[Look what do we have here.]
I looked at the big guy in the middle with a confused fake expression.
[Can I help you sir?] I asked.
The other two were surprised with my calm reaction.
'Heh, they thought they could intimidate me with there bodies.'
The one in the middle who is the leader is a Human, his taller than me, about 179 cm, and has a muscular body, like those from WWE. Next to him on his left is his friend, same as him but a little shorter, around 170 cm. He is a demi-human with tiger ears and tail. On the right is a normal regular human, not as muscular as these two but still, he has a very well build up body. What the three have in common is that they only wear less clothes.
I'm not saying they all just wearing an underwear, well, except the big guy leader who is only wearing a pants and one side chest armor. The other two are wearing tight shirts. Adding some pauldron armors on the shoulder, and a faulds on the waist. They are all rank D adventures.
[Yes, you do. I heard you are a newbie who rank up in just a one week.]
Correction, It was one week and two days, and it's been more than a week, so you can't call me a newbie you dum head.
[Yeah? So, what do you guys want?] I tilted my head.
[Nothing much, we just want you to join our party. A kid like you must be having a hard time surviving in a scary forest, so why don't you join us? We will make sure to protect you kid.]
[...]
I stare at him with a dull expression.
I was so speechless. Is he a stupid or what?
.... This guy... literally doesn't know my reputation very well! He even didn't listen to the rumors about me in Full Details! He only knows that I'm a new adventure, and someone who rank up fast. He doesn't know which rank I am, or my dual against the guild master! Or even my rank level! He is completely an idiot!
Rutelae who is beside me started to get annoyed.
[What are they saying? Are those idiots somewhat crazy?]
"No, they are just stupid" I answer through telepathy.
[No thanks, I'm good. I prefer to work alone.]
I ignored them and acted as I was going to leave, but they block my way again.
[Hey kid, I asked you nicely, and you decided to ignore my offer.] Said the muscular leader.
[Yeah he's right. You should show some respect and be grateful to your seniors.] Said the muscle head half tiger.
Many adventures were looking at us, and some of them wanted to interfere. I also saw Ade and his party members planning to help me out, but I raised my hand signaling them that it's okay, adding also some telepathic message to him and his party.
"It's fine. I can handle them."
They all gave me a nod.
Unlike this three idiots, most of the adventurers knows about my rank and my level, because of the rumors and the information shared by Davy and Ade's party, and those who saw my match with the guild master. This made them concluded that I wasn't a regular kid, but someone with a lot of experience and mysterious background. Someone like that needs to be treated carefully since no one knows what I might do.
And this is not the first time a kid like me pulled this kind of stunt. There were Others before me.
[Who does these guys think they are? The one who should be respecting is you!] Rutelae became more irritated.
"Come down Rutelae."
[I said I'm good. I don't need protection or any help. The one who need help is you guys, not me.] I said with a calm voice, ignoring them again as I walked to the side.
[What did you say?!] There was anger in the leader's voice.
*Tuk*
He picked up his greatsword from his back and used it to threat me by blocking my way.
[Hey kid, you better apologize for what you said. Don't try to be an arrogant.] He said with a frown.
Rutelae couldn't handle it any longer and was about to do something to them. Unfortunately, I wasn't there.
[Those losers. Xora-]
I was lowering my head down, hiding my expression.
....
Right now, I am in Senoki's Library, trying to come up with an idea on how to deal with those muscle heads.
Why I'm doing something like that?
Well, this is one of the many opportunity. The MC meets some bad guys in his way who want to bully him, but then something cool happened.
This situation I'm in is similar, and now I'm thinking on which options I should choose.
Beat them up?
Scare them?
Cut off one part of their limbs?... Okay, maybe I won't do that.
Or cry like a scared kid in front of everyone to make their reputation alot worse. That would be hilarious, haha!
Okay stop, I need to be serious on this one. I already got the full information about those three. They are not actually Bad people, but more like bad kids. Yeah, basically they need some education and a little help. Their reputation are quite bad because they made a lot of troubles in the city. They are more like... a street orphanet troublemakers kids.
[It's decided then, I will teach them some lessons.]
....
I exited the Library, and then I began using my Aura to put some pressure on them.
[Those losers. Xora, let me beat them up...?]
Fortunately, the Aura pressure I used was only focused on the three, excluding Rutelae from the effect.
[Ugh!]
[Argh!]
The three muscle heads fell down on their knees. They couldn't move their own bodies because of the amount of mana pressure that I put on them. The leader was struggling to stand up as he tries to resist and not to fall, while holding his greatsword. He gritted his teeth in anger and looked up at me, but the moment he saw my eyes, his anger disappeared and was replaced by... a little fear. Same goes for the other two.
[You should be careful to Who you're trying to ask for help, because you don't know what may happen the moment you piss them off.] I said with a very cold tone.
Right now, the atmosphere around us four is very cold and dangerous. The other adventures could feel the chilly pressure coming from me. None of them want to try to come near us or even trying to help these idiots, because of the Threatening Space that I created around us.
It's not just Aura that I used on the idiots, but also some mental attack to make them feel scared and weak. I also put a space mental barrier around us, so that no adventure tries to come close, and at the same time sending a mental warning to their minds that says "it's better not to interfere".
A new spell that I created a moment ago when I was in Senoki's Library.
I smiled at the three muscle heads and said,
[I know that you guys need my help, but if you want to ask a kid like me to join your party, then you should try asking politely...]
The smile on my face vanished, and my expression turn into annoyance.
[...And not by scaring him using your weapon or your giant half naked body!!!] I said with some rage.
My words send chills to them and to everyone who is watching, because of the Sound magic that I used to make it more scary.
[Let me teach you guys some new lessons.] I said, smiling again and with my eyes close.
[If you're going to ask someone, or even Target someone, make sure you have a full information about them and their background, or else... you may regret it.] My voice reached to everyone's ears in the guild.
[For example, what if my background comes from a big one, like a high noble or... a genius mage from the High Tower in disguise, who came here for a job or a secret mission or something like that.]
Everyone reaction became tense when I said those word.
[Or... what if my background was more bigger than a noble, and in reality, I was a prince from a far away land, who just came here to experience the life of an adventure, but just so happen that my Personal Guards came along, to make sure no harm comes to their precious prince.]
*Gulp*
I could hear many people are getting nervous and gulping.
[And they are also disguised as an adventure Among Us, watching, observing the people who are trying to harm their prince.] My voice became more scary.
*Gulp!*
[And waiting... waiting for the right time to strike those who offended their prince, and teaching them a Painful lesson.]
[....]
There was a complete silence inside the guild. No one spoke a word as many people were nervous while thinking. Thinking if what I said could be true?
A fourteen years old kid who came here two weeks ago just to become an adventure, with an unknown background. Being able to rank up fast, complete many difficult quest, and even beat the guild master in a dual. For a kid like that who's rank level might be B rank or above, and in such a young age. Only those with a bigger background can do something like that. Not to mention the level of the pressure that was released from his Aura.
[Fortunately, I'm not from a big background.] I said after canceling my Aura around them.
I smiled joyfully at them and continued.
[I'm just a Traveler who is in a journey in exploring the world, and nothing more.]
The cold silent atmosphere was gone along with the negative mind affect that I casted. Many adventures sighed in relieve that I wasn't a prince or some random kid from a noble background. After all, alot of adventures doesn't want to get involve with the people of high status.
[That was so scary... and cool too.] Rutelae complimented.
"Well thank you."
[So~ did you guys understand my lesson?]
They all nodded multiple times in unison.
[And~ what do you think you guys should do now?]
They looked at each other, then looked back at me.
[We're very sorry for our bad behavior!]
They all said in the same time, with their heads bowing.
I smiled proudly with the result.
[That's go-]
[Please don't kill us!]
[...Huh?]
*****
After that incident, I began to feel bad for the muscle heads. It seems that the fear effect and the pressure made their IQ drop low, resulting in making them still thinking that I am a real prince of some kingdom. I sighed while massaging my temple.
'This is troublesome... and somehow funny.'
And because of that they became more afraid of me, and it end up looking like I was the one who is bulling them. So I apologized for what I did to them and treated them to a dinner in the Twilight Inn.
It wasn't just them, but some adventures still think that I am a noble or from the High Tower. Even Tina thinks too.
[Hey, are you really a prince?] She whispered to me.
[....Really? you too?] I looked at her with a dull eyes.
[Just asking.] She shrugged.
'Huh... why did I choose that option?'
Right now I'm sitting with the three muscle heads, waiting for our foods to come.
[I forgot to introduce my self. My name is Xora, and it's nice to meet you.] I said with a smile.
The first one to speak was the leader of the group.
[Uh! Yes! Nice to meet you! My name is Drone.]
Next came the guy with less muscle.
[My name is Nike.]
And lastly, the demi-human.
[And my name is Conar.]
[There is no need to be nervous. I told you it's my treat.]
[T-thank you very much, y-your highness.]
'For the love of th- STOP CALLING ME THAT!'
I really want to shout at them but I can't. It will get more worse.
Minutes later, Mrs Mez came with the foods.
[Enjoy your meal gentlemen.]
[Thanks you Mrs Mez.]
[Thank you ma'am!!!] The three said together.
She chuckled when she saw that and then left.
We then began eating. At first they were nervous if they should accept it or not, but in the end I forced them to eat. Meanwhile, Rutelae was eating next to me. He didn't say any words and just focused on enjoying the meal.
By the way, they still can't see him.
After finishing our meals, the three boys sigh in satisfaction.
'Looks like they really enjoyed the food.'
I took a quick look around the Inn. After teaching the inn keeper some new dishes and helping her by attracting more customers to try it, many people began coming here just to enjoy the taste of the new dishes. With that, they won't have any problems with money.
[Now that we finished eating, can you explain why did you guys do that when we were in the guild?]
They all gulped in nervous. It didn't take long for them to explain their full story. And of course I already know their background story.
From what I understand from their point of view, they were just some random orphanet boys who want to survive and make a living. One of them was abandoned by their parents, the other one was kicked out by his family, and the last one was a survivor from the war who lost his home village by the demon invasion. They all decided to become an adventure and work hard together for a better life. At first, things was going smoothly, but after ranking up, their jobs became a lot harder. They began to lose patience which resulted on doing many wrong choices and aggresive decisions.
But that wasn't the real reason.
[I see. So you're saying that your life became worse after you reach rank D?]
They all nodded their heads.
[Then, would you guys mind answering some of my questions?] I asked with a gentle smile.
My left eye twitched a little as I was trying to hold back myself from screaming.
[Sure.]
And so, I began asking for more details information, to make sure I hear it from their own mouth. The questions were about their salaries, what kind of quest they take? What do they do with the rewards they get? On what do they spend their money on? And so on.
[Can you guys please show me your hands?]
[Hm???]
They didn't say a word and showed me all their hands. I looked at their hands with a series expression, and at the same time annoyed.
[What are you looking at Xora?]
Rutelae asked next to me.
"I'm just examining to see how much work they did."
These guys... I could see that they work very hard, but still, they lack a lot of combat experience. The thing is, they don't know how to take care of themselves, properly.
The reason why their life became worse after becoming rank D is because they never save some money for living. They waste most of the money on buying expensive stuff like weapons, armors, foods, items, potions, and for the inn. Not to mention they sometimes got scammed by some greedy merchants without knowing. And also, they don't take the easy quest like before, instead they take quest that are rank D, just because it gives more money than the other quests.
Like I said before, rank F and E quest are more related to normal jobs related in the city, like delivering, collecting, gathering, cleaning, carrying and others. And also hunting some animals and wild beasts that are not from the Mystic Forest. And D rank quests is more focused in hunting inside the Mystic forest in the outer area, which is similar as entering a C rank dungeon.
And those idiots are only high D rank in level, which make it more harder for them to complete any D rank quest.
It's not like they can't complete one D rank quest, it's just that they don't know how to complete it. Instead of taking a quest for hunting some wild rabbits, they go for a Wild Bear!
'This is so annoying, I really want to beat the heck out of them right now.'
After taking some deep breath, I looked at them in the eyes.
[It's decided then, I will join your party and help you rank up.]
[?!?!?!] They all looked at me with a surprised eyes.
[But there is more. I'm not just going to help you, but I also going to train you and teach you how to get more stronger.]
[R-really?]
[Of course, starting tomorrow, we will begin our training early in the morning. I will be waiting for you guys at the south gate. Make sure to be there before 2:00 am.]
They all looked very happy when I said those words, and began thanking me.
.....
After saying goodbye to them, I went up stairs heading to my room. Right then, a voice came behind me.
[Xora? Are you really just going to teach them?]
I turn to look back at Rutelae.
[Hm? Yeah. Why are you asking?]
[Because back there, your smile was kinda creepy. It felt like you're planning somethings bad.]
He looked at me doubtful.
[Whaaaaat? No~ you must be overthinking.]
I walked a little faster to my room, so that I can start working on making plans right away. Planning on what kind of training I'm going to give tomorrow.
Meanwhile, Rutelae who was left behind stared at my back with a flat expression.
[...I knew it.]
********
(Information)
- In the past at the Green Peer guild, there were some kids who became an adventure under the age of 15 because of their monsters talent, and some of them were able to rank up in just 5 weeks or 3. One of those famous prodigy was a red hair girl known as The Crimson beast, who is now on an expedition in the North region.
- High Tower is a famous tower where top mages, scientist, researchers, scholars and others who studies about magic, and everything that is connected to it. It's also where the Professor Sellius was researching before leaving to the Black mountains. Its location is on the north region too.
- Nike is a normal human who was abandoned by his parents just because they couldn't take care of eight children. Nike is the youngest sibling, and because of that they decided to abandon the weakest one who has no hope for the family future. So they took him for a walk outside in the city, and then they made him wait in middle of the street telling him that they will come back in an minute, but they ran away, leaving him behind. At that time he was six. He was then found by some people who took him to an orphanage. At the age of seventeen he ran away and traveled to the Saif city for a job.
- Conar is a Weretiger, a demi-human with tiger ears and tail. When he was young he didn't have a father and his mother died because she was sick at the age of ten. His hated uncle from his father took him in because he has no other relatives left. He was abused and was forced to work in the house by his uncle. No one in the village help him because they have a rule to not interfere with other families matters. At the age of 13 his uncle kicked him out from his father's house telling him that he need to be independent from now on, but in reality his Uncle only wanted to have everything that he stole from Conar's parents for him self. So Conar decided to leave his village and his home to get stronger and come back for revenge. Unfortunately, during his days as an adventure in the Saif city he forgot about his revenge and focused more on ranking up and getting more money.
- Drone is a human whose village was destroyed during the 12th demon race war by the demons army when he was twelve. He was one of the survivors and was taken to the Saif city. There he decided to become an adventure so he can get strong. He tried to become a knight but unfortunately he didn't have a talent for it.
- The three muscle heads, Drone, Conar, and Nike became one party after knowing each other in the past seven years. At that time they were all rank E adventures, five years later they became rank D. But after that their lives became bad because of the money problem.