After waking a bit later than usual, we washed up and dressed and went out to meet our new recruits and enjoy our breakfast on the restaurant terrace.

In front of the hotel, we were surprised to find, not 3, but 12 persons waiting for us, the full crew was there, so it looked like we managed to get their attention.

When we arrived, Henni, Saduk and Linx left the group of 12 and stood with me and Cara, which was a clear gesture of loyalty, that I appreciated. It was equally obvious that their former boss would not forgive them for this, which made it even more impressive.

At least it evened out the odds a bit, with 9 in Jensu's group and 5 in ours.

"Good morning," I said "We were just about to take breakfast, maybe you would like to join us?"

To our surprise, they accepted, but I kept a mana barrier active around myself and Cara as a precaution.

There was an Evolan who was a larger and broader than most of the others in the group but due to his features, could have almost passed for a large human.

By the way he was dressed and the way he carried himself, it was obvious that he was the boss, Jensu.

Once our breakfast was served, we started eating and I thought that it would be best for me to introduce ourselves.

"My name is Xander," I said "and this is my partner and girlfriend, Cara. I assume that you must be Jensu, this group's leader, is that correct?"

"That is correct," he replied, "and I hear that you met some of my men last night, and not only stole all their belongings, which in fact, belonged to me, but you also managed to recruit them, even though they weren't actually free to be recruited."

"If you don't mind, could you pass the toast?" I said, refusing to be intimidated.

I buttered my toast before continuing, and I could see Jensu was starting to get irritated by my attitude.

"I have learned in life, as I am sure that you have as well, that there are often two sides to every story; and it is usually best to hear both sides before making any judgments. Don't you agree Mr. Jensu?"

"I agree, at least in part," Jensu said "but please, continue; I would love to hear your version of what happened."

"Well," I continued in a relaxed tone, taking a bite of my toast before continuing. "last night my girlfriend and I had some business in the Eternua dungeon, and when we finished, we decided to take the portal to Evola. I had heard about it in the past and thought that it would be nice to get away for a few days and visit a new world. I also had some non-urgent business here."

"So, we arrived at the portal, and to our surprise, on arriving in Evola, we were confronted by 3 of your men, who attempted to rob us of all our belongings, and they also made it clear that they wanted to take my girlfriend as well, although I still have no idea what they were actually planning on doing with her, maybe you can explain that part to us later. But I digress.

"Now, being as they wanted to take all of our possessions, it seemed only fair to me that they forfeit all their belongings to us, when their plan failed. Also, from what I understood from them, is that they were working for you at the time.

"Now you say that their possessions were actually yours, but you sent them to take ours, so I believe that our actions were very fair, given the circumstances. You tried to steal from us, you lost and we took your things from you. I have no doubt but that you would do the same if the roles were inversed.

"Then, of course, there is the issue of them wanting to take my girlfriend, for God knows what reason. For that, by my rulebook, and for that matter, by just about anyone's rulebook, they deserved to die. Fortunately for them, Cara decided to be lenient and decided to let them work for us instead, to pay off their debt so to speak.

"My question for you, Mr. Jensu, is, were they working for you last night? The fact that you came here today leads me to believe that they were, but I would like to hear you confirm it."

"Your story and reasoning have merit Mr. Xander, and maybe in some places they would hold some weight. I don't know where you are from, but in Evola we need to be creative to survive, and creative does not always equate with doing things legally or being fair. Here strength decides right and wrong and in Evola, at least in this region, I have the strength."

"Don't you think that there are moral limits that shouldn't be crossed?" I asked "Most societies need certain moral limits to survive, and I think we can agree that your men went well over those limits last night.

"That they wanted to steal from me, I can live with, but that they wanted to take Cara, that I could not allow, so they work for us now, at least until we decide to release them. The question is, are you going to have a problem with this arrangement?"

"From what they tell me, you are not someone to be taken lightly," Jensu said biting off the end of a sausage. "But I am not to be taken lightly either." He said once he had finished chewing and wiped his mouth with his napkin. "As I said, strength is everything here on Evola. There is no right or wrong, there are no any moral limits, as you put it.

"I was considering forgetting this whole incident if you returned what you took from my men, seeing as you aren't from around here. But everyone has now seen the way that you have disrespected me, and I have a reputation to uphold in this town, so I have no choice but to make an example of you."

"If you really insist on taking that path," I said casually "you are more than willing to try, but there will be plenty of time for that after breakfast, so I suggest we let everyone finish up before you make an example of me. I recently came into some money, so breakfast is on me, you should really take advantage of the opportunity."

He was obviously not used to being spoken to, the way I was speaking to him, and his face became red from his blood pressure rising. I also could already feel his killing intent focusing on me and it was growing stronger by the second.

It was immediately obvious that his level was no match for mine, but I decided to allow him to believe that I was being crushed under the pressure of his aura for a few moments before pleading for him to stop.

"I'm sorry, I'll give back what I took from your men," I said, "just stop, please, no more."

I must have done a pretty convincing job of acting as Cara looked concerned, and I feared she was ready to take them all on, and she actually may have, if I hadn't sent her a telepathic message letting her know that I was just pretending.

As I expected, once he thought he had subdued me, he relaxed his aura with a smug look of victory on his face.

I reached out carefully with my mana and found that there was no barrier protecting him, obviously confident of his superior strength. Very subtly, I connected with his mana core and siphoned almost all of it into my core before reducing the capacity if his core to a fraction of what it was originally. I then began with the second part of my plan.

>>>>

Cara

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, I didn't believe anyone could be a match for Xander in pure power, yet as I watched I saw him crumbling under the pressure of Jensu's aura. I felt an anger boiling inside me and my feline killer instincts were on the verge of taking over, when Xander sent me a telepathic message letting me know that he was only pretending.

I knew that the situation was explosive, as a fight could break out at any moment; but I relaxed a bit knowing that Xander was fine and apparently had a plan.

As Xander lifted his head, I saw a familiar look on his face under his facade of being in a weakened state, it was the look of concentration he had when he was manipulating healing mana and I was curious to see what he had in plan.

I looked over at Jensu and I was just dying to wipe that smug look from his face, when I noticed that his chin was growing. He didn't seem to notice anything, and most people there, were concentrated on Xander who was pretending to slowly recuperate from Jensu's aura attack, but Jensu's chin was changing and there was a tail-like appendage growing under his chin.

I discretely took out my smartphone and started taking a video because I was sure that Ellie would love to see this when we got back.

Xander's masterpiece was quickly completed and it looked like a tail with a bit of a curl like a pig’s tail.

I tried to retain myself, as somehow no one had noticed it yet, but the irony of this smug overconfident crime boss, sitting there thinking he was going to make an example of Xander, while he hadn’t noticed that the joke was on him. It was just too much for me, and I burst out laughing, and it got to the point where I was gasping for air, barely able to breathe. I had difficulty keeping the video steady as my whole body was convulsing laughter. I think that I had never laughed so hard in my whole life.

When everyone turned their attention to me, I was unable to speak, but I managed to point at Jensu's chin, at which point everyone looked at him. Jensu still had no idea why everyone was looking at him. He looked to the left and to the right at his men, trying to understand what was so funny, but with each movement of his head, the addition was flopping around, and in no time, everyone at the restaurant was laughing so hard they were crying.

>>>>

Xander

When he finally figured out what had been done to him, Jensu was livid.

"No one makes fun of Jensu and lives." he said, standing up from his seat.

When they heard his name and recognized him, the people seated on the restaurant terrace starting heading for the exit or hiding under the tables, and even people on the street ran for cover.

He now stood to his full height and his aura flared, but I raised my hand and made a pinching motion, like I was extinguishing a candle, and smothered his aura with my own, leaving him confused and disoriented.

As I had drained his mana, and reduced the size of his core, he could no longer even create a mana barrier, and I easily sent tendrils of mana through his chest and wrapped it around his heart, compressing it just enough for fear to show on his face.

It was only then that he suddenly realized that he had no mana, and his face turned white as a sheet.

"As I said, I suggest we finish our breakfast first, and later you can hand over your dimension storages and we can discuss the terms of your servitude. As you said, it is the strong who make the rules. Isn't that right?

"As for you, Mr. Jensu, you are now virtually powerless, and for the humiliation and pain you visited on others, you have now been humiliated, but know that it is death that you deserve.

I asked Cara for her smartphone and showed Jensu the video. As he watched I saw all hope and any remnant of self-respect disappear from his face. His shoulders slumped and he was the image of someone who no longer had any desire to live.

I felt that he had probably had enough humiliation for one day, but I wanted him to realize fully the pain that his actions caused in his victims. I warned Cara telepathically in advance, of what I was going to do, knowing that she wouldn't approve of it, and. what I did brought me no pleasure but I felt it was necessary nonetheless.

"Mr. Jensu, I forgot to ask, do you have a wife or any children?"

When he hesitated to answer I gave his heart a brief squeeze.

"Yes, I have a wife and 2 children he said."

"As of now, your wife and children are mine. Henni, Linx, Saduk, after we finish today, I want you to pick up his family and do to them whatever it is you do to the women you kidnap."

He pleaded with me, begging for forgiveness, but I ignored his pleas, especially as I wasn't actually planning on taking his wife and kids anyway.

The rest of breakfast proceeded in silence, with many of the clients who had left, returning to their tables, but nervously keeping an eye on our table.

I figured that it wouldn't be long before word got out that there was a new boss in town on Evola and I wanted any new criminal elements to be afraid.