Dashing through the streets, going deeper into the heart of the city, trying desperately to find some way to escape Nexus's sight, Ruby made a sharp turn down the east market gate, hoping she could hide in the crowd, but Nexus was hot on her trail, not giving her the chance to break his line of sight.
As she ran through the different districts, it became more difficult to move around as the crowds got larger and more compact the closer they got to the heart of the market.
Eventually, Ruby was unable to run any further into the crowd. People were pushing and blocking her path to the point at which even a tiny weasel of a woman like her couldn't burrow her way through.
She looked back to see if she had lost Nexus in the crowd, only to see that same tall, jacked frame moving through the hordes of buyers, coming toward her.
Ruby grunted, then took a bite of her bacon as she began leaping from wall to wall until she reached the rooftop of one of the many shops.
She turned around, looked down at Nexus still in the crowded streets, grinning like a mischievous child before devouring her breakfast and throwing the plate aside.
"You'll never catch me, you imbecile. Give up, and maybe I'll forgive you for your arrogance." The grin on Ruby's face mocked Nexus even worse than her words. He could see it all over her face; she thought she had won their little quarrel, but it was far from over.
Nexus leapt onto the rooftop effortlessly, landing right in front of her. The shock of seeing such a large person move that fast left her stunned. She didn't move an inch, she didn't make a sound, but her grin changed instantly from one of pride to one of anxiety.
Ruby tried to run, only to once again be grabbed by her collar.
"I once again apologize for my actions," she spoke while shaking as the 6 foot 2 giant of a man she called a roommate held her dangling over the side of a building, fuming with rage.
"Nah, you had your chance. It's too late for that." Every word Nexus spoke was followed by a puff of smoke from his mouth as a soft orange glow began to emit from his throat.
"Please, sir, the Lord said to forgive. Aren't you a man of faith?" Ruby's desperate attempts to appeal to Nexus's faith only made the flame churning in his chest burn brighter.
"Say your prayers."
Ruby closed her eyes, ready to be burnt to a crisp, putting her hand up to block her face. She hoped she would at least save her face from being disfigured.
"That's enough!" The same childlike voice erupted from up above as a large shard of ice burst from the rooftop, freezing Nexus solid but leaving Ruby scot-free.
Nexus's hand let go of Ruby, causing her to land on her backside.
"Ouch… took you long enough to help me, Quinn." Ruby looked to the side only to see a blond cat boy around the size of an 8-year-old dressed in a white cloak with fur edges.
"You're lucky I even saved you. By right, I should have let him torch you first, then heal you afterwards," he replied while scratching the back of his head.
"But I do owe you a favor for that one time you hooked me up with Alisa, so I guess you can call us even now." Quinn walked over to Nexus's frozen body and placed his palm on the ice.
"Now, when I unfreeze you, dude, you gotta hear me out for a second, ok?" Quinn released his ability, leaving Nexus soaked from the melted ice.
Quinn looked up at Nexus only to see his teeth gritted and a dark shadow looming over his face, making him look more terrifying than a boss monster in a dungeon. "My patience is currently microscopically thin, so explain yourself now."
Quinn gulped, his nerves now on edge. "Ok, so hear me out. Instead of burning the woman who basically supplies the herb I use to make our potions to a crisp, how about we just punish her by taking her next three days of pay?"
"What!" Ruby screamed as she stared daggers at Quinn.
Quinn shot her a glance as if saying this is your only way out of this, but Ruby's arrogance knew no bounds. She shouted, "I'm not giving that ingrate my hard-earned pay!"
Quinn's palm smacked his forehead as he realized the depth of Ruby's stupidity. He wanted to say, You idiot, this is your only chance to leave this scot-free, but he held his tongue.
A burst of flames erupted from behind Nexus, making Quinn leap back in fear. "Come on, dude, calm down!"
Nexus looked at them both, his eyes narrowed, fists clenched, and muscles flexed out of pure frustration.
Sigh. Nexus couldn't bother—he calmed himself down, turned around, then began walking home.
Ruby, confused at what had just happened, put her hands on her hips, then replied, "Did he just give up? Ha, of course he gave up. He obviously couldn't bear to damage a gem like me."
"I'm taking your pay for the rest of the week, and you don't have a choice in the matter. Consider it paying off your debts," Nexus replied as he continued walking back home.
Ruby grabbed Quinn by his tail, hanging him upside down.
"Hey, you can't do that… that's— that's extortion! And why did you plant that idea in his head, you ig—"
Before she could finish her sentence, he released his claws, scratching Ruby's face like a feral stray causing her to let him go.
Placing his hands behind his head as he flew through the air — not worried about landing since he was confident in both his durability and his ability to land on his feet — he said, "You should be more grateful, you know… next time you'll be on your own."
Ruby glared at Quinn as he fell into the crowd, casually flipping over mid-air and landing on his feet, looking back up at her with a smile as he walked away.
She couldn't stand Quinn's lax demeanor, especially since he had just scratched up her face.
She thought about it as she rubbed her palm across her cheek, trying to assess how badly his claws had damaged what she believed was the most beautiful face in the kingdom.
But to be honest, she wasn't that beautiful — her arrogance just clouded her judgment far beyond reasoning. Personally, I'd give her a 7 out of 10.
A few hours passed, and Nexus was now back at the house, packing his supplies before making his way to the guild.
His blood was still boiling from his fight with Ruby, but after dealing with her for so long, he had somewhat gotten used to it — at least enough to walk away after someone talked him out of bashing her.
He continued looking through the living room for the rest of his supplies — more specifically, a scroll with elven characters for healing written on the back.
He searched through the entire room, even checking the kitchen and his bedroom, but it was nowhere to be found.
"Ha… where is that scroll?" he said aloud as he fell back onto the living room couch, exhausted from everything that had happened.
"Are you looking for this?" Quinn stood on the coffee table in front of Nexus with a scroll in his hand, pointing it at him.
"Quinn, you're a lifesaver — I almost thought that thing was lost forever."
Nexus leaned forward and took the scroll from Quinn, placing it in a bag right beside him on the couch.
"I found it lying around on the coffee table last week. I knew Ruby loved stealing your stuff, so I hid it in my room for the time being."
Nexus grabbed his face with both hands — he couldn't believe he had been so careless with such an important scroll — but Quinn knew better; Nexus was the most absent-minded person, especially when he got back from work.
"You should be more careful with these things, you know," Quinn replied once again as he leapt off the coffee table and made his way to the door.
"Yeah, you're right — that was my bad. It's just…" Nexus got up, grabbing his bag as he followed Quinn through the door, locking it as they exited.
"You're tired, I know, dude. Just try to get some sleep after this mission, alright?" Quinn leapt onto Nexus's shoulder as he spoke, taking a seat on his usual perch as they made their way up the bustling streets.
"Hey, you think Gemini has any special requests today? Those pay big-time," Quinn said enthusiastically.
"Gemini? Oh, you mean Rosefield. I don't know, but she did say she wanted to talk to me today, so keep your fingers crossed."
Nexus's words filled Quinn with excitement. Lilly's special requests were usually the highlight of his month — they were normally easy hunting quests for nobles looking for rare monster parts.
Well… the quests were easy for them — but in reality, her requests were usually AA-Rank. They were just far too strong to notice the difficulty of most of their missions.