Chapter 3: Diamond Wing, Bandit King (First POV)
"I wouldn't go in there if I were you."
I froze. I literally froze. I didn't realize that there would be anyone near me nor did I sense any movement.
"What's that? Why are you standing there like you were caught in the middle of a petty crime?" The voice spoke again. Judging from the tone and speed of the voice, I could tell this one was a male youth around my age. "Hey, I'm talking to you." I calm myself and turn my head coolly to act as if I had been expecting him. "Yeah, you. There's no one here except for you and my gang." Gang? How could I not sense all of their movements? Were they all weak humans? Would that be why I cannot feel the vibrant energy within them?
I turn around to face the direction where the voice is coming from.
There is no one there.
"What's with that blank stare? Are you an idiot? Stop staring and look down. I'm down here."
I avert my eyes downward and see a large group of ... insects? No, wait. They're humans, but the size of insects. It takes my mind a few minutes to register and process what I am seeing and hearing.
I finally respond, "Sorry, I didn't expect to see you here, Bandit King."
"Oho. So you have heard of me, then? I'm very honoured to meet a fan of mine." A young man with bluish-red hair in the front steps out. Suddenly a small whirlwind rises around his gang.
POOOF!
The group is at their normal size. I have read about them in a book before. They are the infamous desert bandits known as the Sand Riders and the youth known as the Bandit King is one of the famous scholars of our world, Diam Wing. After mysteriously leaving Earth Global University 3 years ago, he took on a new name, Diamond, and started his own organization called the Desert Wing of which Sand Riders is affiliated with. Although the poverty and crime rate is below 0.1% in the world, Diamond claimed to have realized a fatal flaw in the way the world government was organized.
Ever since then, Diamond has been named by many as the modern Hong Gil-Dong*.
"Greetings, traveler of this arid desert. I am Diamond Wing, the Bandit King. How may I be of service to you?" The cheerful and gentle youth who stood in a calm and serene manner took a bow and began to introduce all of his members.
"I am Urimu H. Vegeta. It's a pleasure to meet you. I am in search of a training ground to become stronger. Can you help me in my quest?" Diamond's eyes sparkled at the word, "quest". It seemed he either liked the way I described my need or just had an obsession with the word.
"I would certainly love to help you out, my boy. Please, call me Dia. Is it great power you desire or do you simply want to get stronger to prove yourself to someone or something?" Dia seemed to be greatly interested in my "quest" and continued, "Vegeta is your name? Are you by chance related to Tonmimu K. Ve-" I grabbed his collar in an instant. I was furious and angry that I would hear my brother's name ever again.
"Don't you say that name if you value your life." It was a meaningless threat since I probably would have a hard time beating him up. He grinned and placed his left hand in front of him towards my chest.
"HAAAA!"
I was blown away by a strong blast of air. I landed quite a distance away and it took me less than a second to realize that Dia was indeed a powerful man as well as an intellectual. "I'm sorry, I let the blood rush into my head without thinking." I say as I walk back to Dia and his gang, unharmed. Dia looks impressed that I stood up after his energy air blast.
"Do you know any martial arts?" He asks, with an intense curiosity in his voice.
I reply back after taking a few deep breaths to calm myself, "I have mastered some, but I am not very strong."
"What was your ranking in this year's global tournament? Mine was 3rd place for physical combat, and tied for 2nd place overall." He took a moment to search his pockets and pulled out a silver medal that was given out this year.
2nd place? I was taken aback. I had heard that Dia was more human than I was. How could it be that he won 2nd place overall in this year's tournament when he was from a commoner's family? I looked at Dia and slowly responded, "Why do you want to know? Why the sudden interest?"
Dia calmed his excitement and answered, "Well, to simply put, no one has come back to me after being sent flying by my air blast. And for those who were able to stand their ground, they usually fought back, however you did neither of these things. I'm curious. You, who is weak and yet brave enough to come back to me; threatens me and is sent flying. I like you. So answer my questions, if you please." With that he leaned slightly forward expecting an answer from me.
"Well, in physical strength I ranked 17993rd. Overall I ranked 167th." The air was so still, that you could hear the bustling sounds of the nearest city which was not so near at all. Dia had a strange confused look drawn on his face. Perplexed, he took in a deep breath and started laughing. The rest of the gang began to laugh with him, somewhat awkward at first but then roaring and crying with uncontrollable childish laughter.
I sighed. I knew they would laugh. Out of 18 thousand participants in the global tournament, I was close to being last place in power alone. Thankfully, due to my high level of martial arts, I was able to advance in the overall rankings with precision and skill and was eventually stopped by a martial artist rival who was more powerful than me.
After the Sand Riders had stopped laughing, with some trying to hide their giggles, Dia spoke again, "If you are in training, why don't you join my troupe? Unless you are of some aristocratic family that is against us," He stopped short and glared at me before continuing on, "but if not, you can learn a lot about the outside world and possibly the outside universe beyond our world. Have you been to outer space yet?" He probably meant the intergalactic colonization project that started a few thousand years back which controlled how many aliens were allowed to immigrate to other planets from their own.
I simply replied, "No, but I have been to the past." I waited for the sounds of surprise, but there came none. My audience seemed to be disinterested in my exploits which made me a little angry at myself for saying that. After thinking a bit about Dia's invitation I gave him my answer, "I will join only if I can help out with your next mission."
Dia happily exclaimed, "Welcome aboard! We'll be smuggling aliens next!" I winced realizing what I had gotten myself into...
* Korean version of Robin Hood; a man who, legends say, used his supernatural gifts and noble birthright to rob the greedy rich nobles and to help the poor. Eventually went on to found his own country taking all the impoverished peoples from neighboring lands as his people.
