Desolate Mage: A Legend Reborn! 55 Posturing

The boy was so scared that he didn't notice that Lars was trying to keep his voice low; he spoke out loudly, "Huh? Boss, you don't know who she is? That's Natalie Sarouneh, the second most beautiful, second toughest, second most talented... The perennial second-placer of Gorun!"

"CHARLEY CHARLEMAGNE!!! I'M GOING TO EMASCULATE YOU RIGHT HERE AND NOW!!! I! AM! THE! MOST! BEAUTIFUL! THE NUMBER 1 IN EVERYTHING!!!" The enraged red-headed Natalie shrieked in indignation, prompting the boys around her to charge forward.

Raising his eyebrows in displeasure, old-man Wesley stepped forward and said to Charley, "The next 100 services and info are free, right...?"

Charley turned pale. He almost couldn't decide whether selling away his life and soul in service to the white-haired man was worth more than his manhood - but as the ill-intentioned group of boys approached, he frantically nodded and said, "Yes yes yes yes! Eeep!!!"

Wesley then stood his ground, blocking the group's path to Charley who quickly hid behind his back. The boys looked at the obviously much stronger senior before them and hesitated, glancing back at their mistress Natalie behind them in uncertainty.

"Hmmph!!! Do you think you're the only one who can bring their seniors out!??" She harumphed in Charley's direction, giving him a killing glare that sent shivers up his spine even while he hid behind Wesley. Lars merely stood at the side and smiled.

Then she fixed her gaze on the old man before her and sneered with a gesugao[1] look, making her look like a villainess.

"Listen here, you smelly old man!" With a strong gesture, she rudely pointed her index finger at Wesley and shouted.

Her words clearly touched on some sensitive points, making the man in white robes sniff himself and wonder if he was really that smelly. She was even standing so far away, did he stink that bad? He turned back to Lars who shook his head as if assuring him that he didn't stink. So Wesley just shrugged and listened to the girl continue her rant.

"Looks like you don't have much money if you are willing to work for even that poor guy! Don't be a frog in the well! Be smart, do the right thing! Why don't you leave that useless kid's side and work for the proud Sarouneh family instead? Working for such a weakling who can't even pay you well will only cause you harm!"

She waited expectantly for the scene that she was sure would come - the white-robed old man who was clearly an expert would bow down to her obviously greater wisdom, beauty and wealth then join her side obediently!

She smiled madly; then at that time, she would let the old man rip off the boy's private parts with his own bare hands and *FEED* it to the big mouthed bastard!

'Hahahahahahaha!' She began laughing in her mind, enjoying her imagined future endlessly. Finally she would get revenge on the sharp-tongued boy that she could never win an argument against!

Then she came back to reality and realised that the old man was not moving. He still stood there, still as a tree that the winds could not sway. Only, he had a sneer on his face, as if telling her, "Have you talked enough crap yet?"

Her mood turned sour and her face changed to a grimace of rage. "Well??? I won't give you another chance! Either you come over to join us of House Sarouneh now, or I'll make sure that you'll never ever have a chance again!" Her words ended with a resounding shout, eliciting gasps from the surrounding tournament contestants. She flashed a wicked smile at Charley, mocking him that he would soon lose his protector.

Then Wesley did not say a word, but held up his right hand and beckoned her, as if saying, "Well? Come on and do your worst!"

Natalie's eyes widened until they looked like saucers. She was speechless for a moment - this was the first time ever that anyone outside of the four great families or the Duke's house dared to challenge her authority! How dare they impugn her, the heiress of House Sarouneh's dignity!

She stomped her foot in indignance and called out loud to her personal protector who was always within range of her voice but could never be seen by anyone, so great were his skills in concealment and protection!

"Elder Light Breeze! Elder Light Breeze! I'm in need of your help! Come and teach this crazy old man a lesson! Hahaha!" She laughed and gloated as she yelled and waited expectantly.

"You, my dear foolish psycho, are now DEAD MEAT!! Hahahaha!!" She drew her thumb sharply across her neck like the action of slitting a throat, then laughed out loud together with her group of hangers-on.

The crowd around them began to murmur in shock and fear, with some looking forward to a good fight.

"My gosh! I can't believe we'll get to see him! It's the elder of the Great Tree sect...!"

"I heard he's in the top 20 strongest of the entire city..."

"No, he's the top 20 strongest in the whole Northern Region!"

"Hah! That's old news! Didn't you hear? He's been listed as one of the strongest in the country! He placed just behind the 9 pillars in this year's Book of Rankings!"

Various snippets of words could be heard, speaking in awe of the mighty and glorious person known only by his title as Light Breeze, coming from the phrase most often used to describe him, "The Light breeze that can barely move a leaf, yet even a mountain is invisibly whittled away over a thousand years."

They waited expectantly, casting their gazes all around, whether to all corners of the sky or every side of the arena field.

But after awhile, their murmurs fell quiet, as well as Natalie and her group's laughter.

Where was elder Light Breeze...?

After seeing such a hyped up speech followed by a hugely disappointing let-down, Wesley flicked his sleeves proudly and asked, "Well...? Is he coming or not? Or is he just another fart released in the breeze?"

Then the evil faced and stern old man turned around to the audience and said, "Get it...? Light Breeze, a fart released in the breeze...? Hahahaha... Hah... Haha..." He began to grow embarrassed as the people did not seem to appreciate his cold joke, then coughed in embarrassment before putting on a serious and cruel expression again.

Lars and Charley inched away, sweating as they suddenly did not want to be seen associated with the man with such an incredibly bad sense of humour.

Agitated and worried that her dignity was trodden upon, she shouted even louder, "Elder Light Breeze! This man does not respect either heaven or earth, and has insulted even yourself and the mighty Great Tree Sect with his slanderous, vile comments! Elder! Quickly! Exact justice on behalf of your great sect! Do not let this befuddled old geezer smear the honour of your esteemed self and great sect!"

She cried out desperately, putting her plea to the invisible air - invisible just like the elder who was nowhere to be seen.

Then she heard a whisper in her ear, transmitted from far away. "Shhh!!! Don't drag me into this!!! I'm, I'm sick today! Can't you hear me cough?? Coffee coffee, coffee coffee... It's definitely not because I'm afraid of the weakling, no! It's just, today's a bad day! Ah choo! Ah choo! Listen, I'll make it up to you next day, bye!"

Her head almost exploded as she heard the irresponsible words, then teetered and tottered, almost collapsing from the unbearable shock.

She completely disregarded his nonsensical and unbelievably bad acting, and realised that he dared not take on the old man! Her heart began to tighten in fear.

If even elder Light Breeze of the almighty Great Tree Sect dared not face him...

She shivered in fear as she wondered just what kind of hornet's nest she had just stirred up.

"Well? I'm waiting! Come on! I've not stretched for too many centuries! Come on! Where's the fight, where's the fight!?" The stoic and quiet old man suddenly became very passionate and enthusiastic as he looked around wildly at the group of Natalie's followers around him, daring them to come and get a piece of him. But wherever his gaze passed by, the boys would avert their eyes and shrink away in fear!

They weren't going to be the borrowed knife that was sacrificed for the bitch's little games of face-saving! Anyway, it wasn't like the man would dare to lay a hand on the number 3 princess of the city, right?

So they quickly coughed and, while she was not paying attention, one by one they scrammed, scattering to the nine winds!

In a flash, Natalie was left all alone, with only her two lady attendants left by her side!

Her skin turned pallid in discouragement as she felt like she had nowhere to hide her head from the complete trampling of dignity. Then her face turned deep red in burning shame.

'What... What... What just happened??? Aren't I supposed to the favoured daughter of the heavens, THE Natalie Sarouneh of one of the great four houses??? How can this be happening...'

She almost fell to her knees as she swayed and her legs grew weak, but her two best friends held her firmly so she would not humiliate herself further. At their touch, her eyes flashed as she regained her spirit and yelled a challenge.

"Charley!!! You cheated! YOU CHEATED!!! This was supposed to be a fair fight between you and me! I won't stand for this, won't stand for this you hear?!?" She had already completely lost it, growing hysterical. But she didn't stop there as she strived to salvage her lost face.

"So I challenge you to a fair fight between us juniors! Whoever ranks higher in the selection tournament is the victor and must listen to any request of the loser!! Even..." She bolstered up her confidence, sneering even as her lips shook from the earlier mental blow, "Even if it means to annul our marriage!! Don't you dare escape from my challenge, you hear me! Don't you dare run away like a lily-livered coward! Why are you running away? Don't you dare take my challenge?!"

But even while she was speaking, she was backpedalling, beginning to withdraw as a face-saving move!

Charley was shocked by the whole big turn of events, and though he was always sharp-tongued and quick-witted, he was unsure of how to respond. If he crossed the line in antagonising her, she really might send killers in his sleep to make sure he never woke up! And Wesley couldn't always be by his side...

Then in a flash, he thought of an idea. He bravely marched forward, pushing aside Wesley who gave him a black face but did not object.

Then he shouted, "NATALIE SAROUNEH, MY FIANCEE!"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!!! I'LL NEVER ADMIT TO THAT BLOODY FAKE FORCED MARRIAGE YOUR FATHER SCAMMED HIS WAY INTO!!! I'D RATHER DIE!!!" She shrieked and shook her head from side to side as she pressed her fingers into her ears. She tried to shut out the words and pretend this entire debacle was not happening in front of thousands of people!

"I will prove to you that I will beat you! I am 100%, no, 1,000% confident that I will not possibly lose...! Because..."

"I am sending him as my representative!"

He pointed a finger straight at a stunned Lars whose jaw dropped and could not believe his ears.

A great gasp and many ooh's and aah's shot through the crowd as everyone was asking the same question.

"Who was that guy...?"

Then someone yelled out loudly, "I know who he is!" And suddenly all eyes and ears turned to the source of the voice, a soft-eyed, beautiful but androgynous newbie quester who raised his/ her hand.

As the beautiful boy/ girl faced the expectant crowd, he/ she said, "His name is Lars, and he faced off against the Trenel family to save me from their evil slavery!"

The crowd exploded in noise as they began to gossip and discuss the juicy news that had just been announced! What a big scoop!

Then they suddenly quietened down again as the pretty boy/ girl raised his/ her hand to offer a new piece of information. He/ She brushed back her flowing long blonde hair, causing many in the crowd to nearly swoon at the beauty, albeit with conflicted feelings about their sexual orientation.

"Lars..." He/ she had on a serious face, one that drew every listener in to hear the next words with all their being.

"...Stole my first kiss..." The pretty trap blushed furiously, closing his/ her eyes and covered his/ her reddened face at those embarrassing words.

Lars collapsed onto his butt even as the crowd began to gasp in horror.

"What an outrage!"

"So he was gay after all..."

"Not just that Lars kid! That Charley must be too!"

"Is he two-timing with that trap...? Or all three of them..."

"Maybe that's how the Charlemagne kid managed to rope him in..."

"Do you think he's the one giving it, or receiving it...?"

"Haha! Hard to tell, but maybe he likes to do both!"

"Yeah!!! That must be it!! That's why he's two-timing with separate boys!"

Then one person said something that almost made all of them puke at the image.

"Wait, how about the old man...?"

The people around him gagged, then began to punch and kick him into oblivion for triggering such a disgusting thought.

The worst thing was, the white-robed old man actually blushed and averted his gaze shyly! Oh my god!

Lars wept. Streams of tears flowed down his cheeks.

His name was tarnished forever; finished!

What if Moira heard about this...?

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed uncontrollably, facing the sky and yelling.

Thunderclouds began to gather above him, reflecting his chaotic and despairing mood that tempted him to just end his life... Along with the lives of everyone around him!

Charley rushed over to comfort him, even as Natalie's face turned white, then green, then purple and blue, and finally intense red, letting off a cloud of heat and steam from her face. Then she collapsed with a gushing nosebleed, fainting from the stimulating mental image of Charley, the handsome Lars and the pretty androgynous trap *doing it*. Obviously she was a fan of a certain genre of "art"...

"Lars, don't worry..." Charley reached out his hand to touch Lars shoulder, which Lars dodged with all his might. He dodged so quickly that it seemed like the ground between the two boys expanded, making it appear that Lars teleported away suddenly!

Charley's face fell, then he frowned and pressed his lips together tightly in determination.

Then he blew a kiss at Lars, and said, "Don't worry... I won't tell anyone." And he winked.

Lars fainted from anger.

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[1] Gesugao - "The face a villain makes before they are defeated so that the reader will not empathise for them so much."

Just discovered there's such a thing... Hmm... Interesting...

Example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuBETyA_yxc

Chapter end