"Gosh, who is that kid? He's quite something to challenge Tatum in
public! Is he asking for death?"
"He is gutsy but not the sharpest tool in the shed."
Dustin's presence became the talk of the town. No one had expected
any martial artist to have a showdown with Tatum at the last minute.
"Hey! Why did you go up there? Are you mad? Get down here now!" After
a slight pause, Abby loudly called out to Dustin. In her eyes, he was
nothing more than a clueless young man who did not know his place.
"What is that dude doing? Doesn't he know that he's up against one of
The Heavenly Immortals, Tatum Thunders? He'll die in Tatum's hands!"
Ralph shook his head forlornly and looked on as though he could predict
Dustin's demise. After all Ralph wasn't strong enough to take on Tatum,
and he did not expect a no-name as young as Dustin to succeed too.
"Hmph! That reckless thing! How dare he insult Tatum? He'll meet his
end!" Brody and the others started cackling with glee. Not only would
Tatum tid Boulderthorn of traitors like Maximus, but he would also get
Dustin, the thorn in the flesh, out of the way.
"You little jerk! Who are you, and how dare you stand in my way?"
Tatum scrunched up his eyes with a menacing look. So far, no one had
dared to stop him from taking the lives of his targets.
"Tatum! He's Dustin Rhys! Slay him!" Brody suddenly yelled at the
platform.
"What? Dustin Rhys?" There was an audible gasp from the audience, who
had initially taken Dustin to be a show-off, only to realize that he was
the martial art genius who had gained fame recently.
"How could that be? He's Dustin Rhys!" Abby froze up and found it
hard to believe that the dark horse she had been talking about was by her
side all this time.
"Good gracious! I almost missed the hidden gem!" Ralph was similarly
stupefied. If Dustin was capable of defeating Joshua Hummer and confident
enough to go for a battle with Tatum Thunders, he must at least be a
martial artist who had achieved divinity. Ralph, upon realizing that
Dustin must be way more advanced than him in the practice, felt rather
embarrassed for offering to take Dustin under his wing.
"Had I known he was Dustin Rhys, I would have gotten on his good side
just now!"
"Damn right! We missed our shot!" Ralph's martial art colleagues were
full of regrets upon learning the truth. It was common knowledge that the
existence of a martial arts genius would give any guild a major boost,
and this was especially true for the relatively small guilds. They'd
enter a golden age if they produced a martial arts genius.
"Oh, kid, you're Dustin Rhys?" Tatum snickered. "You are digging your
own grave! As payback for. killing Joshua, you will not be spared today!"
Joshua Hummer said something along those lines as well. But he's dead
now," Dustin commented without flinching.
"Hah! You're a bold one! Tatum scrutinized him. "But you're gravely
wrong to compare Joshua
with me! People like you have no idea how scary an individual from
The Heavenly Immortals could be!"
"Scary?" Dustin merely scoffed. "More like ludicrous. You thought you
were something, but you're just a frog in the well."
"What did you just say?" Tatum's expression hardened. He had never
been looked down upon ever since he gained fame.
"I was being kind, describing you as a frog in the well. Turns out
you're just a worm in the apple- rotten and foul!" Dustin didn't hold
back at all, and his insult evoked a collective exclamation from the
audience, who didn't expect him to be so rude and fearless from the
start. Everyone shuddered at the thought of provoking Tatum Thunders, as
that would be inviting death.
"Oh, great! Look at you, the stubborn one, not knowing you're close
to death. You'll pee your pants when you're staring at death!" Tatum, now
enraged, hurled a punch in the air that morphed into a translucent
shadow.