The alley was thick with palpable tension.
Spirits pulsed in the air, emitting intermittent green, blue, and golden lights.
Alioth stood there, arm extended toward the thugs who stared at him in confusion.
The moment he remembered he was defenseless, all his anger vanished.
"Nobody. I'm nobody. Have a nice day, gentlemen," the boy said as he turned around and started walking away.
Many would call it cowardice, but for Alioth, it was simple common sense.
He had already calculated it. If a small child with conventional orgone faced off against the best fighter on Earth, the latter would be destroyed by the child.
Alioth had seen children climb trees and fall without taking any damage. Orgone gave them superhuman strength and resilience from childhood.
Meanwhile, he had no orgone, and his body was that of a twelve-year-old boy.
Those thugs could easily beat him. Intervening would be suicide, he could even be killed by accident.
It was better to find a responsible adult before taking that risk.
"What was that?" one of the thugs asked. He looked older than the rest.
Most likely he was in his adolescence.
Alioth estimated him at 16 years old, though in that world people didn't count years like on Earth, and only their "life stage" allowed them to calculate someone's age.
"HAHAHA, that was pathetic. He surely wanted to play hero but regretted it at the last moment," said another of the thugs with blue hair.
Alioth ignored their words. After all, it wasn't worth risking his life for some foolish taunts.
"Hey boss, are you going to let him escape?" the oldest one said to another of the boys, who seemed to be the smallest of the group.
The red-haired boy looked somewhat indecisive toward Alioth, as if he didn't know what to answer.
"Mmmm, yes?" he asked in a doubtful voice.
The oldest one rolled his eyes, making it clear it wasn't the correct answer.
"No, of course not, Eirian. You must intercept him before he goes for help," the boy explained, as if it were obvious.
The redhead's gaze shifted downward as he nodded.
"Alright, I suppose," the boy said as he extended his hand.
Alioth turned around quickly at that.
"No! No need, really. I was already leaving," the white-haired boy replied while waving his hands in negation.
"Don't listen to him. He's not even taking us seriously. You must teach him to respect you," the oldest one incited. A malicious smile spread across his lips, as if this amused him.
The redhead nodded. Alioth saw scarlet marks shine on his face and arm, a sign he was about to activate his Devastra.
"Agneyastra: atmosphere incinerating bow!" the boy proclaimed.
It was an invocation mantra that allowed the true form of the Devastra to be summoned.
In the boy's hand, flames emerged and curved into the shape of a bow, then extinguished, leaving a bow behind.
"Say goodbye, idiot. Our boss is from a noble family. His Devastra is far superior to anything you've ever seen," another thug mocked, though Alioth didn't pay attention.
He was deeply focused, analyzing the situation.
'I see. It's an artifact type Devastra. Its element is probably fire. From the boy's appearance he must be young. He must have done his ritual recently, so he'll still be inexperienced.'
'I must avoid the arrow hitting me at all costs, but I can't dodge it at this distance. An arrow can reach 250 km/h, though considering he's surely stronger than a human from Earth, I calculate he can launch projectiles at minimum 350 km/h. At this distance that gives me a margin of 100 milliseconds to react.'
While Alioth thought, Eirian was already loading his bow. As he tensed the string, a fire arrow materialized.
'My only option is to anticipate its trajectory and move before he shoots.'
The white-haired boy flexed his legs, concentrating to propel himself to the side at the moment of the shot. However, something happened that he hadn't anticipated.
'What the hell? Where is he aiming?'
The redhead didn't aim his bow at Alioth, but at the sky.
"Flaming rain!" the boy then exclaimed, releasing the arrow upward.
A crimson glow pierced the air in an ascending direction, with a serpentine movement.
'Shit, I should have seen this coming! That's why it was called "atmosphere incinerator." I need to find something to cover myself with.'
The boy looked to the sides but found nothing that could serve him.
'I guess I can only apply the infamous technique... run away!'
Alioth started running, but it was already too late.
The arrow curved in the air and began to descend, but as it did, the arrows began to multiply.
In an instant the sky had been covered by a mantle of elongated flaming glows that serpentined downward.
'Shit, I won't be able to escape!'
Desperate, Alioth stopped running. The rain of fire had covered the entire block. There was no escape.
The arrows exploded, releasing powerful fire explosions on the rooftops of houses.
The boy could only crouch down, hunching his body and covering his ears.
He had heard it was a way to protect oneself from explosions. Though the technique wouldn't work if they impacted on him.
Alioth's entire body tensed, waiting for the imminent impact.
A new blast was heard, hundreds of fire arrows impacting the ground, bathing it in a river of scarlet flames.
However, Alioth wasn't dead.
"Huh? I'm still alive?" the boy wondered as he opened his eyes in confusion.
That's when he saw it. A bluish membrane had formed a dome around him, protecting them from the explosions.
"W-what is this?" the boy wondered incredulously.
Though deep down he already knew the answer.
"Pyun!" the dome said as it compressed again into a bluish sphere.
Alioth couldn't contain his smile.
"Abzu! You've come back!"
The boy ran to hold the sphere with his hands. Abzu vibrated with pride.
"Pyun yun!" the blue blob exclaimed.
Alioth smiled at those words.
"Yes, you're right, hahaha. You saved me."
Meanwhile, a purple dome was beginning to disappear.
It had enveloped the thugs. Apparently the attack had also put them in danger.
"Wow, that was incredible, Eirian! As expected of a noble," a voice said.
"No, that was dangerous. We're lucky there are almost no people here at this hour. We could have gotten into trouble," the oldest one's voice exclaimed. "Though at least we took care of that meddling clown."
The flames on the ground had started to disappear, though the temperature had increased quite a bit.
Alioth was pressed against the wall perpendicular to the thugs' alley.
'Good. They don't know I came out of the attack unscathed. They must think I'm out of combat. I'll use that to my advantage.'
The boy thought as he carefully observed the thugs.
'All that noise must have alerted someone, so I don't have to go for help anymore. Besides, since Abzu has returned to me, I have no reason to flee.'
The white-haired boy reflected as he elaborated a plan.
He wasn't going to act so rashly again. He had to make a plan.
His mind was his best weapon at that moment.
"Alright, here we go," the boy breathed deeply. The world seemed to stop as he closed his eyes. "[Records of Ished]"
In that instant, Alioth's mind was transported to a corner of his subconscious, a mental space.
His senses had shut down to carry his consciousness to an immeasurable void.
A darkness he had grown accustomed to.
There, a floating tree shone. It seemed to be made of liquid crystal and emanated pink and blue colors.
It was a technique Anansi had helped him perfect. It was an 'imaginary construct' he had dubbed "Records of Ished."
This tree allowed him to store information in his mind, clear record-like memories of his experiences, as if he'd trained a photographic memory.
The white-haired boy swam to the tree, reaching the leaf he was looking for.
On it were engraved a series of gestures and meanings for commanding Abzu.
Upon obtaining it, a glow surrounded him. A series of experiences and information began to flow into his mind.
Then, the boy opened his eyes and the world that seemed stopped returned to normal.
"Alright, let the show begin."
Alioth's expression transformed to one of absolute concentration.
He was now ready for combat.