While not another match for Krass in speed, Perren was fast enough to raise the dust from the paved streetways, gunning it like a madman on the run. His eyes were scattering like crazy, dashing from left to right, grabbing on the slightest clue to help him distinguish the strangers from his students. Any woman with an emerald cloak and a sheathed weapon or boy with shaggy hair and a sleeved shirt on. The search brought him to a remote part of the town, where yells and bellows of excitement guided him towards one of the small parks hidden between buildings. A crowd was surrounding something, an event of sorts, cheering on and talking about a fight.
Perren's ears perked at that, and groaning to his tired self for a few moments decided that he should probably intervene. -” Excuse me, what fight?”, Perren asked, hoping that his worst fears weren’t coming to life.
Two of the bystanders were ready to jovially explain the situation until they met the deadly stare of the annoyed asker -” Oh crap, you’re of the Union guys. Listen, pal…” then quickly changed it to sir after getting a better look at the interrogator “ The guys got the ok from the local peacekeepers and their supervision. Paper’s bolted right there”. The bystander then sheepishly stepped aside, pointing towards a wall.
In the middle of the crowd, two Firbolgs were slowly doing circles around each other, prodding, checking each other's movements. On the right was a lanky one, with large, thin legs, that would bend into a squat with each arched side-step. His hands were wide open, while his claws were itching for when they could strike his opponent, who hadn’t unsheathed her weapon yet, only keeping a tight grip on the scabbard.
The audience was placing bets, sharing their “professional” opinion on the winning rates, most of them in favor of their local star, an infamous Firbolg in the area for how many victories his claws brought him. About his opponent, though, they weren’t so sure about her chances; “Look at that silly cloak, she’s totally blind with it, right?”, the audience added in scoff. Except for one person, a human girl with wild, long orange hair. While the shortest one among the public, her shouts of encouragement were the loudest there. “ C’mon Brigid, you said you can take him down, so show that creep who’s who!”, cried the human girl while shadowboxing and kicking the air.
After he noticed her, a horrified Perren started to push everyone aside to get her. “Little girl!”, he yelled, desperately trying to get her attention. When he got clear enough, his shadow covered her entirely, which made her turn around with ire, followed by confusion when she noticed his scowl. “ Hello…”, he angrily voiced under his breath. “ I’m guessing you are one of the human visitors we got, right?”, to which the girl felt a paralyzing fear she would only get when being admonished by an angry teacher. But now it was twice as frightening, especially since she knew that she wasn’t the only one in trouble.
-” Yess…sir? Are you in the Union with Brigid? I met/saw most of the members by now, so I’m guessing you're the last one I haven’t seen, uhm, Brigid teacher?”.
-” Correct. So what are you and Brigantia doing here? Why are YOU here, to be more specific!”
-” Well, you see, Brigan…Brigid?”, she stumbled around the name, unsure which one to use “was honestly just showing me around, giving me a normal, honest, boring tour, as her stuffy dad told her. And we just looked around, honest to God, minding our own business, until that guy!”, pointing towards Brigid’s foe, “just jumped out of a back alley, stole my glove and ran off with it. “
Her attempts at playing the naive, innocent puppy dog didn’t seem to work on Perren, who was now more focused on stopping the supposed thief. Before he could make a move, though, he was stopped by a tight tug from the girl. “ Wait, please! Please let her fight.”
-” Listen, miss, I know this seems exciting to you, but this entire ordeal seems sketchy. If I intervene, then…”
-” But then I won’t see how strong she is. Brigid said that if she can win this in two minutes, then she’ll feel worthy of entering a pact with me.”
-” She wants to do what?”, replied Perren in shock. Up until now, he wasn’t sure of what his students' plans for the future were, but he wasn’t expecting Brigid to try and enter a pact so soon. He wasn’t sure of what to even say to the girl, so instead he decided to keep a cool head and follow their lead. “ Alright miss, I’ll hear you two out after this is over. For now, I do think it’s a good idea for her to get actual combat experience. “
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