Tatehan watched her go for a moment, then turned to Kessa, who stood waiting patiently, her expression neutral but not unfriendly.

"I need to find my companion," Tatehan explained. "She's somewhere in the compound. Give me just a few minutes."

Kessa nodded. "Of course."

With that, Tatehan turned and began walking toward where he'd last seen Riven hiding in the now-dispersed crowd.

Thinking about it now as he moved through the compound, she had to have had a tremendous amount of luck to not be caught as she fed him instructions through the earbud device during the entire fight.

Maybe it was where she'd strategically hidden herself, or perhaps the crowd had been far too engrossed in the brutal fight to notice one person whispering quietly to herself in the corner.

As he walked, searching the area with his eyes, his ribs screamed with sharp pain with every step. His arms ached deeply from blocking Mub's devastating axe strikes. But he kept his pace steady and his expression as neutral as possible, not wanting to show weakness to any clan members who might still be watching him.

He'd survived.

More than that, he'd actually won.

Against the champion of the Red Crest Clan, using knowledge, strategy, and his growing understanding of his abilities, he had emerged victorious when everyone had expected him to die.

His mind also went to Mub. What his reputation would become now.

It was rule number three of the Red crest clan never to allow a stranger Insult you and walk out alive. When Tatehan had insulted Mub, the latter had been hellbent on reversing it because it had damaged his reputation at that point.

If he was just a normal warrior of the clan, he might have agreed when the commander advised to let it slide since it was the Mauler Slayer who did said the insult.

But Mub was no normal warrior. Mub was not one of those guards who stood at the gate and questioned visitors who intended to be granted access into the Red crest clan.

Instead, Mub was the strongest and most powerful member of the clan, letting it slide would greatly ruin his reputation.

With an almost sad smile, Tatehan wondered what would become of that so called 'Reputation' now. Even Kael would be more respected than Mub in death at this point.

It wasn't just the fact that he had killed Mub, instead the human beast's reputation would be more damaged because a single punch had done it.

Just One punch was all it took to kill him. After all the boasting and mouth making and all that.

'Pathetic stuff' Tatehan thought.

As he reached the area near the edge of the fighting circle where the crowd had been thickest, Riven suddenly emerged from behind a corner of one of the buildings, her eyes scanning the area before landing on him.

Relief flooded her face instantly.

She immediately rushed forward and hugged him so tightly that Tatehan felt genuinely surprised by the intensity of it. He also felt somewhat embarrassed as he noticed some members of the clan who were still lingering nearby witnessed the emotional display.

"That was the most terrifying thing I've ever watched in my entire life," she said, her voice slightly muffled against his armor. "I never expected you to come out on top the way you did. I was starting to panic halfway through and thought it would only be by some miracle that you'd survive that transformation."

Tatehan smiled despite the pain radiating through his body, gently patting her back with one armored hand.

'Gently patting her back?'

Riven didn't mind actually, it was an hug, patting was kind of necessary.

"It was my gravity manipulation ability," he explained quietly. "First time it's really come this handy in actual combat. I finally understood how to use it properly."

She pulled back slightly to look at him, her eyes immediately scanning his body with visible concern. Even through the armor, she could see he was injured, the way he held himself, the slight tremor in his stance, the careful way he breathed.

"You're hurt," she said, stating the obvious. "Let's get out of here before you collapse."

"We're not leaving yet," Tatehan interrupted gently.

She blinked, confused. "What? Why not? You need medical attention, and—"

"The commander invited me..." he paused, then immediately corrected himself with a small smile. "...Us. She invited us to dinner. It's being served in about an hour."

Riven stared at him for a long moment, her expression shifting from confusion to disbelief.

"Dinner?" she repeated slowly. "You just killed their champion. Their number one fighter. And they want to have dinner with you?"

Tatehan shrugged, then immediately regretted the movement as pain shot through his shoulders. "Apparently. She said something about the compound being like a mini city. We're being given guest quarters, and there's a female warrior named Kessa waiting to show us to our rooms."

He gestured back toward where Kessa stood patiently waiting in the distance.

Riven followed his gesture, spotted the armored woman, then looked back at Tatehan with an expression that clearly said she thought everyone in this clan was insane.

"Tat's surprising. Inviting you to dinner...," she muttered.

"Tell me about it," Tatehan agreed. "But I'm hungry and it's getting dark. Plus..." he paused, a slight grin forming despite his exhaustion, "I'm curious what kind of food a warrior clan serves at dinner."

____

Together, they began walking back toward where Kessa waited, Riven supporting Tatehan slightly as they moved, though he tried not to lean on her too obviously.

As they approached, Kessa straightened and gave them both a professional nod.

"Ready?" she asked simply.

"Ready," Tatehan confirmed.

"Follow me, then," Kessa said, turning and beginning to walk deeper into the compound. "The guest quarters are this way. It's not far, the East Wing is just past the training grounds."

As they walked, Tatehan couldn't help but feel a strange sense of surrealism about the entire situation.

Minutes ago, he'd been fighting for his life against a transformed beast-man who wanted to tear him apart.

Now he was being escorted to guest quarters for dinner like some kind of honored visitor.

Mars was definitely a strange place.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.