"Rargh, you dare call us your 'team'?"
The lady wearing the female uniform of the University of Saint Benevolent hissed. She was even spitting a little tongue of flames. Literally.
Her name was Alshura Soura.
"The nerve."
A female student added. Her name was Ariana Aries. She currently had her arms crossed in front of her.
"Thou had surpassed thy boundaries of shamelessness."
The one who was speaking on an archaic manner was called Steven O. He had a dead pan expression which was typical of someone who was expressing his disdain.
"Bench-warmers had no right to address the active players as 'team'."
Benjo Roxas added more insult on the injury. He was a self-proclaimed merchant that was currently grinning widely. Perhaps he enjoyed roasting other people.
Nonetheless his remark had garnered the most approval. The others followed through.
"Absolutely, bench-warmer should just shut up!"
"Bench-warmers had no place in this conversation."
"Indeed."
Soura led the assault against the poor male student. Ariana assisted on this onslaught. Their two-pronged attack had wounded their target.
Critical emotional damage was dealt.
O on the other hand had simply added a single remark. But it was more than enough to cause severe emotional injuries.
"This is unfair. How come I'm being benched?"
Yoshino Aruven grumbled. He wanted to cry out. But doing so would only satisfy these heartless people.
Steven O shook his head in disappointment. He answered in a reprimanding tone,
"'Tis being done for thy well-being."
Yoshino was touched actually. The student Healer had probably noticed that his toxicity level had yet to fully subside.
Although moving around would enable him to digest the potions better, participating on a Tier 2 battle would not be that beneficial. He had to focus on his recovery for now.
That was why he offered the spiky-haired assailant to run away instead. Overexerting his yet recovering body would only cause more harm in the long run.
He honestly felt moved. He never thought that this classmate of his had given him that much consideration.
And in extension, he did not expect that the entire team was concerned of him this way.
Perhaps he was the true heartless person here for calling them as such.
However,
"We shall never know where thou shall run off to when our vigilance was lowered once more."
"Ugh."
O made a follow-up attack. He was probably waiting for this chance to express his grudge on the young male student.
Yoshino could not refute the remark. That was why he opted to redirect the blame to another person instead. He pointed out,
"Then what about Roxas? Why was he easily forgiven? He lied to us about the resources!"
"Hah, I did not lie. I have simply forgotten to tell you that detail."
But the merchant had countered the argument coolly. Perhaps he had already prepared this answer for a while.
However, Yoshino refused to accept this reason. He pushed further,
"You say that, but you could have been pocketing those resources secretly."
"So what? You can't even figure out the correct path to take."
Roxas snorted. He then chuckled as he continued,
"Are you saying that finding resources is more important than actually reaching the finish line?"
This was the truth though. It was only thanks to the mapping application that they found the right path. They also no longer needed to scout every corridor they stumbled onto.
And soon enough they encountered other participants. The team had become more active on challenging other students since then.
The merchant smiled as he noticed the expression of the young male student. He followed through as he pointed towards Ariana. He added,
"Are you really that shameless to take the credit away from Miss Aries here?"
The female student nodded shyly. She was probably going to humbly say that she did not help much.
However,
"Actually, he also took something important to me."
"Potions! She's talking about potions here!"
Yoshino clarified immediately. This was referring to the supreme-grade potions that he had taken from Ariana.
But they had already agreed before that those were his compensation for helping the female student with pink-tinged hair. So how come she was bringing that up again?
Perhaps she was also someone who holds grudges.
The problem here though was that Ariana was far from over. She continued,
"He even asked me to pay with my body."
"You mean the blacksmithing job, right? Please don't word it that way!"
Yoshino quickly corrected the statement. This was referring to the offer he received to recast his magic weapon.
So why was the female Artisan bringing that out?
She was even implying that it was the young man with jet black hair who was forcing her. To do the reforging that is.
However both of his clarifications had fallen to deaf ears. The others did not believe his claims. They did not even bother listening to his reasons.
And then,
"Huu, he had also asked me to pay with my body."
"Why is Miss Soura joining as well?"
Yoshino protested when the lady with deep sea blue hair voiced out her experience.
She was probably referring to the deal they had. Which was that she would serve as a bodyguard in exchange for a place to stay. Hopefully.
But at this point, the young man did not bother to explain the misleading accusations. He was definitely sure that these people would not listen to it anyway.
True enough,
"What? Even you?"
"Absolutely."
Ariana gasped in surprise. She was probably feigning her reaction. But at this point, the damage was already done.
Soura on the other hand had confirmed the misleading information. She had no remorse on defaming the poor young male student.
One of the reasons why fake news were popular nowadays was because it was sensational. Logic and reasoning did not stand a chance against something scandalous and thrilling.
Because humans would rather believe something that was amusing compared to something that made sense.
And that was the phenomenon that was happening right now.
Even O who was known to be a rational person had a strange expression on his face. The strange here was bordering to disgust by the way.
The male Healer was even shaking his head. He even murmured words like 'such carnal desires'. Too bad there was no recorded proof of this claim.
Meanwhile the two sowers of misinformation was grinning widely. They were probably enjoying the hardships they were bringing to the male student with pitch black pupils.
""How despicable""
They even said in unison. This two had clicked together from the first time they met. And they were most likely the best of friends right now.
Yoshino was actually surprised that the two females would accept one another easily. After all, Soura was from the Trogan Militia while Ariana belonged to the Hyugan Nation.
These were two of the most prominent Guilds in the world currently. And because of that they would often be in conflict with one another.
Thus it was quite a relief to see that their respective members did not find any animosity from the other person.
I guess they are more civilized than I give them credit for.
Yoshino thought to himself. He was just happy that the two did not treat each other as enemies. Albeit they now joined forces to defame him.
Nonetheless he endured the pain. He had to show them that he was the more civilized person amongst them.
He sighed in exasperation,
"Alright, I get it. You guys are just making of me."
The two female did not admit this claim. They just giggled mischievously.
O on the other hand simply turned around. Was he embarrassed to show that he enjoyed shaming other people?
Or was he just continuing his mockery of the poor male student?
Whatever the answer here might be, there was no way to ask anymore.
That was because Roxas joined in the fray. He revealed,
"Yoshino. He even forced me in to do an awkward position."
"You really have to say it out loud too, huh?"
Yoshino was just tired of defending himself at this point. He did not even try to deny the accusation anymore.
This was probably referring to the so-called merchant's change of role. He was supposed to be a quest-giver.
Someone who sat back relaxingly while his contractors did the job.
But he was then assigned as a porter of the team. He now had to carry all of their belongings.
And apparently he had taken that begrudgingly.
Yoshino was about to speak out what was on his mind.
But then a different voice called. Everyone looked towards the direction it came from.
"My, my, what do we have here?"
A female student with her hair tied in twin tails appeared. She was casually walking towards the team. But none of the five people took her approach lightly.
That was because she was not suppressing her cultivation at all.
Yoshino did not even have to use Scanner to estimate her power level. Her unrestrained presence was almost visible to the naked eye after all.
A Peak-level Tier 2!
The young man with jet-black hair gritted his teeth. He glanced at his teammates.
Every one was preparing their respective fighting stance. Even Soura looked wary of the new arrival.
The female student with twin tails smiled in amusement. She stopped walking forward when she was about ten meters away from the team.
She then spoke in a casual tone,
"You have been winning your duels left and right."
She paused as she glanced at them one by one. Her eyes then stopped when they met with Yoshino's. There was a strange look on her expression.
It was bordering towards disdain actually.
She regained her composure after a few seconds though. She then reverted her gaze towards the others. She made an offer,
"What do you say, care to take on a special challenge?"