Midday Flame

Chapter Two

Being up close to Harold, the tanned dude has dark orange eyes and black hair that is shaped like a coconut. Orange swimming trunks and sandals are the only clothes on him.

He angrily stares at Harold. "I said you're enjoying yourself?!"

Bruno notices the confrontation, but chooses not to get involved because he knows that Harold can handle himself.

"Something wrong beside your hair?" Harold asked sternly.

The bartender lets out a small laugh.

"Ming! Stop laughing!" the tanned dude said.

"Watch your attitude, coconut head." Harold said.

"Stay out of this! This is a family matter." the tanned dude snapped back.

"Chang! Just leave and we'll talk about this later. I'm working!" Ming said.

"Look, kid! Leave and I'll pretend I didn't hear you raise your voice at me." Harold said.

Chang chuckles and steps up to Harold and tries to push him, but he doesn't flinch. Ming sighs and shakes her head. Harold remains calm. Chang makes his right hand into a fist and swings at Harold who simply moves his head back to dodge. Chang gets angry and opens his right fist into an open palm. He creates a dark orange Fire Spellbomb and throws it at Harold. Instead of dodging, Harold grabs Chang's hand and redirects the Spellbomb into the ceiling. It explodes into dark orange fire particles.

Harold uses his left hand to punch Chang in the face. Blood spills out of Chang's mouth. Another punch is delivered by Harold, and then a third punch. Chang stumbles backwards in pain. He finishes the confrontation with a Wood Spellbomb onto the chest of Chang.

"Eeegh! What are you doing?!" Ming yelled out.

"Sorry about that!" Harold said to her.

"You made my brother bleed and destroyed the ceiling!" Ming said, upset.

"Yes, and I apologize for that. I'll be leaving now." Harold said politely.

Ming walks around the bar counter and squats down next to Chang.

"I'm fine!" Chang said to Ming.

"Why do you always have to start trouble like that?" Ming said.

Harold and Bruno begin to leave the open bar.

"They're the ones Kang told me about!" Chang said.

As soon as the boys hear this, they stop walking and turn around.

"About what?" Ming asked.

"Tsk!" Chang exclaimed and noticed that Harold and Bruno were watching.

"How much for the drink and chair?" Harold asked.

Ming blinks twice before answering. "Just go!"

Despite Ming's lack of answer, Harold still leaves some money on the counter. He and Bruno then leave the open bar.

"That guy said something about Kang telling him about us. Maybe the jade-eyed guy is Kang?" Harold thinks to himself.

"If he is, then we know he's here. Or at least was here." Bruno said.

"You're right. First, we need to confirm who this Kang person is. But before we do that, we need to find Lily and Lyla and an inn to stay at. It's getting dark. In the meantime, why do you find out where this Chang guy lives? No need to do anything. We'll hit his home in the morning."

"Alright. Hopefully, they're still at the bar." Bruno said and made his way back to the open bar.

Harold scans around the beach from his left side to the right side once. He sees people playing beach volleyball. One of the people playing is taller than the other players. That person must be Stella, but it is difficult to see the skin color due to the evening dusk. Harold walks closer towards the group playing beach volleyball.

The group playing beach volleyball consists of Stella, Lyla, two local boys and two local girls. Somehow, due to her social butterfly personality, Stella was able to start a game of beach volleyball with the locals.

It is clear that Stella and Lyla aren't winning. This is because Stella isn't very good at sports. Lyla, on the other hand, is athletic and can pick up most sports easily.

Whenever the ball would go near Stella, one of two things would happen: she tries to hit the ball but she fails or the ball bounces the wrong way, or Lyla would run towards the ball but bumps into Stella.

The two local boys played beach volleyball very well. It seems like they grew up playing.

"That's ten points for us. We win!" said one of the local boys.

"What?! Finished already?!" Stella said.

"Yep!" replied the other tanned boy.

"You did great, though." said one of the girls.

"What was the score?" Lyla asked.

"You guys got five points." said the other tanned girl. "All were scored by you."

"Wow! We did great for our first time." Stella said to Lyla.

"Hehe!" Lyla laughed.

"It's getting late. We should go now." Stella said to the locals.

"Okay! We should play again sometime." said one of the girls.

The four locals wave goodbye to Stella and Lyla and leave the beach.

"I can't believe it's late already." Stella said. "It looks like five or six o'clock, but the sun is still up."

"It's like summer time." Lyla said.

The girls move away from the sand and see Harold walking towards them.

"Oh,Harold!" Stella smiled at him. "Were you watching the whole time?"

"Indeed I was." Harold said. "I thought you're not into sports, Lily?"

"Oh, I just play for fun! Hihi!"

Lyla frowns. "But you didn't do much."

Stella turns to Lyla with a bright smile. "I was able to help us score some points."

Lyla looks around and notices something. "Hey, where's Bruno?"

"Weren't you and Bruno together?" Stella asked.

"About that. I'll explain when we find a place to sleep. I don't want anyone else to hear." Harold said. "He'll meet up with us later."

"Oooh so scandalous." Stella laughed. "Did he find a girlfriend?"

"Haha! Nothing like that." Harold couldn't help but laugh. "He's following on a lead."

With that said, Harold and the girls make their way to the local inn where they will spend the night.