Overknight Hero

Chapter 2 : Phantom Armament (1)

(Shit! That man just stole my wallet!) Serena said in her mind whilst falling to the ground.

A hooded figure ran away from her to the swarm of crowds in the marketplace.

Xaviel noticed Serena’s tumble, but he didn't understand what the situation was. Serena said, “Viel! That hooded man just stole my wallet!”

Xaviel who hears that suddenly moves very fast. He was running in pursuit of the man, but the volume of the crowd at the marketplace made Serena wonder if he would be successful or not.

(WOW!! HOW AM I RUNNING THIS FAST?) Thought Xaviel as he ran through dozens of crowds. As Xaviel runs through the marketplace pursuing the figure, he analyzes his surroundings.

(The marketplace road is moderately wide. Even with this much crowd, I still managed to get through without hitting anyone. From what I can see, the marketplace seemed to be in the form of a portrait rectangle. The rectangle is divided into 5 lines from the top to bottom.  The odd-numbered line is then filled with vendors, while the even-numbered line is empty serving its purpose as a roadway. The merchant’s vendors varied, most of them used tents and tables but some of them placed their wares in a floor mat), Xaviel thought.

“HEY WATCH OUT!!” said a man.

BRUK!

(Damn, that hurts), Xaviel thought as his hand caresses his own head.

“How are you going to pay for all this?” asked a man who was moving his cart.

(I am in deep business now. It seems I managed to hit this guy’s cart filled with eggs. Because of that some of the eggs fell out and got destroyed), Xaviel thought as he panicked inside.

“I am terribly sorry, but I am in pursuit of a thief. He stole my wallet!” said Xaviel.

“What?! Someone stole your wallet? Well, why didn’t you say so earlier!” The Man asked as he clapped around.

A small portion of the crowd suddenly went quiet and gathered around The Man. Seemingly waiting for The Man to speak. “Everyone! This man has been robbed !” The Man announced.

“What does The Thief look like?” said The Man.

“I don’t know his face, all I know is that he was wearing a brown hood!” said Xaviel to the small crowd. The Man then continued, “All right men and women it’s time for us to help those who are in need. Now GO! Search for every hooded person that is on the market!”

The small group of people then nodded and proceeded to go in various directions, then The Man said to Xaviel, “You should go inside the watchtower! It is near the entrance.”

“Umm, aren't there 2 entrances? Which one do you mean?” Xaviel asked.

“You entered from there right?” asked The Man as he pointed at the entrance gate of the village. Xaviel nodded in response, then The Man said, “Then you wanna go over there.” He points in the opposite direction.

“Once you're there just say that you were being robbed and wanted to scout the area. Then when you saw the culprit scream using the trumpet that is available there.” The man gave instructions to Xaviel before sending him to run to the watchtower.

“Wait, before I go. May I borrow a few eggs,” asked Xaviel to Egg Merchant.

“Sure, but what for?” asked The Egg Merchant as he handed him a bag that contained 2-3 eggs.

Xaviel however didn’t answer the man, after taking the bag he dropped down to the ground and seemed to be searching for something. Then, he rose and ran towards the watchtower.

Xaviel runs again to the watchtower in a matter of minutes. Once there, he does exactly what The Egg Merchant told him to do. He told the keeper his condition and was allowed to use the watchtower. The tower had 4 beams and the top portion of the tower was roofless. It was a perfect structure for a lookout.

(Now let’s see where this damn guy is!) Xaviel thought as he began to scour the area.

“THERE!” he shouted.

He saw the hooded figure blending in with the crowd in front of a vegetable merchant’s stall. He quickly searches the tower for the trumpet. The trumpet that The Egg Merchant meant turns out to be some sort of device similar to that of a Megaphone. Just as he was about to scream, he noticed that there was more than 1 vegetable stall. Thus he must specify the vegetable stall’s location.

(Okay, let’s see. The stall was on the middle row of the marketplace. From the watchtower POV, it is located between a stall selling daggers on a floor mat and a stall selling dairy products. They’re located in front and back of the vegetable stall respectively. Then, across from the vegetable stall, there is a jewellery stall and a stall that is selling bottles. They’re located on the right and left sides respectively),  Xaviel analyzes the exact position of the vegetable stall.

He then used the trumpet and spoke out loud, “THE THIEF IS ON THE VEGETABLE STALL!!”

Suddenly the crowd began looking towards the watchtower. The Thief also looked to Xaviel instinctively.

(If I was an adept thief, a mere shout wouldn’t shake me. I would maintain my actions and position so that I would still blend in with the crowd. Thus, I purposely said only half of the information. Making The Thief feel security), Xaviel thought to himself.

In response, The Thief did exactly what he had predicted. The Thief didn’t move an inch and stayed in position blending with the crowd. While at this moment his helpers were confused and each of them gathered at a different vegetable stall. Only one of them managed to standby in the right vegetable stall. That person is standing sideways from Xaviel’s point of view and is on the same road as The Thief.

(Now is the time!) Thought Xaviel as he inhales.

“THE THIEF IS ON THE VEGETABLE STALL THAT IS BETWEEN THE FLOOR MAT DAGGER MERCHANT AND DAIRY PRODUCT STALL!!” he screamed.

The Helper that was closest to The Thief then understood Xaviel’s instructions and moved swiftly towards the hooded figure. As he became close The Thief moved its way from the crowd. The Thief had abandoned camouflage and ran for his freedom.

“That’s where you will lose.” Xaviel then took out an egg from the bag of The Egg Merchant. He aimed and threw all of the eggs that he had.

PLAK! PLAK! PLAK!

The egg crashes and pours its liquid.

Xaviel didn’t purposely didn’t aim at The Thief, but on the road that he predicted The Thief would be at.

(If I were to gamble my odds. I would have hit The Thief, but it's better to mark The Thief first so that we can properly catch that bastard), he thought.

The Thief then walked to one of the liquid puddles that Xaviel had made. Making them almost lose their balance because of the slippery surface. In that short moment, The Helper managed to get closer to The Thief.

At this moment, Xaviel took out the pebble he had collected before and threw it in the direction of The Thief.

(Haha! I got you!) He thought.

But as the pebble flies and nearly bumps to The Thief, The Helper that was pursuing him suddenly managed to catch up right behind. This makes him an obstacle for the pebble since it is now flying towards The Helper.

(Oh NO!! PLEASE DON’T HIT!!!)

Kring!! Kring!!

A sound of a bell rings inside Xaviel’s head.

He instinctively closes his eyes. He saw a spider web consisting of icons with unknown meanings. One of those icons was glowing.

“What? What is this?” he mumbles.

He then has no idea but to reach out to the glowing icon. As his index finger touched the thing. 

He opened his eyes and said, “Varpas Sena (Phantom Armament)”

The pebble that was flying towards The Helper suddenly became invisible and went through him. Then, The Thief suddenly stumbled and fell headfirst onto the marketplace road.

“What just happened?” Xaviel asks in confusion.