Rivals are enemies, and the relationship between the three major mercenary groups in Hualei City has always been very tense.
The Bloodthorn Mercenary Group and the Wild Fox Mercenary Group are both old-fashioned mercenary groups with a history of nearly a hundred years. They have been competing and fighting with each other before the rise of the Blue Witch.
The Blue Witch Mercenary Group rose rapidly and took a share of the market occupied by the two groups, while also blocking their way. The friction between them was naturally inevitable. And the way mercenaries solved their conflicts was mostly by force, rarely by sitting down and negotiating peacefully, because compromise was often seen as a sign of weakness.
When Tristram, the deputy leader of Bloodthorn, released his fighting spirit, Tony, Angus and several mercenaries also made preparations for battle.
The other mercenaries in the bar who were close to the two groups quickly moved aside to avoid being caught in the crossfire. But none of them left, they all hugged their shoulders, held their glasses and waited to watch the excitement.
Even the owner of the bar, Nightingale, had no intention of intervening. She leaned on her chin behind the bar and watched the show.
It was common for mercenaries with excess testosterone to get drunk and fight in the bar. As long as they didn't use weapons or kill anyone, Nightingale didn't care at all. Anyway, they had to pay for the damage they caused. No mercenary dared to owe Nightingale's bill. Her suitors who were still alive were almost all leaders of various mercenary groups.
Just as Tristram's anger was about to explode, the door of the bar was pushed open again.
"Nightingale sister, why is it so lively here today?" Adeline, wearing a gorgeous mage cloak, walked in gracefully.
Nightingale's face immediately hung up a smile. As female mercenaries, Nightingale and Adeline had a very good private relationship.
"You came just in time. Tony drank some wine and had a verbal conflict with Tristram, the deputy leader of Bloodthorn."
Nightingale scolded Tony actually to give Tristram a step down and wanted to defuse the fight.
"What a coincidence, Deputy Leader Tristram is also here. I'll buy a drink for the brothers of Bloodthorn!" Adeline smiled lightly.
Tristram had to withdraw his fighting spirit. The powerful combat power of an intermediate mage could not be underestimated by anyone. More importantly, because of Adeline's joining, his side might not be a match for the Blue Witch mercenaries.
"We appreciate your kindness, Vice Leader Adeline, but we 'Blood Thorns' can afford a few drinks." Cui Sidie snorted coldly and led his men to another table.
A fight was thus dissolved by Adeline's unexpected appearance.
"Who is this little guy? Are you taking a new magic apprentice?" Nightingale suddenly noticed a young boy following behind Adeline.
At this moment, Arthur was wearing a short blue samurai outfit, a pair of brown soft-soled leather boots on his feet, and his black long hair was neatly tied behind his head with a blue hair band, revealing a clean little face with a smile on his eyebrows and eyes.
Not only Nightingale, but Tony, Angus and others also noticed Arthur at this time. They were all surprised and opened their mouths. If he hadn't followed Adeline, they would never be able to associate the handsome boy in front of them with the little beast-like Arthur.
"Aunt Nightingale." Arthur greeted politely.
"What a handsome little guy! Aunt Nightingale would have been fascinated by you if she had seen you when she was young!" Nightingale stretched out her hand and pinched Arthur's face.
Arthur subconsciously dodged, but found that he couldn't avoid it.
"He is Brother Randall's new assistant. Aunt Nightingale's barbecue is famous far and near. I brought him to see it." Adeline explained with a smile.
"Oh, poor little guy, Randall is a weirdo! But your Aunt Nightingale's barbecue will make you forget all the unpleasant things!" Nightingale pinched Arthur's face again and then turned back to the kitchen to prepare things.
Adeline then took Arthur directly to the table where Tony and Angus were sitting.
Tony was still unhappy and muttered: "I don't understand why you are so polite to 'Tracy'. You should have joined us to teach those Bloodthorn guys a lesson!"
"This kind of meaningless bar fight, even if we win, what's the point? In the end, we still have to rely on Captain Keynes to clean up the mess. Tony, we are mercenaries, not those street thugs in the city. We should get paid for whatever we do!" Adeline scolded Tony with a stern face.
"Uh-huh." Arthur kept stuffing roasted meat into his mouth and nodded subconsciously.
Tony didn't dare to argue with Adeline, and slapped Arthur on the back of his head. "What do you know, you little thing?"
Arthur swallowed the meat in his mouth and glared at Tony. "I think Teacher Adeline is absolutely right. Even the orcs know not to engage in fearless fights."
"Fearless fights? You think I don't understand those stupid orcs? They always fight each other when they have nothing to do." Tony reached out to hit Arthur again.
Arthur was prepared this time and slipped under the table. "They do that for honor, to compete for the title of the strongest warrior in the camp."
"What we are fighting for with 'Bloodthorn' is also honor, the honor of being the strongest mercenary group in Hua Aoleisi City. Then tell me what we should do according to the orc rules?"
"Then we should challenge them openly!" Arthur squatted under the table and looked up at Tony.
"Challenge?" Tony was slightly stunned, then smirked. "Okay, then you go on behalf of our Blue Siren and challenge those Bloodthorn guys?"
"Okay." Arthur crawled out from under the table and headed straight for Tracy.
"Tony!" Adeline glared at Tony.
"Don't worry, if this kid dares to get close to 'Tracy' and them, I'll…"
Tony's words were interrupted by a crisp voice.
"On behalf of The Blue Witch Mercenary Corps, I formally challenge the Bloodthorn Mercenary Corps. Do you dare to accept?"
Cui Sidie gnashed his teeth, his murderous gaze fixed on Adeline and Tony. It was a naked insult to let a child challenge!
"Don't be such a wimp, do you dare to accept my challenge or not?" Arthur repeated.
"Wimp" was a common insult among orcs when they provoked each other. To Tristian, it was like stabbing him in the chest again.
Tristian slammed the table, "We accept your challenge, Adeline, Tony, who of you wants to die first?"
"Tristian, leader of the team, you seem to have made a mistake. I am the one who initiated the challenge. Your opponent is me." Arthur looked at Tristian seriously and said.
Tristian burst into laughter, "Are they sending you to die? Is that it?"
"No, I volunteered. Please don't jump to conclusions before the duel is over."
Tristian's fighting spirit erupted again, forcing Arthur to stagger back two steps. "Do you know that I can easily kill you with one finger?" he said.
Arthur raised his fist and assumed a fighting stance. "You can try!" he said.
Tristian lifted one finger, and a pale blue fighting spirit extended from it for more than a foot. He slowly stabbed it towards Arthur's forehead.
Adeline, Tony, Angus and the others all stood up. They knew they wouldn't be able to save Arthur in time.
Arthur seemed to be scared silly. He didn't know how to dodge the fighting spirit that was aimed at him.
But at the last moment, Tristian unexpectedly withdrew his fighting spirit. If he killed a child here today, he would become the laughingstock of all the mercenaries in the city.
Cristy looked up at Adeline fiercely, "Are you sure you want this kid to challenge me?"
"No, I'll do it!" Tony didn't expect Arthur to dare to challenge Cristy.
But Adeline pulled Tony back, who was about to step forward, and nodded slowly, "Yes, we are sure."
Adeline suddenly realized that the kid was gambling, and he seemed to have won half of it already…