Way of the Knights

---

"...hey, don't you think he's being weird?" 

"What do you mean?"

"Doesn't he look and feel different to you at all? He's almost like a stranger even!" 

Fatty stared at Little Tiger, scrutinizing him closely to see what Rosa was trying to point out. Unfortunately, he just can't see how Little Tiger is different. 

"I don't get it..." Fatty shook his head. 

"Idiot! Look closely! Tell me, doesn't he look...I don't know, more filled-up? Like fatter or bigger muscle-wise compared to what he's like during the past week?" Rosa tried her best to explain. 

Fatty inspected Little Tiger once more and now that he thought about it...

"...huh? You're right. He's more buff compared to before."

"Right!?" Rosa exclaimed, "Not only that though! He looks fairer and he wears clothes now!! Plus, look at this place! I never seen his hideout look this neat, like, ever!"

Fatty looked around but his gaze lingered at Little Tiger more. Now that Rosa pointed out everything, he'd be a fool to not be suspicious. All of a sudden however, an idea suddenly struck his brain as he started fuming.

"This rascal!! I can't believe him! How can he do this to us!?"

"E-eh? He did what now?" Rosa was confused when she saw Fatty fuming in anger all of a sudden.

"Isn't obvious? I thought you pointed all of this out because you know?" Fatty glared at Little Tiger. "Unbelievable! To think this rascal would go this low! To think that he'd became Granny Maya's boytoy-omph!!"

*Pang!* *Pang!*

"Auuu...."

Two cast iron pots flew to their faces, flying at a speed they can't react to. Rosa and Fatty clutched their faces as they writhe in pain. They heard a cold snort in front of them so they peeked over and saw Little Tiger glaring at them. 

"Do you guys think I'm deaf or something?" Little Tiger asked. 

"B-bastard. Why me too?" Rosa asked with righteous indignation. 

"You started it bitch. If it weren't for your smartass, do you think Fatty could come up to that conclusion?" 

"W-wait, so you're not Granny Maya's boytoy?" 

"Wanna die Fatty?" 

"Eek!" Fatty shriveled in fright, covering his face lest Little Tiger throws another pot at him. 

As the two nursed their faces, Raven sat back down to his bed. He then asked: "Well? Why the fuck are you two here?" 

"O-oh. Well, the monthly exchange is two hours from now. Wanna come with us?" Fatty asked as he sat down in front of Little Tiger. He had a clear red mark on his forehead with specks of black shavings since he got hit with the bottom of the pot. 

Little Tiger was silent for a bit. Referring to his memories, he usually came with these two whenever the monthly exchange was about to happened. Still, even with their company, Little Tiger hated making a public appearance. He has a lot of reasons for hating it too...

But Little Tiger is no longer the same wimp as before. 

"Sure, why not. I don't have anything better to do anyway." He replied as he collected his quota and placed it above the table. 

Rosa and Fatty looked at each other in confusion. Both of them knew that they thought about the same thing...

'He truly did change...' 

---

"Line-up! I said line-up properly you fools! Are you dumb, deaf or both! I swear if you don't line-up properly, I'll break your legs!"

It's a bit lively in the tribe today. People were gathering at the center of the tribe since today is the Monthly Exchange day. 

At very center, a group of men wearing clean clothes and had haughty expressions were stationed. Behind them was a stack of food and supplies, neatly arranged and in full display. Majority of the people's eyes were locked on to the sacks of rice and piles of meat in the table. Some of them were even drooling already. 

The people who were guarding the supply inwardly sneered as they saw the greedy expressions of the tribesmen. 

"Next!"

"Hurry-up and leave!"

"Hah!? You want more? Fuck you. Get away you filth!"

"What's this? Can this even be used? Whatever, give him a pouch of gruel and get this thing away from me."

"Listen here. Are you even trying? Who makes arrows like this? Hah...fuck-off! The next time you bring something like this, don't even bother asking for anything."

Jeers, mocking, humiliation...these are only the few of the things that the tribesmen has to endure just to get their monthly supply of food and water. This is only just a few of the things why the original Little Tiger hated the exchange day. 

These haughty people, even if you give them an astounding product, they'd still say it's trash. They will do everything in their power to hoodwink you. Its as if it physically hurts them to part with even a single grain of rice. Miserly and greedy, that's what they are...

The moment someone expects something from them, their dreams will instantly be shattered. This is also why Little Tiger did the bare minimum whenever he's making stuff to exchange. 

Do more, they'd say that it's bad. Do less, and they'd still say that it's bad. The only way for him to hear less from them is if he remains consistent. 

"Ah, it's you." The man who's in charge of the exchange grinned at Little Tiger. "Come, come. Let me see what you have." 

Little Tiger refused to even waste a single word to this guy so he just silently placed the quivers filled with arrows in the table. 

The man inspected the arrows one by one while retaining the grin on his face. 

"Keuh...same old shit. I told you to do better but you never listened." The man mocked Little Tiger but he's still admiring his work. "Brat, are you doing this on purpose?" 

"..."

Little Tiger refused to say anything. To be honest, he's not really paying attention, he couldn't even care less if the amount of resource he got were less than what he's supposed to receive. He just wanted this to be over as soon as he could. 

"Damned Brat!? Have you gone deaf!? Huh!?" The haughty man raged when he saw that the boy didn't even bother speaking, he knew that this boy was neither deaf nor mute. "Are you testing my patience, huh?" 

"God, your breath smells like a dead rat." 

*Gasps!*

Fatty was dumbfounded. Rosa was dumbfounded. Everyone was dumbfounded. Even the man who's purposefully trying to raise a racket felt like his brain stopped working at some point. 

Everyone looked at Little Tiger as if he was possessed by some demon. They all collectively thought, 'Is he courting death?' Or 'He's done for.'

Rosa and Fatty started shivering. They were nervous for Little Tiger. They didn't expect him to be this reckless. They wanted to stop him but they're also afraid to get mixed-up in this mess. 

"Ehe...hehehehehe!" The haughty man suddenly laughed eerily. "Oh boy!! It's been a while since I've seen someone this daring!! Hahahaha."

"Oh? What a coincidence! It's also been a while since I saw a monkey pretending to be a human." Little Tiger replied flatly. 

Everyone collectively gasped again. Fatty and Rosa crumbled on the spot, they all look in horror as they saw the haughty man raising his hand to smack Little Tiger to nihility. They even closed their eyes on the impact but all they heard was a pained groan, not from Little Tiger, but from the haughty man.

The Haughty Man's expression was twisted in pain. He looked incredulously as he saw the young man in front of him easily catching his wrist. 

"I don't really think that there's a problem with the arrows I made." Little Tiger muttered, bored. "I actually think they're pretty great. Weren't you admiring them just now?" 

The Haughty Man wanted to retort but he couldn't since the seemingly loose grip of the young man was unexpectedly tight. It was as if his hands were harder than steel itself. 

"I even specifically made them the way how you like it, and you're still bitching about it. How ungrateful can you be? Not even the monkeys will accept you as their own if you continue acting this way."

"ARRRRRGGGHHH!!!"

The haughty man screamed in pain. Everyone shuddered as they saw how Little Tiger picked up an arrow from the quiver and stabbed it on the man's hand. The arrowhead pierced his hand easily too...

"See? Aren't they great? I think the arrowheads I made were sharper than a dagger. See how it easily pierced your hand? Had I shot this arrow using a bow. I think it could even pierce your skull."

"Brat!! You dare do this to me!! I will make you suffer!!" The man was fuming in anger, pain and humiliation. His eyes turned red and a fiendish air started rising from his body. "I will show you the true power of a Berserker!"

"Psh. Big deal." 

*Shank!*

"ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!!!!!"

The haughty man wailed in pain as Little Tiger shoved an arrow at his eyes. As the man rolled on the ground helplessly, trying to nurse his bleeding eyes. Little Tiger ignored him and stepped over him, grabbing whatever he wanted as if he owned everything he saw. 

The audience can only gape at his viciousness and shamelessness. 

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