A young couple, roughly Michael's age, was throwing a tantrum in the middle of Bartholomew's House of Witchery.
Michael didn't pay them much attention because it was not the first time that he had seen a lover's spat. This young couple was extremely loud but that was already it.
Thus, Michael followed the Clerk to complete the official paperwork and get his money's worth at the counter of the Witchery Bazaar.
"Ay, shit…" The clerk cursed after he spent two minutes on the Witchery Bazaar's holographic screen. He looked apologetically at Michael and said, "We will have to go to the main counter to complete the deal. I forgot to open the bank transfer payment gateway in the Witchery Bazaar this morning…it would take a few minutes to unlock all safety measurements…"
'Maybe he really fought with his girlfriend. He looks like a mess, that's for sure,' Michael thought with a shrug before he motioned the clerk to proceed in the direction of the main counter.
Some of the staff members were at the counter, doing some work while glancing at the quarreling couple every few seconds.
"I really don't understand them. No, I understand their families even less," One of them, a young woman with a ponytail, said quietly to the other, "Why would the Kolbenheim family and Orlando family engage them with each other if they're always this violent?"
"I really don't know. The Barbaric Couple is always fighting. I think I've never heard any good news about that couple, and that's quite weird since they have decent talent and look quite good together. One would think that a few articles mention their good looks and talent, but there is not a single one!" Another female staff with a bob cut replied.
"I think there were a few articles, but Frederik would make sure that he fired every man who wrote articles about Jacqueline, while Jacqueline would do the same when women wrote articles about Frederik. Hundreds of reporters were fired. It was a big mess!" Ponytail added, sighing deeply.
Michael didn't want to listen to their gossiping but that was almost impossible. Their voices were loud enough for everyone around to hear, including Michael.
'So a couple like that exists as well? Violent and overflowing with jealousy? Well, you can consider that passionate love if you twist the definition a little bit…well, quite a lot.' He thought as he was forced to listen to both the gossiping staff and the lover's quarrel.
The clerk who appraised his goods earlier wanted to provide Michael with a good customer experience to make sure that the young Lord would return the next time he had something to sell, but his co-workers were not really helpful in this regard.
His co-workers kept acting as if they were engrossed in their work, only for their focus to revert to the lover's quarrel. It looked like the Barbaric couple would wreak havoc soon enough, and they didn't want to miss that.
Michael frowned but he didn't say anything. He was in a rush but throwing a tantrum wouldn't help either. The Barbaric couple's quarreling reached a stage where the people around them had to be careful.
'Ugh…when did they unsheathe their weapons?!' Michael nearly shouted out loud with a raised eyebrow.
Both Frederik Kolbenheim, and Jacqueline Orlando were Awakened, and it looked like they wanted to turn the House of Witchery into a battlefield. Jacqueline was a young woman with long red hair. Her cheeks were puffed up and red just like her hair right now.
It didn't take a brainiac to determine that she was boiling in anger, ready to slice Frederik into countless pieces.
However, that didn't seem to bother Frederik. His azure eyes glimmered in anger even though his fair skin didn't change color even once. He didn't turn red, but his facial expression spoke volumes about the emotions that were slowly beginning to engulf his entire being.
'At least, they're not powerful Awakened. Good thing that they're around my age. The shop will survive,' Michael thought as he activated Eagle Eyes to take a closer look at their War Rune and movements.
Even if this was a lover's quarrel, they seemed ready to fight it out in real combat. That was a little weird, but Michael could make use of it to observe the descendants of powerful families up close. After all, the coalition between the Orlando family and the Kolbenheims resulted in the creation of a low-ranked Kingdom. They shouldn't be underestimated.
"Why are you like this?? Can't you be more reasonable?!?" Jacqueline shouted angrily while brandishing her fencing blade in front of her.
"Do you even know what you're talking about, Jacq? You look like a maniac right now!" Frederik shouted back, pointing his longsword at her.
"Looks like it's impossible to talk to you…" Jacqueline replied, flicking her long hair back before she changed her stance, "Darling, I think it's time to beat some sense into you. I cannot go on like this!"
'What?'
Frederik chuckled lightly for a second before he also entered a combat stance, "It's like you're speaking my mind. Since I cannot reason with you, I shall leave father-in-law and teach you a lesson in his place instead!"
Just like that, a fight burst out in the middle of Bartholomew's House of Witchery.
The Barbaric Couple dashed toward each other with extreme speed. No hesitation could be seen as their blades collided. Jacqueline was nimble and thrust the fencing blade forward with a horrifyingly fast acceleration. The tip of the fencing blade hit the flat side of Frederik's longsword, altering the sword thrust's trajectory.
Jacqueline followed up by twisting her body to retract the fencing blade and gain enough momentum to thrust out once again.
Her second attack was not as fast and strong as the first, but it followed in quick succession to the first attack. Frederik was not fast enough to block the attack. His reaction speed was too slow, which was also why he ended up with the fencing blade's tip in his side.
Jacqueline controlled her power precisely. She pierced out and retracted the blade the moment it drilled into her lover's flesh. Only a few blood droplets trickled to the ground before the scratch stopped bleeding.
'If that's love I rather die at old age, alone,' Michae thought as he watched the couple's fight. His Eagle Eyes Soultrait was not even required to follow their movements, but it was easier to see minute details in their movements. That was also how Michael determined that Jacqueline's War Rune had a higher degree of refinement. She was a little bit stronger and faster than Frederik even though their Artifacts were likely to enhance them equally.
Michael had yet to see their Soultraits, but his interest was picked. Unfortunately, the couple's fight seemed to escalate a little after the young man's blood had been shed. His movements got sharper at once and his spatial awareness allowed him to balance out the lower refinement degree of his War Rune.
The sound of metal colliding resounded and everyone in the shop was now paying attention to them. No Soultrait had been unleashed yet, but the fierceness of the battle was dangerous, nonetheless.
'If they keep going like that, they will kill each other… or injure oth–....'
Michael's mind blanked out before he could finish his thought. His attention was pulled over to a kid that was racing through the aisles.
The young boy passed by everyone as if he was playing on a hardcore course of a racing game, just to head straight to the hell difficulty…straight to the chaotic battlefield of the barbaric couple.
'Kid, are you insane?!' Michael first thought before he looked around, 'Where the hell are mothers when their kids act suicidal?!?'
At that moment, Frederik evaded one of Jacqueline's thrusts before slapping her on the butt with the flat side of his longsword. He wanted to humiliate her, but instead pushed her ahead with too much force.
Jacqueline lost balance and ran straight into the oblivious boy, her eyes widened in shock.
"Well, shit…"