Edward went flying backward as one of his teeth shattered, The knuckle duster had left a clear imprint on his face.
To send a man as big as him flying is a feat that required great strength! It wasn't a thing that can be achieved by a random person.
To that stunning seance, all of the seasoned adventurers, who were confident in their strength drew their weapons!
The one who sent Edward flying was non-other than Selena! Triggered by a sword aimed at Cain, she instantly punched Edward in the face. The only that stood between her and biting his neck off was the people watching!
Killing someone in front of people might get her and Cain is bigger trouble so she restrained herself! If this was a forest or some back-ally, She would have gone for the kill without hesitation.
Even though she looked humanoid, even though she wore an innocent smile, You can't just swing a sword at a Jaguar and expect it to sit quietly.
Finally catching what was happening, Sofia held her staff in front of her, generating an orb of fire at the top! With her left hand, she gripped the dagger they just bought, ready for a fight.
For some, this might seem insignificant. But to some it was mind-boggling, The girl who couldn't use magic yesterday is now controlling it well enough to keep it from launching.
That wasn't a feat achievable in one night!
"Bastard, Who do you think you're swinging your sword at-gaw!" Selena growled as her tail stood up, hissing at Edward.
"That was uncalled for, attacking like that!" Sofia yelled, unable to stay calm.
Cain who was standing there thought about what just happened, he knew it was a feint and wanted to just stand there. After Edward shows his power, Cain will just tell him again.
He didn't expect this development, how is he going to solve this problem now?
"You two calm down, It was a feint! He didn't mean to hit me!" Cain tried calming the two of them.
"He?" Sofia gasped as she heard Cain's voice, slowly dropping her staff.
"I know! Even so...just bearing his fangs at you is an insult to the whole pride!" Selena yelled.
'Ahh! I get it' Cain thought, 'Challenging the male means you want to snatch the pride and Selena took that as a personal offense'
Cain had to solve this quickly as don't know how long will Selena's patience hold, he can already see her fangs poking out.
"Everyone, Put your weapons down!" A loud, deep, and eccentric voice boomed throughout the guild. It was non-other than Takeshi, the dragon's fang warrior.
Seeing his face for the first time, he had a different vibe around him.
Straight forward, brown eyes, open so wide that he seemed as to never blink. His flowing black hair was tied in a ponytail. Bearing a natural smile as if he was having the best day of his life.
Wearing full plate armor without a helmet, wielding a large Nodachi on his back, and resting his hands on his hips. He was taller than 6 feet by a lot.
"Edward started it, As a warrior, he should accept the consequences of his action!" Takeshi's voice held great confidence and belief as if he was stating a fact.
"A-rank, Takeshi?", "What is he saying?", "Can we argue at this point?" Whisper filled the room, some had decided to put their swords back and some kept them in hand.
Seeing that, Takeshi took his stance, drawing his big Nodashi. "Than those who are dissatisfied shall face me!" He started to release an unbelievable bloodlust as if he intended to massacre everyone in the guildhall.
"I shall put in the same situation that girl was in!" Takeshi said with a calm voice, "This attack is a feint, if anyone of you managed to stand still without reacting you win!" Hearing that, some even ran away, they had no business with a monster that can release that much bloodlust.
"Here it comes..." Bonk! Before he could swing his Nodashi, Their party mage smacked him on the head with her staff.
"You're...too much...stop!" Yamauba the mage said, talking slowly enough to confuse people, "Miko...healed...idiot!" hearing that, Takeshi glanced toward Edward to find that he is already fine.
Takeshi walked directly to him, puffing his chest out with crossed arms, "Retrain!" and he walked back to Cain and the girls.
"Never seen you here before, hope we didn't give you a bad impression!"
Even with that, Selena was still growling, until Cain put his hand on her head.
"Calm down, we don't have much time if we wanted to finish early!"
Hearing Cain's words made her remember what they intended to do, to her that was more important than this mess. With a faint blush, she put her hands down, "I understand-nya!"
After thanking Takeshi for his help, Cain hurried to Mary's desk to get Selena registered, he also wanted to take a short quest for Sofia's practical training.
Seeing a lot of eyes on them, Cain asked Mary to keep Selena's stats a secret. That was mostly due to her having an extremely high strength!
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Mary wasn't surprised, she had just seen her punch a B-rank adventurer in the face with ease. That alone meant she was close to the high B-rank power level!
Sofia looked at the number is shock, instantly understanding why she wasn't able even move Selena when they fought this morning. Probably, out of the three of them, she was the strongest.
The registration didn't take that long and Selena was given an F-rank, sadly it was a standard that everyone start at. Cain knew that Selena could apply for higher ranks so he did that for her, the guild was to scheduled a chain test for her on the basis that she could one-shot a B-rank adventurer. 'Thanks for your sacrifice, Edward!' Cain thought.
Next heading to the quest wall, Cain was looking for something that could serve as training dummy for Sofia as well get them some money.
"Cain, It's a cow-nya!" Selena said as she pointed at one of the posters.
{A-rank Quest: Slay a gorgon!} That wasn't a cow, It's a bull, a one that is covered in metal plates and could petrify!
"You know that's a bad match up for you?" Cain said to Selena, pointing out that she couldn't bite the monster's neck with all the plates protecting it.
"Cain, Cain...It's a chicken-nya!" She pointed to another poster, her eyes glittering.
{B-Rank Quest: Slay a cockatrice}
"That isn't a chicken, and no you're not fighting it!" Cain dragged Selena to his side as she was just looking at the B and C rank quests.
It didn't take his that long to find an interesting one, albeit a bit dangerous on Sofia, she could probably handle it!
{E-rank Quest: Collect Borage plants} Borage is medicinal plant that reduce skin inflammation and is usually used to treat severe burns.
This plant even grow in patches so you could find a lot of in one place, the catch is that when picked it releases a smell that attract and enrage nearby herbivores! You definitely won't want to attract an angry deer or a moose!
Cain took that quest and submitted it, they have to hurry as they need time to find the plant! As he was in a hurry, Cain totally forget about naming their party.
With Cain's knowledge and the information's provided by the guild, they knew that Borage plant grows under dead tree, required a lot of moister and sunlight.
It best searched for at the forest out skirts, Cain warned the two girls to not pick them!
"Were going to split up and search, if you find the plant don't pick it alone as it might attract wild animals and monsters!" Cain warned them, the warning was mostly to Sofia as Selena was a monster on her own.
The party split up, looking in every nook and cranny.
Cain took a systematic approach, searching places in order. That was the way he did things.
Selena started running in random directions trying her luck. Her strongest sense, her nose, can't work without knowing how the plant smells!
...
Sofia had a different experience, after walking in the forest she started feeling comfortable. The breeze was sweet and sound of the birds calmed the ear, as if the forest was calling her, she searched with an ease of mind.
After carefully looking around for a while she was the first to find it.
Laying under the trunk of large dead tree, batches of Borage bloomed.
'Cain said to not pick it alone..." Sofia thought looking at the plants, having a weird urge to pick it up.
...