Shin's eyes moved to his left as he heard the whistling of an arrow followed by Kanah's word. "Let's see how you fly."
Shin grinned as he pulled out his sword. A curved one edged sword with a long handle intended to be held with both hands. He swung the sword deflecting a dagger flying at him.
He then looked deep in the snake man's eyes. "So you have chosen death." The snake man's eyes dilated out of pure fear as Shin's body was engulfed in a black glow. "You're…"
The snake man stepped back in fear as Shin reached forward with his left hand and pulled it back pulling the snake man forward hitting him in the stomach with the base of the sword.
The man's eyes rolled back to his head as he fell down on his knees. Shin then turned towards the human that stood before him his body shaking. "You're death!"
Shin smirked. "I am." He then appeared in front of the man grabbing him by the face and slamming him into the ground.
He then stood up as the black glow begin to fade. He looked up from the man that laid before him and quickly turned to the left delivering a kick to snake man's stomach as he flew back slamming into the hawk man in the air.
Shin brought the wooden scabbard of his sword in front of his chest and slowly placed the sword inside it. As the circular guard made contact with the end of the scabbard it clicked.
Shin turned to look at Kanah as the two nodded and smirked at one another. Kanah walked towards Shin holding his hand out. "Are you a bounty hunter?"
Shin nodded. "Indeed. I am called Black Death." Kanah puckered his lips. "Very subtle, are you going to kill them?" Shin shook his head. "No. These are small petty thieves. Not worth sullying my blade."
Kanah then shifted his gaze at the sword. "It is a unique blade. I have never seen one like that in Paneria." Shin lifted the sword. "This is a Katana. A sword from my home country of Japan."
He then rubbed the guard with his thumb. Kanah raised his head looking down at Shin. "That would mean you are from another universe."
Shin turned towards Kanah with a smirk on his face. "Pretty cool yea?" Kanah chuckled as he shook his head. "Not really. This topic is not new for me."
"I know. You have a doppelganger currently living life in Rine. You know I am actually heading back to Marne so that I could travel to Rine and meet him." Shin then bent down tying the hands and legs of the thieves.
Kanah clapped with a smile on his face. "It will be a heartwarming moment when two people from Earth are finally united." Shin's head turned towards Kanah. "How do you know we are from the same planet? We could also be from different Earths."
Kanah chuckled. "Speaking from experience. Beside are you not happy to find someone from your world." Shin nodded as he finished tying the men, he stood up and extended his hand towards the men as a black glow surrounded his hand.
"It feels pleasant, we are from different countries, ethnicities, yet in a foreign world we are tied by our connection to that planet we call home." Kanah crossed his hands as he yawned while nodding.
He then glanced at Shin's hand. "Necroshade is an excellent power." Shin looked at Kanah as he too yawned upon seeing Kanah yawn. He then shook his head grabbing a hold of Kanah's shoulders. "You know of my power!"
Kanah nodded. "It is hard to not recognize a primordial force." Shin laughed as he looked at Kanah with an open mouth. "You know a lot more than you let on, farm boy. I guess that would explain why a farmer has such an expensive ring."
Kanah looked down at his ring with gentle and warm eyes as a soft smile came on his face as he traced it with his thumb. "It was given to me on my birthday by my wife."
Shin's eyes opened wide as he leaned forward. "You are married? How old are you? How old is she?" Kanah looked at Shin with that same smile. "We are not married yet, but we have chosen to spend our lives together. Nothing will change that. As for ages, I turned nineteen last week while she turned nineteen a month prior."
Shin chuckled as he looked at the ring. "Congratulations and belated birthday to you my friend." "Thank you Shin."
He then looked down at the thieves. "Let's bring their horses and put them on them. We are only a night's journey away from Marne." Kanah nodded as he whistled without placing any fingers in his mouth and the horses came out from the forest.
Kanah raised his hand towards the men as the blue glow surrounded it. He then raised the men off the ground and mounted them on their horses. He then took two ropes and tied all the horses behind his own. Once he was finished he lowered his hand as the glow faded.
"There. Shall we?" Shin did a small bow gesturing towards Kanah's horse. "After you sir." The two laughed as Kanah walked to his horse and Shin sat back on the wagon wearing his cloak.
The moment Shin sat he turned his head around reaching for the curtain but his hand came in contact with a blue mana barrier. He looked at Kanah with smirk on his face. "When did you place Mana barriers on the wagon?"
Kanah smiled pulling the hood over his head as he patted the horse making it run forward. Shin pulled the reins making the horse pull the wagon traveling beside Kanah. "You did it before we were attacked yes?"
Kanah nodded. "The moment we left the village, I placed three barriers, one to stop sound from entering, second to stop any form of damage or shaking due to uneven road. Third one was to keep the horse safe."
Shin chuckled. "What were you expecting would happen?" Kanah looked at Shin with an expressionless face before turning to look at the five men before looking at Shin blinking rapidly.
Shin laughed as he turned away. "You look so stupid right now. I am not joking. But why were you expecting something like this?" Kanah pointed at Shin. "Your horse got stolen. I knew that there were unpleasant elements in the village so I was prepare for it."
"They were not much of a threat, I mean they lacked Mana sensitivity." Shin's stomach then growled as Kanah turned to look at him. "Shall we eat something?" Shin nodded. "Do you have anything?" Kanah gestured towards the wagon. "Reach in and you will find a packet of fruits and vegetables. Also grab the bottle of water."
Shin reached through the curtain pulling out the packet of fruits and vegetables and the empty water battle.
He looked at the bottle as he then looked at Kanah. "This is an empty wine bottle." Kanah smiled as he asked for the bottle.
Shin threw it to him, Kanah then began filling the bottle with water then threw it back towards Shin. "Water bottle."
Shin looked at the bottle as he licked the inside of his mouth. "Let me guess, a water pouch was frowned upon by the great Kanah because it was made of Leather." Kanah nodded. "I got this bottle from a bottle manufacturer in Rine."
As they exited the forest the setting sun hit Shin's eyes as he looked at it with a smile. "You know, I was really happy when I woke up in this world and found that there were things that were just like Earth. A yellow sun, a white spotted moon, plants and animals I was familiar with and most importantly humans."
Kanah exhaled. "When did you come here?" "Two years ago. I was out with my friends in the mountains an hour away from the city. I walked through the forest laughing, when suddenly I tripped and fell down. I expected them to laugh at me but when I looked around they were gone and I was in a completely different place than the one I tripped at."
"You passed through an Inter-Dimensional Rift. That means your arrival in this world was not orchestrated by another person. You got lucky." Shin nodded. "Lucky my ass. I would have preferred if I was brought here by someone. At least I would have not needed to survive in that forest for weeks with nothing of use at my disposal."
Kanah was about to say something but was cut off by Shin. "Let's not dwell further on this topic. So do we stop to camp or are we going to travel through the night?"
"We are traveling through the night, if at any point you are tired you can go and sleep in the back, my father will come take your place." Shin raised his hand towards Kanah stopping him. "I can last throughout the night."
"That's what he said." Shin and Kanah both laughed as shin looked at Kanah. "How did you know this joke, I have never heard this humor in Paneria for the past two years."
Kanah raised his finger as he turned towards Shin. "Remember when I told you it is not my first experience with people from another world. Five years ago I met a man from Earth. He taught me some jokes and things about Earth."
Shin leaned forward turning towards Kanah. "What was his name?" Kanah placed a hand on his chin as he thought about it. He then snapped his finger turning towards Kanah. "His name was Mark."
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.
The two spent hours talking as they rode through the lands. The sun had long set and the waning moon took its place.
Kanah was using a light sphere floating between his horse and the wagon to light up the road.
"That's my cue to leave, Good luck." Shin frowned in confusion as to what Kanah meant until he felt movement to his right and found Maya sitting beside him, her hair tied in a braided ponytail behind her. "When did you wake up little one?"
Maya yawned as she rubbed her eyes. "Right now." Shin smiled as he patted her on the head. "We will be reaching Marne in four hours. Would you like to play games?"
Maya nodded as she grabbed Shin's right arm shaking it violently. "Let's play the game of questions." Shin frowned questionably as he tilted his head. "How do you play that?"
She raised a finger beside herself while placing a hand on her heart. "I ask you questions and you answer them with complete honesty." Shin smiled as he nodded. "Alright ask away."
Maya pointed at the men tied on the horses. "Who are they?" "Thieves who tried to rob us." Maya then pointed at Shin. "What do you do?" "I am an adventurer who specializes in bounties."
She tilted her head in confusion. "What are bounties?" "Bounties are commissions to look for bad people and bring them back either dead or alive."
She then looked back at the men. "Are they dead?" Shin shook his head. "No they are alive." She then looked at his face. "Why do you look like that?"
Shin turned his head towards her in disbelief. He closed his mouth and raised his head. "What do you mean?" Maya then placed her index fingers beside her eyes and pulled the skin towards her eyes. "Like this."
Shin sucked in his lips biting on them. "I was born this way." "I see. Where are you from?" "Japan, Earth."
Maya gasped as she leaned forward. "The Hero is also from Earth! Are you two from the same place?" Shin nodded. "We share the same home after all."
"Do you know my brother looks just like him?" "I do." Kanah turned around pointing at Maya. "Maya, remember to keep this a secret from now on."
Maya tilted her head. "But why?" Shin turned towards her. "If people mistake your brother for the hero, it can cause problems, you could get targeted." Maya sat down as she nodded.
Kanah looked at her from the corner of his eye. "Are they awake?" Maya nodded. "They are having dinner. Shall we prepare some for you too?"
"Prepare some Rice and bean Stew for us." Maya entered the wagon as Shin looked at Kanah. "No meat?" Kanah shook his head. Shin then turned towards the horses walking behind Kanah's.
He extended his hand towards them and soon a handful of meat came out from a bag on the second horse. The meat floated towards Shin until an owl snatched it midair. Shin stood up and turned around as the black glow appeared on his body.
"Give it up." Shin calmed down as he took a deep breath and powered down. He then turned around and sat back down. "I really wanted some meat."
Kanah chuckled. "Not when eating with me." Shin licked his tongue. "Damn vegetarians. Why can't you let me eat meat?"
Kanah looked at him. "I really dislike when people eat meat, that is why we have not stayed at inns. Can you make due with Rice and bean stew?" Shin looked down and sighed then chuckled. "I can. Not eating meat for one night is worth making a new friend. Wouldn't you agree?"
Kanah smiled ear to ear. "I agree." "Then eat meat with me." "No."
He then laughed as Shin stared at him before he joined him. The two laughed until Peter opened up the curtain. "QUIET!"
Kanah immediately closed his mouth and turned forward. Shin looked forward trying to hold his laughter. He began shaking, Peter noticed this and slapped Shin in the back of the head. "Ugh."
"I better not hear any more loud noises." He then went back inside as Kanah snorted holding in his laughter. Shin rubbed the back of his head. "He's like an Asian parent."
Kanah turned towards him. "He considers you my friend. If that makes you happy." Shin turned towards Kanah. "Do you also consider me a friend?"
Kanah smiled. "Of course, why else would I steal your horse if not to make you my friend?" Shin's head shot towards Kanah. "You stole my horse?"
Kanah looked at Shin with a smirk. "Nah." Shin rolled his eyes. "Now I know what I am like for others. And now I know that they are idiots to find me annoying."
"It's ready." Maya came out of the curtain with two bowls in her hand handing one to Shin. "Thank you Maya." She then turned towards Kanah extending her hand. Kanah reached forward as the bowl floated to his hand.
Maya then sat to Shin's left. She watched them eat. "When will we get there?" "We should be getting there soon." "How soon?" "Soon."
Maya then pouted as she went back inside. Shin looked at Kanah. "When do you think we will get there?" The two chuckled as they enjoyed their food in the cold yet gentle breeze of the night.