WMMAP - [S2] Shelter You

12: I Will Catch You If You Fall

Invigorating the impact, Lucas rolled on his shoulder and landed on one knee, trying to recompose himself as he swiftly avoided a low kick that would have landed right on his head.

He briskly climbed on his two feet, dodging and parrying every blow possible, and made the distance. At this point, he was trying to get away from being circled. He knew it would be a bad idea to fight two guys at the same time.

He was already in a stance, ready for the face-off, but as soon as he saw Athanasia come out running, he dropped his hands slightly, shaking off the numbing effect from using his arms as a shield.

He took a deep breath in and said, "I don't want trouble."

He could take them on. He was confident, but he wouldn't be able to concentrate when Athanasia was looking at him with worries and fears all over her face like this.

Tobias chuckled as he walked in, hands in his pockets, and stood next to Athanasia. "You won't cause any of these guys any trouble as long as you prove your worth, wonder boy."

Clearly enraged by the white-haired man, Athanasia said through her gritted teeth, "He doesn't need to prove anything! Who are you to—"

"I am in charge of providing all the unit to aid the De Alger even though Sir Felix has the right to select the very few people of his, need I say, biased choice," Tobias said calmly, "So hear me out first, Milady, if your... Investment here can go through my endurance test, I will no longer try to persuade you to choose the units from my division. And I can assure you—"

"And I can assure you that your boys here will be crippled in the next five minutes if you don't stop bothering her!!" Lucas cut in as he sent one of the guys flying with a direct kick to the stomach.

He talked the talk and Lucas definitely could walk the walk. No matter how long it had been since he last tested his combat skill, what lived inside him would always come around and he seamlessly danced around his opponents.

He pointed at Tobias' face and continued, "And I remember you now! You are the same cowardly Snow-White drill instructor who always barks out orders while hiding behind his dwarves!!"

"Did you know, Kyrillos was supposed to be one of my dwarves before he went missing? I heard he had gone rogue after finding his target whereabout..."

Lucas flinched upon hearing that name. Disturbed and haunted by the horrors he had gone through, he could feel fear begin to bloom in his heart. The trauma was so deep and rooted in his system that even the citing of the name of the person who was close to emptying all his blood out of his body made him falter; His thoughts began to scatter, no longer able to focus.

"He was destined to be a fine captain... Then you got him expelled from the camp... Then funny enough... You were selected to be captain instead of him... You planned this all along, didn't you?" Tobias continued, "What's next? Are you going to leech on Athanasia De Alger and her wealth? You are halfway there, wonder boy. All you need to do—"

"Be quiet!!" Athanasia snapped as she fought the urge to throw a jap at Tobias in the face, "What are you trying to achieve here?!"

"Testing his physical and mental durability," Tobias smiled innocently.

"Tell your boys to back off."