Luis

Luis was a relatively tall guy, a bit taller than Zeke, around 183 cm, with a very fit body and well grown muscles. His physique looked perfect, the physique that every man would want to have. His hair color was a beautiful pure orange which differed from any other orange seen before, and which shone in the pale sunlight that was just setting.

Even if he had just tripped over Zeke, he had something special that didn't give Zeke the impression that he was a hindered person, rather...he was different, he had an imposing posture, with his back straight and his chest facing forward, aspects that stood out the most. Luis was surprised by Zeke's words and some words came out of his mouth before even realizing:

'WOW, so you're my new tutor. I heard a lot of things about you. It's an honor to finally meet you in person, I'm looking forward to working with you Zeke' he said, reaching for a handshake.

Zeke awkwardly shook his hand before responding. 'Well, I'm also looking to work with you Luis. First of all you can give up formalities, I'm not such an important person'.

The situation between the two began to feel less awkward after that unfortunate incident.

'You don't have to be that modest, I know what a good student you are'

'You flatter me Luis, I'm not as good as you think, I'm just an ordinary student'

'We'll see if that's the case, but for the time being, I'm counting on you to teach me well.'

'Yeah, I hope I can live up to your expectations'

The two began their study session, which lasted a few hours until they were done for the day.It was already dark outside. The session of the two went so well that neither of them realized when so much time had already passed. Besides studying, Zeke and Luis began to talk about other things, such as hobbies, things they like, things they don't like, friends and so on and so forth. They seem to get along pretty smoothly and have a good understanding of one other.

'Oh man, you are not only an excellent student, but a teacher as well' said Luis, as he stretched 'I wish I could be as good as you' he continued, followed by a yawn.

'Oh please' replied Zeke 'It's not something like this, everyone could achieve this level of studies if they work hard enough and efficiently'

'Efficient?' asked Luis confused 'What do you mean by that? Can you study in an inefficient way?'

Zeke didn't give Luis an answer right away, rather than that, he was smiling, like a parent who sees his little baby beginning to learn how to walk. He saw himself in Luis, a person that started the same journey as him, who needed help on this very long journey of studying.

Zeke realized that Luis was already a smart person, so he doesn't understand why Mr.Herrler would want a tutor for Luis. What was their relationship? Some relatives? Or Mr.Herrler is a good friend of Luis's parents? Zeke was curious about a lot of stuff, but he understood that none of these things was his business. He kept his curiosity to himself since he didn't want Luis to have a terrible opinion of him.

'Well yes' he replied in the end 'You can study in a bad way, but it's a lot to explain and it's already late, I will tell you more about this next time, if it doesn't bother you'

Luis made a surprised face hearing Zeke's words, as he was still quiet, his facial expression started to change. He was looking in the ground with small eyes, with his hair that goes into his eyes, and he clasped his palms together and remained silent. Zeke noticed that something wasn't right, because just a few seconds ago Luis was in a very good mood, and now all of a sudden he seemed to be a different man. He was wondering if he had said something that would upset him, so he hurried to put this theory to the test.

'Hey, it's everything alright? Have I said something to bother you?'

Luis didn't reply right away, and Zeke started to panic, because he thought that he said something that he shouldn't. But in his mind everything seems fine, he understands that he doesn't interact with other people too much, but he could at least notice if he made a mistake. But then, he started to calm down as he heard Luis speak.

'No, no, no it's nothing like that' Luis replied, apologizing for the misunderstanding 'You did a great job, and I'm very grateful that you made time for me, but…' he then made a small pause, before revealing his true thoughts.

'It's just that, I have been to different tutors, and each one told me after the first session that it would not make sense to offer me private lessons, because I master the subject very well and I can handle it. You are the first person to tell me that there will be a second meeting'

At that moment, Zeke sighed in relief 'Oh my God Luis, you scared me so much' he replied making Luis confused 'I thought that I said something wrong, what a relief' Zeke continued to say, followed by a laugh.

Luis looked amazed at Zeke. He was confused and amazed at how lively Zeke behaved. 'Are you really serious about a second meeting?' he then asked him, in a more serious tone.

'Huh? Of course' Zeke replied smiling, and continued in a sarcastic tone then laughed 'At the end of the day, I still need to make some money myself'.

'Zeke…' Luis said in a low voice 'You are the first person that tells me that we should meet again, everyone else said that I didn't need their help, and that I can handle it on my own'

'Well, Luis you are indeed a very smart person, I can clearly see that, but I made a promise that I will teach so, so I will keep my promise.'

Luis sighed in relief, changing his facial expression and looking as before, fuller of life, with his shoulders lowered and leaning back in his chair.

'I see' he replied with a wide smile on his face 'Well in that case I'm looking forward for future meeting, Zeke'

'I do as well Luis'

The two of them took their things, went out, shook hands and said goodbye for that day. Before they leave Luis thanked Zeke one more time for this session and finally the two of them went each to his home. Usually when Zeke had classes he kept his phone silent because he didn't want to be bothered by any notifications even though there weren't many, most were notifications from meme pages on social networks they still bothered him.

His phone wasn't something expensive or anything like that, it was a small smartphone that he used for calls and messages with teachers and his ex-boss and some games sometimes.

Zeke, in comparison with other students his age, did not have the most expensive stuff, because of the lack of money that he had. He had to work alone if he wanted something, he didn't have anyone to ask for a new smartphone, or a car to travel with, or someone to cook for him when he got home, or someone to clean up after him. It was just him, alone, but he was grateful for the things he already owned.

So, when he opened his phone he saw 22 missed calls, 11 unread messages, and one new email, all of them from the same person. Zeke gasped for a second, then called that person. Zeke started the conversation and the first thing he heard was: 'WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN THIS WHOLE TIME?'

'Hey...Yuki…' he replied with a low voice 'I saw you looked for me, but I couldn't answer just now…'

She was clearly upset for some reason, which Zeke couldn't understand. He then tried to calm her down a bit, but was pointless. 'I'm sorry I didn't responded to your calls but I had something important to do'

'Your mortal life could wait, we have more important things to do now, hurry up and come to our training place'

'Now?!' he asked, a bit frustrated. The idea of a night training session didn't really pleased him, because he was already quite tired, so he came up with some cheap excuses 'You know, I'm kind of tired right now, couldn't we leave it to anoth…' but he couldn't finish his sentence because Yuki already closed. He then sighed as he lowered his shoulders and thought 'This starts to gets annoying…I will definitely have a word on her when we meet'

It's not really easy to go to their training place from where Zeke was. Their training place is in the forest near the city, and Zeke was in front of the university in the west of the city, so he would have had to cross the entire central and eastern part of the city to reach the established place, so it would have taken some time.

'Is it really worth the time? I mean, it's already late and I won't get there in time' said Zeke to himself. But at that time, he remembered Yuki's words 'You still don't understand in which situation we are right now' and he remembers his fight with the Hals, and the struggle he went through to defeat it.

'I should start moving…' he decided in the end.

He opened his phone again to check what time it was, and it was already very late. Around 9 pm, the road would have taken about an hour to walk, so Zeke realized that he would have little to no sleep that night.

After some time Zeke reached the central area. The environment was somewhat uncanny, yet so beautiful and relaxing. There were no cars passing by, nor other people out at such a late hour, even if it was the center of the city close to midnight, in one day in the middle of the week, so there is nothing strange about not seeing people or cars on the street. The light spring breeze blows lightly, making the streets hot during the day, yet just a good place to walk in the evening.

The silence of the night was perfect for Zeke, whose shoulders were lowered, who began to yawn more and more often and whose eyes were barely open, as it created a calm and soothing atmosphere. As he approached the center, several taxis began to make their way, taking tired employees who were just finishing their day shift to their homes.

Zeke thought that maybe he was lucky enough to catch a taxi to take him out of town, so he started looking through all his pockets for some money. Unfortunately after some searching he didn't found any money.

'How good it would be for me now to have a car, or a better paid job. Oh well...it looks like I'm going to have to walk the rest of the way' he said to himself.

As he said, he continued on his way on foot, passing the city center and approaching the eastern district. This area was quieter than the city center, where, although it is past midnight, you will still meet people leaving work, or taxis taking them to their homes, or the tram crossing the city. There was total silence here, no movement, no car, no one else on the street except Zeke.

The thought of being the only person on the street at such a late hour would create an unpleasant feeling in many people, but for Zeke it was different, he was used to things like that, because he too had often gone through the experience of working on the day shift and coming back late at night, so it was nothing new to him.

Even though he was used to situations like this, Zeke walked down the street this time with his shoulders raised, his chest out, and a perfect stump. Despite the fact that he was very tired, he continued to walk this way because he felt very confident. And he was not afraid of the potential attack of thieves or any other unpleasant event.

As he continued to walk towards the exit of the city, luck struck him. Behind him appeared a luxurious car, of a shiny black, and for which only with his bare eyes he could estimate the price at several tens of thousands of dollars. The car begins to slow down as it approaches Zeke, lowering the window, and revealing the driver's identity. He was a man in his 30s, wearing an elegant black suit, under him a simple white shirt and a black tie with a dragon-shaped pattern woven on it. His hair was spiky, a color that resembled pure orange, but it was a little hard to notice when it was night outside. Even so, for some reason this man was wearing sunglasses.

'Hey brother, do you need a ride?' he asked respectfully 'It's a bit late and the taxi fare is quite expensive at night'

'Well I kind of need to meet someone urgent at the exit of the city, and it's already past the midnight'

'I got you kid, don't worry, and come up' the man replied.

Zeke pauses for a moment, hesitating to get in this man's car, given that he had no money with him, so he could not reward his kindness. Zeke wasn't the type to come up with a cheap excuse or something, (not always) so he told the stranger directly 'I would like to...but I have no money, and I can't just take a ride for free…'

But he could not finish his sentence because he was interrupted by this man. 'Don't worry about this, just come up, I will not take any money from you'

Zeke was amazed by his kindness , he smiled at the stranger's response and replied with a simple 'Thank you'.

Usually it's not ok to go in a stranger's car at midnight when you are alone on the street because everything can happen, but just a few days ago Zeke took down a beast with his bare hands, so he was quite confident that even if this man turns out to be a bad man, be could take him down pretty easy. He gets in the car, and right after that the stranger starts a conversation.

'We didn't have a proper introduction before, sorry for that, I'm Heng' he said reaching for a handshake 'I'm glad to meet you kid'

'I'm Zeke, I can't thank you enough for your kindness Mr. Heng' Zeke answered, shaking his hand.

'Cut off the formalities' Heng instantly replied 'We're friends now, just call me Heng'

Zeke was a bit embarrassed by this situation, because this Heng dude was a bit too friendly to him, and he didn't know how to react. So he simply replied with an 'Ok…'. But Heng didn't pay much attention to that, instead he continued the conversation, starting to tease Zeke.

'So, Zeke, who is that person that is important enough to make you go out at such a late hour?'

'Huh, where should I begin? It's a girl who's been pissing me off for a while with her plans made in a hurry'

'Ooh? A girl? Could this be your girlfriend?' Heng replied laughing.

'She's not' with his cheeks turning pink 'She's just my friend'

'Hmm, she must, however, be a close friend if she was able to get you out of the house at this hour'

'You could say that' he said to Heng, then said to himself 'Although, until today, she was my only friend…'

Now that he stayed and observed more, Zeke was still confused why Heng was wearing sunglasses, despite the fact that it was completely dark outside, and out of curiosity he asked him

'Hey...mhmm, Heng, I was wondering, why are you wearing sunglasses at night?' at witch Heng simply replied with 'Oh this? Put them on and you'll see'

Heng handed his sunglasses to Zeke to see with his own eyes. Zeke put the glasses to his eyes and immediately understood what was so special about them, everything outside had become much brighter, as if it were midday outside. Zeke was so amazed about this, because he hadn't seen something like this in his entire life.

'Wow, this...this is amazing Heng, there are no normal sunglasses, what are this?'

'Hahaha, this little bastards cost me tens of dollars, I bought them because I travel a lot in the night time, so they come in handy very often'

Zeke once again was amazed and a bit scared because he was holding something far too expensive for him to afford in a lifetime of work.

'Huh? Ten...tens of dollars? I couldn't afford this even if I work my entire life for them'

Heng started to laugh again hearing Zeke's words and replied with: 'Yeah, you are probably right, most people can't afford something as expensive as this, oh but wait, this is not all I hev, try this little one too'

He then pulled out a fancy looking knife, and showed it to Zeke. Zeke got scared for a second, seeing Heng pull a knife out of the car's edge, very relaxed, as if it was normal for him.

'Here, take a look'

Then he handed the knife to Zeke, to feel on his skin what was special about that weapon. The knife felt surprisingly light for its size, it was not a very large knife, but none very small, it was about as big as a military knife. Its blade was razor-sharp, and you could feel your breath being taken away just by looking at it. Zeke was amazed by these things that Heng showed him and at the same time a bit terrified. A lot of questions come into Zeke's mind at that moment.

'Who is this guy? How rich really is he? How does he become that rich? Is it dangerous? And if it is...I wonder...can I take him down alone at my current state...? Probably not...maybe in terms of physical strength yes...but it's something about this dude that doesn't seem right, maye he's a shady, or a politician, or a mafia member, I don't think I would want to have problems with someone like him…'

Then Heng observed that Zeke was staring at that knife for a while now, so he stopped laughing and asked him: 'Hey kid? Are you alright? Did this little tool scared you?'

Zeke stopped daydreaming, then hurriedly replied to Heng, in a manner that doesn't that would not make him worry too much: 'Oh, no, no, I'm ok, I was just lost in thoughts, you don't need to worry too much about this.'

Heng smiled, and gently said Zeke in a friendly manner 'There are things in this world that is better for you not to know about kid, try to not get involved in something that you know is not your business, because you don't know against whom you play, very often he might be a better player then you, and you know what happens when you play against someone better than you.'

Zeke was a bit freaked out hearing Heng's words but he still managed to hide it a bit, then continued the conversation 'Wha...what happens?' he asked.

Heng stopped the car. He took off his glasses and looked straight in Zeke's eyes. The tension between the two starts growing faster and faster, the atmosphere becomes thicker and thicker so thick that you will start to breath harder, or even cut the air between the two with a sharp knife. Zeke starts sweating at this moment and swallows his words. Then, the one who broke the ice was Heng, who looked very menacing now, and something was different about him, he looks...like a beast.

'You'll lose the game' he said in a deep, menacing tone.

A moment of silence was left between the two, just for Heng to break the ice again, shifting the mood 'Hahaha, sorry for that' he replied laughing 'I didn't scare you, did I? Sorry, sorry, I exaggerate this time'

'No...It's ok, don't worry' replied Zeke half-mouthed.

'Mhm, well in that case we reach the destination, I hope you enjoyed this ride' Heng replied smiling.

'Yes, thanks a lot Heng, I don't know how I could reward you.'

'Don't worry about that, just don't make your girl wait to much for you'

'Yeah, I suppose' Zeke replied with an awkward smile on his face.

He then got out of the car and began to wave his hand, as a sign of goodbye to Heng and went to where Yuki was. But a last word of Heng it caught his attention 'Oh, yeah don't make your parents worry too much by staying out for too long kid'

Zeke's mood changed suddenly, his smile faded away, his eyes became small and black, his gaze seemed to blur, his legs softened, and in the end he stared to the ground. Even so, when he returned to give Heng an answer, he smiled, and it seemed as if nothing had happened.

'Yeah, I will, thank you for everything Heng' Then he began to wave his hand in farewell, as Heng's car began to disappear into the mist of the night, but a thought still troubled him.

'Heng...who truly you are? It's obvious that you have a lot of power, not just money, political power, people behind you, I can't imagine what are you doing in reality, all I know it that I don't want to make an enemy of you, because you could be a very strong ally in the fight against Hals, or you could be an even greater enemy. I don't know if we'll ever meet again, but somehow I fell this is better, I don't know much about you, but one thing is certain, Heng...you are a dangerous man'