I yawned as I stared at the energetic demon before me, flexing his muscular arms along with the loud roars of the spectators huddling around us in front of the faction base.
First thing in the morning, this is what I got after a devastating drinking session last night!
He faced me and pointed his index finger at me. "I'll crush you, Summon impostor!" He said with a voice that was full of confidence.
"Should we start already? I still have something to do."
"Huh, don't cry at me after!" He pulled his sword from his back and assumed a battle position. "Get ready to get wrecked by me-"
He couldn't finish his sentence anymore because he was already rolling on the ground while covered in fire and crying like a man-sized muscular baby.
I exhaled. "That's the fourth one this morning. Does anyone still want to challenge me?"
But no one dared to respond and just looked at me with fear.
"Help! Help!"
Yep, that's the guy who just said he's going to crush me.
I activated my water magic, poured it into him, and let someone heal him before he was toasted alive.
"That may be the last one. Should we go to the Marionette faction now?" Xin said while standing a few meters away from me; Leo was just crossing his arms next to him.
"I don't think anyone still wants to fight; let's go." I walked towards them as they started to walk in the direction of the central part of the town. "Let's go, Raf."
"Wait!" Rafaela came out from the crowd and ran towards me. She quickly grabbed my hand the moment she reached me.
"It will take us several minutes of walking to get to Leal's faction base," Xin announced.
I don't think it's a problem anyway.
I nodded. "May I ask what kind of fighter Leal is? From what I heard, you are an acquaintance of his, Xin."
"Yes, we are acquainted with each other to a certain extent, and the Fang and Marionette faction have been in a good relationship for a long time now. However, about your question about what kind of fighter Leal is," He put his hand on his chin and briefly closed his eyes. "To make it simple, he's the complete opposite of Leo when it comes to combat because Leal is the type who tends to use his head rather than mindlessly jumping on everything without thinking first."
"I see, so he's not a punch first; ask later, punchy himbo."
"Oy, I can hear you."
"Yes, he isn't. However, I can't say that he's a genius. He's just extremely cautious. I can't tell you everything about him, but I hope you are ready for him."
After walking for a few minutes, the transitions of surroundings became more apparent as we went deeper into the faction.
The number of people hanging on the street started to decrease, and I saw some of them walking towards the location we were heading to.
Isn't that strange? As if they already know that I'm coming.
However, what caught my attention were the numerous eyes watching us from the roof of the buildings and every alleyway without actually looking at us.
I can feel their mana sensories dwelling on us. I have also felt this sensation in the Fang faction territory, but they were less vigilant and as many as the ones in here.
They are on every corner!
[Notice: Warrior's Rampage imitated skill acquired successfully!]
[Notice: Warrior's Anger imitated skill acquired successfully!]
"These people are part of Leal's mercenary corps. Just like XIn said, Leal is one hell of a cynical person."
All of a sudden, someone stood up in our way and immediately stopped our advancement.
A girl wearing a kinky black and white maid outfit with thigh highs, straps, and a gauntlet in both arms stood in our way!
I tried to read her status, but I couldn't see if she was too strong or not. It's in a warrior institution to know their-
[Notice: Conceal imitated skill acquired successfully!]
[Notice: Conceal has immediately activated. Your status will be hidden effectively as if now]
Okay! Nice one, Cherubim. I definitely needed that skill!
I have already seen a lot of these meritorious costumes in every cosplay convention I have attended before.
This beautiful specimen in front of us is definitely a combat maid!
Even without meeting him, I can already tell Leal undoubtedly has very good taste.
Her black hair swayed as she bowed to us, revealing her pointy ears.
An elf!
"Greetings, Mister Xin, Mister Leo..." She raised her head and pointed her sharp, gazing jet-black eyes at me. "Young lady Rafaela and the new faction leader, Mister Troy."
I'm not even surprised that she already knows my name anymore.
"Nice to see you too, Kuro." XIN turned his gaze towards me. "This lovely young lady is Kuro, and she's Leal's right hand. It seems Leal already knew you were coming here for him; I wonder why?"
Leo cleared his throat. "Beats me."
I narrowed my eyes while looking at them.
Suspicious!
However, Kuro? Isn't that a straight-up Japanese name? Or maybe my weeb brain is just overthinking it.
"Let me guide you to master Leal."
As she walked ahead, we followed her.
"It's not apparent at first glance, but this place is fully guarded, right?"
"That's what you expect from the faction with the most powerful army personnel in Levaerûn. Besides, Leal is a notorious leader of an underground mercenary corps; his name is known not only in Agrona. His group took down big shots and criminals from other kingdoms for a price; that's why many individuals are out for his head, so this tight security is just natural." Leo explained.
Man, a freaking syndicate leader!
We finally reached Leal's location; Kuro guided us inside a building that looked like a colosseum, with people gathering at the entrance and properly forming a line.
It's an arena, a huge one!
The moment we entered, I wandered my eyes and found numerous individuals scattered around the area, apparently keeping their eyes on me. They're wearing black butler outfits, and some wear maid outfits just like Kuro has.
"How come they're prepared for my arrival? To the extent that they organized this huge event."
Leo cleared his throat. "Leal really is fast at getting information, isn't he? It is strange that he already knew you would challenge him just after you declared it to us last night."
Xin put his hand on his chin. "I don't know; maybe someone got so drunk last night he decided to barge in here and screamed to everyone's face that his new faction leader will challenge Leal tomorrow while declaring that he's gonna kick Leal's butt."
Leo dodged my gaze while scratching his head. "To- to be fair, I'm not alone; you're with me."
"I'm just keeping an eye on you, or else the next time I see you, you will already be floating in the middle of the sea, feeding a school of fish."
These guys.
I exhaled. "Well, good luck to me."
"I'm pretty sure you are gonna win, Boss!"
"Good luck, Troy."
"Good luck, big bro Troy!"
Welp.