Wearing slightly baggy jeans, flannel s.h.i.+rt, and a baseball cap backwards, Daniel had a huge grin on his face as he dribbled a basketball with one hand. His youthful appearance was really attractive even to his male friends and they would always get jealous of how the women would fawn over him every time they play.

"Don't smile, man. You're making us look uglier." One of his friends said while trying to steal the ball from him.

Daniel only chuckled at his remark, swaying to the left and maneuvering his way in the court before he shot the ball.

The sound of women cheering his name echoed through the court and his teammates gave him high fives, "Nice!"

*beep* *beep*

"Daniel!" Lucas called from his car on the road, catching Daniel's attention.

Excusing himself from the game, Daniel jogged towards his friend. "Hey!"

"We're having a small party at the mansion for Kevin's birthday. Let's go!"

"Oh, but I didn't prepare any gift," Daniel worried, he did not like showing up empty-handed whenever he attends a celebration.

"Don't worry about it! Come on!"

Daniel tapped Lucas' car before he turned around, "Okay, I'll bring my car. I'll see you there."

…

Uncle Eddie's Mansion

When Daniel arrived at the gates, his eyes widened in surprise upon seeing so many lined up sports cars on the lot — the place was swarming with people. "Some small party." He muttered under his breath.

Right at the entrance of the mansion was Lucas and Kevin, welcoming their guests in high spirits.

After Daniel found a spot to park his car, he walked up to his two friends by the door. And as soon as he was in front of them, Kevin pulled back his arm and aimed to hit Daniel on the face. But before his fist could land, Daniel tilted to the side and caught Kevin's wrist, stopping his punch.

"Tsk Tsk Tsk. You're really fast, you know that?" Kevin commented as he retracted his hand and looked at Lucas on his left, "Not like someone I know who sucks at combat."

"Hey!" Lucas complained but clicked his tongue right after, "Tsk...yeah. Daniel's way faster than me."

Daniel laughed at their banter, "Happy birthday, bro." He greeted, shaking Kevin's hand before they entered the house.

The party at the mansion was in full swing and everybody enjoyed the booze, the food, the great music, and Lucas' awesome hosting skills.

It was almost midnight when Daniel already started to feel like he already had enough — he had been hit on by several women at the party since he arrived. Although he had already gotten used to the women in that country being liberated, he still wasn't impressed or attracted to them as he found them too forward.

"Check out that guy," said a woman to her friend. "He is so hot."

"I'm gonna go and talk to him."

"This party is the bomb. Do you wanna take it upstairs?" Said the woman with red hair in a really sleazy tone, twirling her finger around the neck of her bottle of beer.

"No, thanks. I'm good," replied Daniel as he tapped his phone, replying to the message that his younger brother Liam sent him.

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and left.

A hearty laugh sounded from Daniel's left, making him look towards the familiar sound and saw Kevin approaching.

"That was a fine woman, my man! How could you turn her down? We have lots of rooms upstairs ready anytime." Kevin said, punching Daniel's upper arm playfully before he drank his beer.

"I'm not really interested in hooking up with anyone." Daniel had been in country A for almost a year already and apart from his studies, he spent most of his time with Lucas and his family if he wasn't racing.

"Oh c'mon! Live your life a little! Have some fun!"

Daniel chuckled, putting away his phone and clinked his own beer with Kevin's.

"There you are, brother! I've been looking everywhere for you!" Lucas arrived, beads of sweat formed on his face and he was panting.

Raising his brow, Daniel waited for his friend to talk.

"Someone wants to have a race you," Lucas announced, chugging the beer in his hand. "You up for it?"

Looking at his friend, Daniel let out a smile. 'Finally, some action!' He had been wanting to do something else other than beer and loud music. "Who is it?"

"Tch. Look at his face, a chick came up to him earlier and he did not even take a glance at her. You just mentioned racing and his face lit up like Christmas tree." Kevin scoffed, shaking his head.

Daniel rolled his eyes and Lucas snorted, he knew his friend very well to know that Kevin was telling the truth.

"Some guy who just arrived in the country," Lucas answered. "And guess what? Five grand." ($5000)

Kevin whistled when he heard how much the challenger was going to bet but Daniel remained indifferent as it was not the first time that he would race for that amount.

"Sweet! This time, I wanna tag along!" said Kevin.

Daniel got up from the stool and marched outside. "Let's go."

The three of them set off and went to meet with the opposing team.

Upon arriving at the location, there were already spectators, several other cars and a few familiar faces on the side of the road.

Getting off the vehicle, Daniel greeted a middle-aged man who came to meet him.

"There he is!" said the middle-aged man as he exchanged a friendly pat with Daniel. "Ready to race tonight, Swift?"

Daniel grinned at the man whom he idolized and answered, "You know I'm always ready, Joe."

"Wait, what did Joe call you?" Kevin asked in which Lucas answered with an excited expression, "Swift! Like the bird!"

Joe, one of the best racers in their team, was the one who named Daniel "Swift". And since then, everyone in the circle of racers started calling him that. Joe told Kevin stories about Daniel's outstanding short and long distance duration and Kevin was amazed, nodding from time to time.

"Ha! Swift actually suits you! You're not only fast with cars, but you're also quite fast in close combat. I should be calling you that from now on!" Kevin said as he started to shadow box in front of Daniel.

Daniel threw his head back, laughing at how hyper Kevin was. Feeling pumped up, Daniel faced Kevin and the two of them played "Who's the best fighter?" again. Lucas could only shake his head at the sight of his best buddy and his cousin exchanging punches like they were in a video game.

Footsteps drew near and a mocking laugh was heard from behind them. The laugh sounded so eerie that Lucas felt a chill ran down his spine.

"I thought I came here to race and not play with kids?" A man who was in his early twenties walked towards them with a smug look on his face. He had such a heavy accent that it was almost hard for them to understand what he said.

The three of them turned around and saw the man looking back at them with a menacing look on his face. Daniel immediately sensed danger emitting from that man and he was unsure why but his instincts suddenly kicked in. His gut feeling was telling him that the man was bad news.

"Ah, Vlad. You're here. Come." Joe stepped in and introduced him to them. "Swift, this is the challenger. Meet Vladimir, he had just arrived in the country today."

Out of politeness, Daniel shook Vladimir's hand.

"What about these two?" Vladimir asked pointing at the two men behind Daniel.

"They're our friends. Kevin and Lucas." Joe answered.

"Ah..." Vladimir nodded with a sinister smile on his face as observed Kevin and Lucas. Daniel got creeped out by the look on his face. He was no ordinary guy — his heart started to race.

"Shall we start?"

Although Daniel became a little hesitant, he did not back out.

Getting inside their cars, Daniel and Vladimir looked at each other through their windows. The whole time, Vladimir was smiling like he knew he would already win the race.

Vladimir's phone rang and he picked it up right away when he saw the name on his screen. "Papa," he answered.

"Have you arrived? Where are you?" An old man from the other line asked.

"I am having fun with friends, papa. I even met three new ones."

There was no reply from the other line, so Vladimir continued, "Two of them were Olsens. The other one was Eddie's son. Isn't it great?"

Vladimir's father chuckled upon hearing his son's words. "Don't waste too much time playing. I sent you there for a job."

"And I will do that soon. Don't worry."

The old man smiled and reminded, "Mhmm… Remember, you are a Yanovich. You can show no mercy."

Smiling as he looked at Daniel from his window, he answered his father Lavro Yanovich, "Yes, papa."