"Kid, don't get cocky!"
Snapping out of their fear, one of the adventurers, red-faced with anger, drew a large sword and swung it down at Blake.
Several waitresses, their eyes narrowing, were about to intervene—but froze in their tracks.
In that instant, Blake casually caught the blade barehanded. Then, with a flick of his wrist, the sheer force caused the towering adventurer to lose his balance.
The next moment, Blake stepped forward, his knee smashing into the adventurer's stomach with a sharp crack.
The man froze in place, his face turning pale as his body went limp, utterly immobilized.
The scene left the entire tavern in stunned silence. Everyone stared at Blake, dumbfounded. To see someone casually take down an attacker in a place ? It was unheard of. They had expected a bloody brawl, not such a decisive and effortless victory.
"You bastard! How dare you—"
The remaining adventurers drew their weapons, preparing to encircle Blake. But before they could act:
"Enough! This is a place for eating. Keep it down, or do you want me to throw you out?!"
A powerful voice thundered through the tavern, silencing everyone instantly. The pressure that accompanied it was immense, pressing down like a physical weight. At the same time, the front counter had been smashed to splinters, showcasing the speaker's extraordinary strength.
Blake's crystalline blue eyes flickered briefly as he turned toward the source—a towering middle-aged woman in work attire standing behind the bar. Despite her simple garb, she exuded an aura of power that even surpassed that of Ais Wallenstein. His mind quickly provided her identity: Mia Grand, a former Level 6 adventurer.
"...Kid, you got lucky this time."
Under Mia's oppressive presence, the group of adventurers reluctantly backed down, their faces dark with frustration. Even a high-level adventurer had once been thrown out by her, banned permanently from returning.
"Brat, if you're so confident, let's step outside and settle this! Or are you just a coward?"
One of the adventurers, his anger boiling over, sneered provocatively.
The challenge sparked a wave of excitement among the other patrons, who watched Blake with eager anticipation. They were curious to see how he would respond. After all, the odds were stacked against him—facing a group of over ten adventurers, many of them far more experienced than a mere Level 1 rookie.
Syr looked on worriedly, wanting to intervene, but Mia stopped her. As long as no fights broke out inside the tavern, she didn't care about duels arranged outside.
"You lot are going too far!" Hestia exclaimed angrily, stepping forward to confront them.
"Hestia, leave this to me."
Before Hestia could say more, Blake gently pulled her back.
"Dueling? You think I'd stoop to the level of some low-life thugs?" he said coldly, his voice cutting through the air like frost. Though he had no intention of starting a fight, he wasn't about to let anyone trample on him either.
"You want a challenge? Fine. Let's play a game. A game where everything is on the line."
"A game? Risking everything?" The adventurers exchanged puzzled glances, their initial anger giving way to curiosity.
"Hah! Let's hear what kind of game you're talking about," one of them said, unable to back down under so many watchful eyes.
"It's simple. The game is about monster-hunting. You'll pick your five strongest members, while I'll go alone. Each team will venture to the floors they're capable of surviving or above, and whoever collects the most monster cores wins. To level the playing field, any Level 2 monster cores I collect will count as triple their value. Lastly, each team is allowed one supporter," Blake explained, his voice calm and confident.
As his proposal sank in, the entire tavern was stunned, even Mia. The terms were overwhelmingly against him. Not only would he have to face tougher monsters alone, but his opponents could divide the workload and still outpace him. By this logic, Blake would need to work five times harder just to keep up.
Moreover, the claim that a mere Level 1 adventurer could defeat Level 2 monsters was absurd. Was this guy insane?
Has This Guy Gone Mad From Humiliation?!
The adventurers present couldn't help but wonder, even the Level 6 Mia-san seemed to share their doubts.
"Hahaha! Kid, you said it yourself! Don't regret it later! Alright then, it's decided—we accept your challenge! Everyone here, please bear witness!"
The gaunt adventurer confronting Blake burst into laughter, hastily solidifying the agreement, clearly afraid that Blake might back out.
"Heh, I almost forgot—the stakes for this game. Betting everything... what will happen to the losers?"
Blake's cold words, carried by the air like a gentle breeze, slammed into the minds of the adventurers like a hammer, plunging the bar into an eerie silence. Everyone, including Mia, looked at Blake with a mix of surprise and uncertainty.
Is he ignorant... or does he actually have the strength to back up his arrogance?
"Tomorrow at the plaza. The game runs from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. That's all."
Ignoring the rowdy adventurers, Blake led a slightly dazed Hestia to an empty table.
The tavern's lively atmosphere soon reignited, even more boisterous than before. Discussions about the peculiar duel buzzed everywhere, and glances at Blake grew more frequent, some filled with ridicule, others with curiosity. Bets were placed too, the majority betting against Blake. After all, a Level 1 rookie defeating five Level 2 adventurers working in tandem was unheard of.
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