with those is control. Ice spells are hard to manifest, but once you do you have control. With inferno spells, they are easy to manifest, but you can easily lose control. Quite literally the opposite. Damian, you mastered this quickly too! It's hard to calm your emotions in the beginning, but once you have a good grasp then you let your emotions out on your enemies. I'm so proud how you managed to pick this up. I wasn't too comfortable teaching this spell to Sam's village, a lot of them were afraid when I showed them, but you did it without any fear." It was true, Damian did master inferno spells quickly, despite his ill-temper. You'd expect the spells to backfire on the hothead, well..they did, in the beginning. But after many hours of calming breaths and supporting cheering from the beast-man, Damian was able to discover a trick to control the spell without chanting: thinking calming thoughts as he gathered the mana in his palm, forming the spell, once he knew the spell was ready, he would release all his emotions out as an explosion through the spell right on the enemy far from himself and his allies. Yuuya was so overjoyed that Damian had found the perfect way to controlling the spell, he only wish he hadn't had destroyed the forest in the process. Damian blushes darkly as he looks away, silently happy at the compliment. Sam blankly stares at him, jumping in fright when a bottle was thrown right by his feet, the shards nearly hitting him. "Quit yapping and fight already!" Many adventurers agreed and started yelling at the group, frustrated at the beast-man at taking his sweet time. Yuuya glares at the audience and growls threateningly at them, most them jump at the loud sound that almost silences them all. Sam and Damian grip onto his shoulders, Yuuya looks back at them, smiling at them in reassurance, "I'm fine, they just need to learn to be patient." Suddenly, a deep voice comes up besides them, "You're exactly right. That's the problem with adventurers these days. Personally, the Magic Tower is less rowdy than this." They turn their heads and yell in surprise, the voice belongs to none other than, Jefaris, the Head Mage himself. Yuuya yells, "Why are you here!?" Sam yells right after, "How did you even get here!?" The three grab onto each other, pulling themselves far from the man with Aurora in front as their shield. Damian looks between his friends and the Head Mage, "I take it you guys have met." The man simply smiles as if he wasn't just screamed at and raises his hand in a welcoming manner. "Greetings, my name is Jefaris Ulrudius, Head Mage of the Magic Tower. It's a pleasure to meet the other members of Orion's Pax. I wanted to see what could've ended our visit so suddenly. So when Yuuya was preparing the teleportation spell, I hopped on at the last second, saves me a spell scroll." All four stare at him in bewilderment. "You did what!?" The Solarclouds finally enter the arena as if searching for something until they laid their eyes on the group and Head Mage, groaning in exhaustion. "There you are, sir it's best that you return to your post, what if your mages need you?" Callian tries to reason, Ivory looking ready to tear her cousin apart piece by piece. Jefaris simply smiles at the newly arrived group. "Oh I'm sure they'll be fine without me for a couple of hours. Besides, I'm rather curious how Mr. Yuuya will handle a S rank adventurer." Yuuya's ears straighten at the new information. "S rank adventurer?" Yuuya looks over at his opponent, seeing him watching him the whole time as his group talk to him. The beast-man can't help but gulp nervously, "Oh boy..."
When the arena clears till it is just the two of them, Yuuya and the S rank adventurer, the crowd cheers once more. Yuuya moves to make a stance before hears backlash from the stands. "Hey! What the hell is it wearing!?" "What if that beast cheats?" "Yeah! That ain't fair to Ryder!" Once one of the adventurers pointed out his attire the rest followed along, arguing that Yuuya was wearing enchanted clothing. Yuuya's jaw drops at the absurdity. "Are you kidding me!? I'm wearing a simple jacket and pants while the S rank adventurer is wearing sterling steel armor that is clearing enchanted with high level magic that is probably better than the one I'm wearing right now which all it does is to keep it clean and cut free, doesn't mean it's magic and stab resistant! How is that fair!? Freaking jerks!" Yuuya wants to scream, but knows from past experience that it will solve nothing and will only add more fuel to the fire. "Even his sword is a magic item how come he's allowed to use it, but I can't pull out mine, huh? This is unjust, unjust!" Yuuya's ears are flattened on his head at this point, his pouting noticed by his friends. "This isn't fair." Sam comments angrily, his grip hardens on the wood in front of him, slowly becoming frozen. Damian grips harder on the same piece of wood, the wood burning as smoke rises. The Solarclouds simply agrees with the pair, "I agree, there is no need of them to say such things. Ryder is fully capable of handling himself without handicapping Yuuya." Callian states, silently going over who to have a 'friendly' chat amongst the crowd once the duel was over. Thankfully, Gunter arrives by slamming the doors open, instantly shutting up the angry crowd, "What the hell is going on here!?" No one says a word, too afraid to speak up to the furious Guildmaster. Yuuya then notices that he wasn't alone. Prince Phillip and Commander Hawkcolt were standing behind, wondering what was happening. Not wanting to irritate the man further, knowing what that could lead to from past experiences, Yuuya speaks up, "A group of adventurers picked a fight with my party while I was away, Damian got injured, so Aurora had to intervene. When I arrived he was bleeding and they were still surrounded by the assholes, when I asked who did it, the bastard confessed and literally asked for a fight so I obliged. Then this party barged in and wanted to challenge me saying I don't belong here, so here we are ready to throw down, but everyone here is saying I'm not being fair to Mr. Ryder here because I'm wearing magic items which doesn't make sense since he's wearing even better gear than I am and then you...walked in...um hi sir." Yuuya started off strong in the beginning as he recalls how angry he was at seeing Damian and Aurora surrounded, how Damian was hurt, the bastard taunting him, and the crowd being unfair, but he finished off weakly as he noticed the stormy look on Gunter's face and the sparks of electricity around him. Phillip hums in thought as Hawkcolt looks around before spotting his son in the crowd, his face expressionless despite the many worries swimming inside. "And you all call yourselves adventurers...you fuckers should be ashamed of yourselves! I was gone for three fucking hours the day I come back, and you're already fighting with each other. I've told you all that we watch out for each other no matter what no matter who we are. We accept each other because we only have each other! I am so fuckin disappointed with you." Yuuya looks down knowing he was the one who caused all this. Gunter walks over to him and raises his head up, his lips stern but his eyes soft. "Even when one of us is not human, we look out for each other. Yuuya has looked out for all of you all these months despite not being human, treated you all the same. Saved your asses when our capital was under threat, saved our loved ones. Threw away his freedom to protect all of us because he cares about each and every single one of us when most of us don't deserve it." Yuuya gasps when Gunter gently pushes him behind, shielding him from the crowd as he crosses his arms, his eyes glowing in anger. "If anyone has a problem with him, has got a fucking problem with me. Speak up now." No one says a word for a solid minute until one clears his throat. "To be frank sir, I don't think you should have any say." Both Yuuya and Gunter turn their heads turn to the source and see it is was none other than Ryder himself, the man glaring at the pair as he grips his sword's hilt, not drawing the weapon just yet. Gunter narrows his eyes at the S rank adventurer as he stands his ground, "Oh and why is that, Zainmoutt." Despite it being a question, the way he grounded out his teeth made it seem more of a challenge. Ryder answered without any fear, accepting the challenge head on, "You defended this beast-man and got arrested as a result. Almost seems like you knew the truth from the start, hiding this from the rest of us. How can we trust each other if we can't even trust you as our Guildmaster!" When he revealed this theory, many of the adventurers started to yell in agreement. Yuuya looked around worriedly, Gunter's support quickly decreasing right before his eyes. "No...This...is all my fault..." Yuuya looks back at the man, seeing him yell back at his adventurers and arguing for the choices he made, the scene reminding him of painful memory. "Not again..." For a moment, Gunter fades into Ren when he was in his late teens, arguing with their parents. "I am not abandoning them! They need a guardian and you aren't even around anymore!" Their mother speaks in a harsh tone that still haunts him, "That's not your responsible, you're eighteen now! You can go out into the world, make a living, and do something worthwhile for once in your life instead of raising this mistake!" Their father's words is what crushed him the most, making him realize just how little he was valued in his parents' eyes. "You and your siblings gave up on nearly everything for this thing, it's time to think of your future. You can't raise this and work, this will be someone else's responsibility. We'll put it up for adoption like we originally planned along with the others. It's better this way for you and your siblings that are closer to your age. No more distraction." He remembers how frightened he was and how much pain he felt at how he was regarded as a thing rather than a daughter. His siblings had always told him that his parents loved him, but were always busy with work to come visit. That day he learned the truth why he never saw them, they never wanted to see their mistake. He remembers how Ren suddenly grabbed his little body, he was only six in her little dress. Ren had stormed out of their parents' house and yelled, "I refuse to leave any of my siblings to the likes of you!" The last he heard of his parents were their words promising that if Ren stepped foot of that house, he was never welcomed back...and he never did. Yuuya had been the catalyst that severed that connection for all of his siblings, they may have not been the greatest of all parents, but he knew his older siblings still respected them in some manner. Ren kept the photo album, it still held the family pictures of their summers together before he was born, the happier days. Yuuya didn't want the same fate for Gunter, having to abandon the Adventurer's Guild for his sake. Before things could get too heated, Yuuya steps forward and shields Gunter from the onslaught. "Shut up!" He uses his wind magic to amplify his voice, sending waves and waves of his echo in the entire arena, forcing everyone to cover their ears, including Ryder, the man taken by surprise. Once it was quiet, Yuuya looks over at everyone, seeing his friends soothing their aching ears, making the beast-man grimace apologetically. "Mr. Gunter is a great Guildmaster. Yes, he did know the truth, but I begged him not to tell anyone because I wasn't ready yet. Please don't blame him, it's my fault. He was just defending me because..." Yuuya looks back at the Guildmaster, seeing him watching him carefully, seeing the concern in his eyes. This fact makes him smile shyly and continue bravely, "Because I am an adventurer and as the Guildmaster he was watching out for one of his own. I truly mean no ill harm to this guild and everyone within or anyone in the capital. I just...want to go on adventurers with my friends and learn more of this world." Yuuya goes on his knees, making many of the adventurers whisper frantically, his friends watching with wide eyes as he places his hands and head on the ground in a bowing position. "I'm truly sorry for causing you all so much trouble. Please don't take your anger out on Mr. Gunter, the Solarclouds, or anyone who stood by my side. This is all my fault...I'm sorry."
No one said a word, too stunned by the beast-man's display of submission. Gunter furrows his brows painfully at Yuuya's attempt to appease the crowd, "Son..." Even Ryder was shocked by Yuuya's actions, one moment the man was throwing bodies around like a feral animal, the next he was calmly apologizing in a respectful and demeaning manner. Ryder has fought many beast-man and none of them has ever shown this submissive behavior before, they had chosen to fight to the death. "What is he?" He thinks as he watches Gunter grips the beast-man's shoulder tightly, urging him to stand. "Yuuya, son, that's enough. You did nothing wrong. C'mon, get up, don't do this to yourself." Yuuya doesn't move, still feeling the shame in his chest. Ryder sighs as he continues to watch, feeling the need to give the beast-man a chance. "Get up, beast. We still have a duel to go through." Yuuya's ears flick over to his voice, making him finally lift his head up, his eyes glossy with unshed tears. Ryder glares at him as he continues, "If you're a true adventurer like you say you are then prove it. Fight me here and now in this arena in front of everyone here, let them witness the adventurer spirit within you. Show me you are one of us." Yuuya eyes widen at his words, sensing the hope they carry. Yuuya smiles confidently and quickly wipes his eyes to clear the moisture, getting back on his feet. "Right! I'll show you, I'll show you all that I am an adventurer and that I am one of you! I swear it on my name and as captain of Orion's Pax that I am an adventurer!" The crowd erupts into loud cheers that takes Yuuya by surprise, not expecting everyone to be so hyped up on his declaration. Gunter grips his shoulder to gain his attention, giving him a warm smile. "You got this son, don't hold back." Yuuya smiles back and breathes. "That's the plan, I'm not holding anything back. I'm going all elemental on this guy." Gunter lets go of Yuuya and heads into the benchers, sitting next to the rest of Orion's Pax. Before Yuuya could get into a stance, a random adventurer from the crowds brings back the issue from before: his wardrobe. "He can't wear that while fighting Ryder! It's not fair!" "Yeah, I saw him pull out all sorts of crazy shit! I'd say strip him!" "Yeah! Strip him!" Soon the crowd was chanting 'Strip him' over and over, making the poor beast-man blush. "Wha-what!? I'm not fighting naked in front of an arena full of people! Absolutely not! Why is everyone in this world so obsessed with seeing me naked!?" Yuuya quickly held onto his clothes tightly, afraid people would tear his clothes off by force. Gunter, the Solarclouds, and Orion's Pax all stared at the crowd with dark looks, wondering how to shut everyone up in the most painful way. Phillip, thankfully, takes charge and whistles very loudly to draw everyone's attention from amongst the stands. "People please, let's not get too riled up over this minor issue." Yuuya has never been so happy to see Prince Phillip in all his life he could cry. Phillip continues, "I understand you don't trust Yuuya's attire so I have solution." Yuuya's happiness is suddenly replaced with dread. Phillip simply smiles as he shows common clothes in his hands, "Why don't we have Yuuya change into some common clothes that I guarantee are magic free right here in front of everyone hmm? That should ease everyone's worries." The crowd seems to ponder the prince's suggestion while Yuuya's face seems to grow even redder. "No! I'm not changing in front of everyone!" The crowd didn't seem to like his refusal and demanded him to change. Yuuya shakes his head and hugs his body tighter, his tail wrapped around his legs even more. "Absolutely not! You're all a bunch of perverts! I'm not getting naked in front of you all!" This statement seems to confuse most of the adventurers. "Why doesn't he just do it?" "Yeah, I hear beast-man don't really care about being all modest." "My friend told me that a bear beast-man took off his clothes when he was being all territorial or something." Sam and Damian listens to all the confusion, knowing full well why Yuuya was refusing to change in public: his mark...or so they seem. Yuuya's blush is so dark, it practically matches the color of his hair. Phillip watches the scene in amusement while Hawkcolt sighs in annoyance, no longer able to stand for this anymore. Hawkcolt takes the clothes out of the prince's hands and walks over to the beast-man. "I will observe him changing, alone." Everyone's jaws drops as the commander stands a few feet away from the stunned beast-man. Yuuya stares at the man warily as he sniffs him cautiously, his ears straightened up when he takes in the new scent coming off of him. In the past he smelled of cigars, a stench that had made the beast-man nauseous, but now he smelled weirdly of smoking oranges like back in his old life when Ren let her smelled some of his old whiskey. It was sweet and smoky, reminding her of orange peels simmering in a pot and then suddenly set on fire just long enough to brown the peels. It was a rusty smell, warm and a bit inviting to Yuuya. "Huh, I didn't know scents can change like that...Does, this mean I can trust him now?" Yuuya takes a closer look at the man and sees no hostility like in the prison cell, only slight irritation. Yuuya looks between the crowd and the commander, sighing in defeat as he hangs his head, his ears folding on his head. "Fine, you can watch sir..." Hawkcolt walks closer to Yuuya, making him more alert. Just when they were only a few feet away, Hawkcolt began to chant, "Hear the shadows, cast their seal. Lead me where the night winds kneel. Bar this heart in velvet night till dawn returns with healing light. Twilight Dome." Shadows erupted up from under the commander's feet and above both his and Yuuya's heads till they were encased in complete darkness.
Yuuya's breathing started to increase as a panic attack began before he heard the commander's voice once more still a few feet away in that dull tone, "I know you have light magic, do you mind?" Yuuya blinks before he raises his hand, summoning a small ball of light that was enough to illuminate the two men in the darkened space. Hawkcolt still wore an expressionless face and handed him the plain clothes, "Make it fast." Yuuya gingerly takes the clothes and looks away, even though his scent gave off some trust, there was nothing in their history to trust on. Despite that Yuuya pressed on and turned around, still embarrassed to change in front of a man. Thankfully, Hawkcolt said nothing as he watched Yuuya slowly take off each particle of clothing, carefully watching for any acts of deception. The commander was surprised how clumsy the beast-man was at putting clothes on, almost as if he wasn't used to dressing in this style despite the clothes being simple commoners. When Yuuya spent the past ten minutes trying to put on the pants, Hawkcolt had enough. He stomped over to the man and roughly grabbed the material and pulled them up, making Yuuya let out a squeak. "What is the problem?" He was getting annoyed, but when he saw the beast-man shaking, he couldn't help but worry a little. "U-umm it-it's my tail...the pants, don't fit..." It clicked in the commander's head as he looked down, noticing the slight bump of the tail in the pants. The man sighs as he pulls out his dagger, "Hold still." Despite his warning, the beast-man seems to shake even more than when he first grabbed him. It shouldn't have bothered him so much, but it did. He tried to ignore the stinging feeling as he focused on the task at hand as he carefully cut a small opening in the pants, allowing the fluffy appendage freedom. Yuuya sighs in relief as feels his tail wag without restraint, he looks up at Hawkcolt with a bright smile, "Thank you sir, that feels so much better!" Hawkcolt simply nods and puts away his dagger, only then does he notices how Yuuya's shirt was clumsily tied at the top. His eye twitches in annoyance and stands in his space again, undoing the tie and redoing it, "A man should be able to dress appropriately in front of the public, especially in front of royalty. Has anyone ever taught you how to tie properly?" Yuuya stares curiously at the man before watching him tie, "Was the tie I did not right? My siblings only showed me how to tie my shoes and once how to secure a boat to the docks, although now that I think about it...I didn't do that right and the boat drifted off in the middle of the lake, my brother had to swim out and get it..." Hawkcolt slows his tying to listen, wondering just where the man came from to learn so little, what his background is. He sighs and resumes before he stops altogether when he notices a hint of a dark mark hidden by the shirt. He carefully pulls the tie down as he continues, feigning he was working on the tie, as his eyes widen as he sees about a quarter of a royal mark on the beast-man, one that definitely did not long to the beast-men. He sees some of the tails and half of the fox's face before Yuuya's gains his attention, "You okay? You stopped tying, is it that complicated?" He shakes his head as he raises his shirt, quickly finishing off the bow. "I'm fine, just wondering how you went so long without anyone teaching you proper etiquette." Yuuya smiles sheepishly and rubs his head, "Yeah I know, Damian is working on that with me." At the mention of his son, his face hardens once more. "I, heard what happened. Is he...okay?" Yuuya looks away in shame and nods. "Yes, I got back in time. However, he had a deep cut on his shoulder, but I did heal him immediately. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have left him alone..." Hawkcolt should blame him, yell at him, hit him, but...instead he gently places his hand on his shoulder. "You can't be in two places at once. As much as we want to be there for the people we love, we also have a duty to uphold. I know you didn't leave him entirely alone, that Sacred Beast was also with him right?" Yuuya nods as he continues, "Some part of you must of known this might've happened. As much as I want to keep my son as far from you as possible, I know that will never happen. And I know that you will keep him safe and happy, happier than I ever will. You fight this duel and show everyone that you are one of them, that will keep my son safer. Is that understood?" Yuuya stares at him in wonder, making him slightly unnerved, before he gives him a confident smile and raises both fists up, "Right! I can do this! For Orion's Pax!" Hawkcolt nods and snaps his fingers. The shadowed dome disappears with a pop, allowing everyone to see the pair, making them cheer for what's to come. Hawkcolt takes Yuuya's clothes and heads back into the benches, sitting by Phillip's side. The prince smirks as he sees the commander by his side, "So, liked what you see?" Hawkcolt scoffed in disgust and held onto the clothes tighter as Gunter stood from his seat. "Adventurers! Today is an exciting day! For today we have a duel between legendary S rank captain Ryder Zainmoutt of Light of Justice and B rank captain Yuuya of Orion's Pax! This is a duel to show Yuuya's worth of being a true adventurer despite being a beast-man. Will he overcome this challenge or will this be too much for the young man?"