The door of the elf chief's house was broken into by tall slender elf men. Their slanted eyes became slit when they saw a stranger over their Chief and the daughter.
"Seize him!"
"You really shouldn't..."
"Stop!" The elf girl ordered and they froze.
The old elf still shivered from shock, and his daughter carefully rested him on the wall and left the ground. "That is my father's guest. Don't dare show disrespect."
"Guest?" a young elf man repeated. "What is he? Are you bringing other species in here again!"
Benign's ears pricked up at the 'again'.
The elf girl grabbed her weapon and pointed at the elves. "He is a member of the protectors of the realms and confirmed it by saving my father from glitching. He's also the one responsible for rifting the sky earlier. What do you make of that?"
The men quietened down and turned to their chief. "Sir, you experienced a glitch?! Did this young man save you?"
The chief breathed slowly, as most of his composure had returned to him. He nodded and spoke. "He is a strange man, but he did save me."
The gasps and murmuring increased and the elf women standing behind the men began gossiping. Some children stared at the guest in an admiring way, while some looked indifferent towards him.
Benign stood there, not really liking the situation. He didn't expect to be proclaimed a hero, but being ogled at by different eye colors pricked his self-consciousness.
"Lego, you should really stop the habit of waiting for me to ask you for a solution before telling me. I'm new to this so I need the tips. Okay?"
[Shouldn't I let you think for yourself? Didn't you prove to me you can handle some things yourself?]
Benign grunted. His system must need a timeout. Had it been doing this for so long that he wanted to send its new hosts insane? He looked up when the murmurings increased again.
A huge elf of eight feet stomped towards him, holding an axe over his shoulders. The elf girl lowered her steel rod and pushed it in Benign's hand.
"Excuse me?"
"He'd want to duel with you as you say you're a protector of the realms." The elf girl explained.
Benign cocked his brows. He had no idea that protectors of the realms were real, nor usually fought with trees to prove themselves.
"I shouldn't kill him, right?" he asked sarcastically, as the huge elf's weapon looked more efficient than the rod he was being handed.
But the girl smiled. "Please, hold back a bit. He's just trying to protect the village from those he thinks are fake." Then she jumped back.
Benign looked down at the weapon. Could he make it float like she did or he'd need a certain amount of mana to do that?
Also, this wasn't what he should be doing now. There wasn't time to test out his skills compared to elves that were obviously more flexible.
The elves watching, circled him and were anticipating the match. Some began chanting the name of their warrior. It sounded familiar to Benign.
The huge elf stood before him, dropped his axe from his shoulders to the ground and it stuck there. Benign shook his head. This guy was no lizard-man.
"Greetings, protector of realms. Would you grant me this grace of duelling with you—"
"How about no?" Benign interrupted.
The elf paused, then asked. "What?"
Benign nodded and repeated. "My answer is a no. I wandered the desert for long and found a village to gather information and you want to fight me? Rude."
There was silence amongst the elf men. The huge elf looked at his chief, who closed his eyes. "Lyra."
The elf girl snapped her head to him immediately. "Yes, father."
"Where did you find this man? Are you willing to bet he's the one who opened the rift?"
"Should I do it here?" Benign asked.
"No!" The father and daughter shouted at the same time. Benign swallowed a chuckle but the young elf children behind him couldn't hold in theirs.
Lyra palmed her face, stretching the other hand to her weapon in his hold. It came to her. "Father, we know that the protectors are the only chance we have at stopping these glitches."
She glanced at the huge elf, and the next moment, her weapon was by his neck, homing and disengaged. "If I win this duel, can we hear what the guest has to say? I brought him here anyway."
"There's no need for a fight."
"No, a warrior should fight."
Benign frowned, turning to the huge elf but his axe had left the last position he had seen it.
THUD!
The rock Benign rested on shattered. He had to move within a second before the impact or he'd have been crushed.
"You don't listen, do you?" The elf girl blocked the next hit. Benign watched as she easily matched his blows. These elves' strength were immense, for an impact that made him stumble.
"Are you really a protector, you fake! I could even do better!" the elf man yelled, glaring at him.
Benign calmly grabbed the revolver. How could he lecture him when he was a soldier daring to fight his superior? He had less conduct.
"If you could do better, why aren't you a protector? These realms need all the help they can get." He shot twice at the elf but it got slapped off with the steel shin on his fists.
The elf girl dropped her weapon and jumped away. The huge elf wore a smirk after swatting the bullets aside. "What other trick—"
A bullet ricocheted against the wall behind them. It slammed at his right shoulder, the other on Benign's left shoulder.
A smirk grew on Benign's lips as there were screams. They needed proof that he wasn't bluffing and nothing sells truth like shared pain. The elf-man hissed in pain, while Benign kept his smirk.
"Let's see who'd die first? This is Olien's technology and as protectors, we are trained to handle it. If you can do better, you best not lose a battle of endurance after such impressive strength." He said as the man's face twisted.
An elf woman ran forward but the elf girl raised her hand, the woman halted. "Your husband challenged him. And me." Lyra reminded her. "Respect his foolish and fruitless decision, Nala."
The elf woman shouted in pain and ran back to her house, and that made Benign feel a little guilty as his wounds were already healing due to his Regeneration skill.
The bullet dropped to the ground when the outer layer of his skin healed, and those who saw it gasped in disbelief. The elf man crouched to the ground, struggling with his pain.
"Do you accept defeat? You should know strength wouldn't be all about being a protector? I protected your chief and that should be enough."
Benign watched the people, spectating. Seeing their warrior resisting the pain but slowly crouching to the ground. Benign only wished he'd be less prideful and accept his loss.
He was surely stronger than he was, and even if Benign had his best weapons back in his 'human' realm, he'd have a hard time dodging or matching his speed. Fantasy bested technology every time.
"You lose." Their Chief announced suddenly.