'Fuck… Is my presence still missing?'
Caleb thought with a smile on his face, looking at the adventurers who all turned to him.
He wondered if the monster core was too weak to give him the presence he lacked and he wasn't even trying to suppress his presence.
"Hello, everyone. I'm new in town."
Caleb greeted everyone with a hand wave before stepping towards the counter. Since they all focused on him, it would be rude to just walk past them.
Despite Caleb greeting everyone, they still looked at him like the stranger he was.
'Have I grown a second head or something?'
The adventurers stepped aside as Caleb approached the counter. But not everyone behaved as such.
"…."
Caleb raised his head to look at the hulk of a man standing in his way. Of course, he could have walked past him.
[Name: Stryder…]
Appraisal told Caleb what he needed to know about the man, but it was pretty much insignificant.
'I've read and watched many situations like this one. My presence has already instilled a sense of mystery in these people, and I'd like to keep it that way.
'Huhu.. I feel like a main character.'
Caleb thought with a smile. A smile that the bulky man saw and frowned.
'Oh… looks like he has some backbone. But what I'm interested in is his aura… and of course, something else…'
Stryder thought with folded arms, his intimidating aura doing nothing to the newcomer.
"Who are you and why is your aura… different?"
Stryder didn't know how to put it besides different.
Everyone had their own mana signature, no doubt, but ultimately, they felt similar as the mana they all used came from the dungeons.
But Caleb's energy signature felt different, purer.
'Almost like a higher grade of energy than we all use. It's a first for me and I bet everyone thinks so as well.'
He glanced at his colleagues and saw their curious expressions as some murmured among themselves, trying to deduce what made the stranger different.
Caleb raised an eyebrow when he heard the question and looked around.
'I see… it's not that I still lack the presence. It's just different.'
He realized and quickly deduced where the difference came from.
'The genetic system cleansed the core of its foreign energy.'
Looking back to Stryder, he replied.
"Call me Caleb… As for my aura, I don't know what you mean."
He chose to leave out his last name as he had come to realize not many people had them.
'Probably only the rich, noble and a certain class of people have them.'
Of course, he wasn't going to tell them what made him different. It would take away the main character vibe he had going.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I want to get to the counter."
"Don't play smart with me boy, I can tell you're a complete rookie. Putting in a coat and appearing mysterious isn't going to change that.
"And we aren't very kind to strangers who appear mysterious either. For all we know, you're here to do something sketchy."
"That's right. You either tell us what us what you're doing here or beat it."
"Yeah!"
The others cheered, feeling united despite their earlier mood.
'Fucking morons. This could escalate quickly.'
Linda, the head worker of the guild thought with a wry smile. She didn't want to put herself in the middle of the issue when moments ago, they were ready to bring the place down.
Caleb sighed. 'This is pointless. I used to see this in novels and think so, but who would have thought people were this moronic?
'I have no obligation to tell you anything I plan on doing. Well, they may be right about something sketchy, but still…'
Caleb thought but actually said.
"So what now? You know I'm not going to say a word and you won't step back either.
"But you already knew that…"
Stryder smiled when Caleb pointed out his ruse.
That's right. From the get-go, Stryder did not give a damn about Caleb being a stranger and what he was doing here.
He knew Caleb was a rookie, but the clothes he was wearing were not something you'd see on adventurers in these parts.
'He's definitely from the city trying to make a name for himself. Unfortunately, he came at the wrong time.'
With the tax increments on the monster cores they acquired, things would be difficult for many of them for a while. Any small change was welcomed, and they weren't above using other means…
"Hmph!"
Caleb snorted and then presented his ultimatum.
"I'll count to three, and if you're not out of my way by then…"
He left the rest of the words hanging, but everyone saw the threat in those words.
Stryder frowned, both impressed and annoyed by the balls Caleb had.
But it seemed Caleb wasn't joking.
"One…"
'Hm? He's serious?'
Stryder raised an eyebrow when Caleb began counting. Looking at his colleagues' expressions. It was clear they too were surprised.
But the curious looks in their eyes made Stryder understand that if he jokes around, he might be humiliated.
And it wasn't like he was scared of the kid. Suddenly, he felt a rush of anger when he turned to look at the mocking grin on the stranger's face.
"Two…"
'Fucking bastard. You're going to regret that! Let's see who falls when it's all done!'
Stryder intended to strike Caleb when he needed his countdown, using his own words against him.
He unfolded his arms and clenched his fists, adopting a similar grin to Caleb's.
Behind the counter, Linda had a worried expression on and looked upwards, hoping the guild master would show up.
'Shit. He too is interested in seeing this happen. Ugh! I'm surrounded by knuckleheads!'
Even with her complaints, she also kept an eye out. You don't work in a rowdy place like this and not enjoy the occasional show.
"Three…."
The final countdown arrived and Caleb took his hands out of his pocket.
"Don't say I didn't warn you."
Stryder revealed a savage grin and threw a right punch at Caleb.
"Too slow, kid. Hahahaha…"
However, what everyone expected to see when Stryder made the first move didn't happen.
*BOOM!*
"Eh?.."
Under the gazes of everyone, they saw, or rather, didn't see what happened.
Stryder ended up buried head first in the solid wooden floor with both feet dangling in the air as his body twitched intermittently.
Caleb? He resumed his calm pose by Stryder's side with hands back in his pocket, appearing as though nothing happened.
The adventurers couldn't believe their eyes. They were right there, yet saw nothing.
'Fast!'
They thought in unison. The man was not your ordinary stranger.