With a quirk of his head, Cical watched the elder hold up the gem, before suddenly snapping to attention as it was hurled his direction. Only reactions and good hand-eye coordination saved that poor stone from meeting the ground. The first reaction, was the fact that this egg was significantly heavier than it appeared. The gem was incredibly dense. Surrounding it with both hands, Cical's head made takes between the egg and the old one-armed man. If such a thing was really so powerful, was it that wise to trust a random stranger with it? Still, he wouldn't complain. This egg - in his hands - was probably safer than it had ever been in its life so far. At the comment of destroying it himself, Cical narrowed his eyes before squeezing both hands against its surface as if to test his words.

        "No.." He paused, opening his hands slightly to gaze at the egg within. "No I believe you. I don't know why I do, but I do." He mumbled the last bit, face scrunching like he couldn't quite comprehend something. The spearman was briefly tempted to use the gems on his hip. A dying old fellow who had given them to him had mumbled something about gauging magical strength and further incoherent ramblings. Cical didn't believe it, but you couldn't deny a dying man's gift. He tested them out on his spears... But they never did anything, so if that proved the validity of the dying man's claim or not he couldn't be sure. From what Cical knew, magic sucked - so trying anything on it here now, without experience, was a bad idea. His head lifted slightly, enough for him to glower apprehensively towards the old coot. Even without a great big Roshad education he could see a test to embarrass him. He wasn't lying, but he still seemed to be withholding information. The sight of a one armed man challenging him was both amusing and slightly aggravating. Regardless of who he was or who he [i]thought[/i] he was, two was always better than one. But… Something deep in his mind went against that train of thought. Be it the crowd of capable people who’d most likely be mad at him or the one-armed geezer himself.

        His attention and train of thought was broken by another man, one similar to him, albeit with more clothes, fewer tattoos and wilder hair. Dull brown met cold blue and an invisible clash occurred briefly. Both men were stoic and hard-willed, both determined and stubborn. Besides these simple traits of battle-hardened men Cical noticed something else... Something deeper than was almost a sense of familiarity. If he were honest with himself, it was mildly disconcerting. Not many could harbor as much as the spear man did, which made this similarity quite upsetting. The lancer was first to break their war of eyes, flickering across his ‘opponents’ frame and getting a rough estimate of his body language and discernible features. He was certainly a fighter, which was ideal for what Farrin requested. Years of experience and countless battles plagued even his sitting formation. He was no rookie who quivered in fear or tensed in anticipation. Nor was he an old man like the one-armed elder, who challenged everyone who dare speak against him. Inadvertently, Cical had tightened his grasp and held the egg tight to his midriff while he performed these mental gymnastics. Only a second had passed, but it was unlikely the other Baccumese was ignorant to it. Someone behind him asked a question, it was a female but his ears couldn't comprehend precisely what was asked. With face stuck in a rigid state of curiosity, the Prince of War’s features suddenly softened.
        
        His knuckles were white, but ceased in an instant. The pressure off the gleaming stone was gone and his arms pressed forwards to hand it to the similar Bac-

        It was gone, but not by who he intended to take it. The jewel was plucked from his hand like an egg from a coop by a pack of coyotes. Anger, bewilderment spread through him. Who dared take such a precious object from another's hand with such carelessness? What sort of twisted, idioti- He paused, body having already tensed and muscles coiled to strike. Unconsciously both hands were clenched into fists as his eyes snapped and examined their soon-to-be target. The pause derived from her clothing. He actually had to take a second affirming glance to verify she had any on at all. There holding the egg he once held aloft, was a… She was a freak of nature.

        Nothing else could describe exactly [i]what[/i] that [i]thing[/i] was. It was inhuman, so much so that it appeared human. Every feature, every curve, every aspect was perfect, so much so that it was just wrong. Nothing born from a woman and man could ever be so flawless. The fact that she was so sublime actually did nothing but sicken Cical. With only the cursory glance he gave her while locating what was his, he had rooted within his mind that this woman was unnatural and her following actions should be gauged heavily. His body had, while his mind worked, moved of its own volition. His body was tall, his muscles were considerable, but he was in no way slow. Cical planned his exercises. He traded strength and bulk in muscle weight, for pure development and toning. He would never be as strong as someone who simply performed manual labor their whole life. yet he would be significantly faster and more mobile. While he'd be unable to overpower the aforementioned individual, by the time one of their strikes was about to connect - Cical would have performed two.

        All that, and this girl was unprotected in the slightest. One hand - the left, snapped up to wrap around the egg with his fingers locked between her own and pried the object downwards. His right hand, to certify the point of her releasing his egg, jammed two rigid fingers into her soft skin along the side of her abdomen - halfway between the hip and lowest rib. This was a common soft pressure point abused by school children and by men who wished to affectionately tease their significant other. Although he was being much [i]much[/i] rougher. Two fingers jammed themselves in and upwards, forcefully trying to jar her as best he could. With the sharpest of yanks, the egg was freed and back in- actually no it wasn't. His grip couldn't quite wrap around the whole thing, and instead it sort of shot directly from her hand into the ground. In mid bounce, the hand which jabbed her abdomen had bent down with his body to snatch it into his possession once more. It was quite a display of dexterity, so fast in his strike into a much slower and controlled spin to deal with the momentum of reaching for the grounded egg.

        All this happened by the time a larger, hooded man finished his sentence. With a spin on calloused bare feet, Cical distanced himself and then took large steps towards and behind Farrin. This spot was between the one armed man, and this new hooded man and it left Cical with his back to the Tavern. As if he didn't just jab a woman with his bare hands, he leaned back against the wall and glowered at everyone there with the egg clutched like a baseball all in a casual fashion. Nobody was getting the gem now, and nobody would be able to force it out unless they cut off his fingers. The egg, rested in his left hand. His right was nowhere to be seen. A quick glance would reveal it to be behind his back. 

        The spear man had wanted to draw his weapon. To scare everyone off, and force them to keep their distance with the threat. In the time it took to move where he was now however he quashed that plan. Showing hostility in that way would only escalate the situation beyond what was necessary. The hand behind his back meant he would be ready, but wouldn't initiate anything.

        "The old man didn't say it was only for killing the sorcerer, only that they powered a device and the sorcerer wanted them. We're supposed to get more eggs, destroy them and [i]then[/i] we destroy the sorcerer. All the blood must have been diverted to your giant water balloons there rather than your ears. Before you snatched it from my hand like a harpy would a child… Or if you paid a scant moment of attention, you’d notice I never intended to try breaking it." He nodded, motioning to the old man in question. After what just happened, he could actually understand where the senior was coming from. This is why he just killed the bad guys and left the innocents without talking.
        "You've got a bit of my respect for not lying, old-timer. And I'll side with the hooded bandit over there." He closed his eyes for a moment, huffing in slight agitation. “Now kindly explain what you mean by 'tasks' and hopefully we won’t be interrupted again.” He paused, blinking and stumbling on his words. “M-me included.” He coughed, placing his left hand underneath the bicep of his right. With the right holding onto his spear, this was the best he could get to having his arms crossed.