Chapter 145: Unexpected Challenger

"Say, how bout we have a duel."

Q

"Pardon?"

Tyler tilted his head in confusion as he stared at the tall fellow before him. The man knows as Kal only seemed more amused by his lack of an instant response as he proudly repeated himself once more with the same smile on his face.

"I said a duel, how bout we have a duel. Just me and you, what do you say?"

"Why would you want that? I've only just joined the guild, if you want a sparring partner then I think one of those would be sufficient."

Tyler said that pointing at the group of spectators in the hall who all immediately flinched as they finally noticed what was happening before their eyes, and immediately coming to a halt as they whispered between themselves.

"Oi, oi, oil, isn't that the vice guild leader? What's going on over there."

"Hey did he really just challenged a newbie to a duel? What the heck is happening right now?!"

Say, isn't that hooded guy the same one with the magic mount? I hear he's also a VIP of the merchant guild. Is he like some kind of big shot in another city or what?"

"That's true, why are so many important figures treating well. He even has such a cute beast girl accompanying him. Man, I'm so jealous."

"I know right? I just want to punch his bin existent face because of this."

While they spoke in quite a low voice, Tyler could still hear them clearly and so could the man before him. He simply glances in the spectators' direction and they quickly shut their mouths and tried their best to avoid his gaze even though they still remained in the hall obviously wanting to see what happens next.

Tyler felt annoyed by this so-called vice guild leader as his presence here seems to draw too much attention to him and they weren't the best kinds. Well, it wasn't that he usually receive much better attention due to him hiding his face and Nadine's surprising effects on the men around her.

'Does this guy do this often or is it just me he after?'

Thinking about the reasons behind this challenge, Tyler stared blankly at Kal who was still smiling at him with the same confident look in his eyes. While the challenge was indeed interesting, it didn't seem like he could gain anything from it and it might only serve to expose him or simply just piss him off even more than he already was.

"No thanks."

"Huh...?"

"I have no interest in this duel and I'm quite busy so if you'll excuse us, we'll be on our way."

Without waiting for a response, Tyler quickly walked around the massive vice guild leader and was quietly trailed by Nadine. The spectators didn't seem to believe their eyes. Perhaps they felt he would be intimidated into an unfavorable duel or something. However, this didn't seem like a regular occurrence at all as all their faces told of their surprise and interest in the outcome of this situation.

"Wait!"

Tyler stopped just a few feet away from the door and naturally turned his head around to look at Kal who didn't have the same smile on his face but a rather strange and serious expression.

However, the smile suddenly returned to his face once again as he spoke again: "How bout I make it interesting for you as well."

Hearing that actually piqued his interest as Tyler finally turned around to face Kal who seemed pleased to have finally gotten the attention of Lix.

"And how would you do that?"

"Kukuku... It's simple really, let's have a bet."

"A bet?"

"Yes, just a friendly bet, nothing too serious and over the top."

"I'm listening."

"We'll have a one on one match right here and if I win. You'll take off your hood and don't even think about using an illusion spell to hide your face."

"I see… You're quite interested in my face huh. I have to say I don't swing that way."

"Huh... Please get your mind out of the gutter, I'll have you know I'm a happily married man." Kal proclaimed proudly while pounding his chest as he spoke.

"I don't remember asking."

"Come on, don't be like that, you have to take interest in your superiors' lives or you'll have a hard time rising through the rankings. That's a pro tip."

"I think you've gone way beyond the topic."

"Indeed, so what do you say. Wanna duel now?"

"That's still a one-sided bet. What will I get if I win?"

"Oh forgive me, that totally slipped my mind."

"Of course it did."

"Haha... Don't be like that, I wouldn't try to cheat on of my guild member, I'm the vice guild leader you know. My reputation would be tarnished if I did something like that to a newbie."

"…"

"Hmm let's see, it is quite impossible for you to win so I should offer something worth your while right?"

Hearing the man stop short of answering him yet again, Tyler shot him another questioning look even though the majority of his face was obstructed by his hood. However, his intense gaze did not fail to reach its target.

"Cough cough... How bout this, if you somehow manage to defeat me, I'll use my status as the Vice Guild Leader and grant you a starting rank of 2. Meaning, you'll both no longer have to start from a Rank 1 magician. That should have you a lot of grunt work trying to raise your rank."

That was indeed true, in the Hunter guild, the Merchant Guild, and the Magic institute, the beginning rank were seen as training wheels for newcomers as they would have to spend at least the first week doing menial and mundane quests trying to build up enough points to rank up within the week.

This was why there were not many Rank 1 Hunters or Magicians as even if the person didn't have the skills to be anything more than rank 1, they could still steady stock up on points, enough to reach the second rank where many would always peak at.

Kal nodded his head at Tyler's silence, his hesitation meant he was seriously considering it and Kal felt absolutely confident that he had made the right offer. No one wanted to do the menial work of a rank 1, especially not someone that was already a VIP Merchant and had what was the closest thing to a Noble status.

However, contrary to his expectations the man sighed deeply and promptly declined his offer. An outcome that he had never seen coming even in a thousand years.

"I refuse.".

"Huh!... Why, is my offer not enough."

"No, I was quite intrigued by that but, as I said earlier, I have no interest in a duel. So if you'll excuse me, we'll be taking out leave now."

Saying that Kal watched the hooded man turn back around and walk towards the exit in disbelief. The staff was supposed to lead them away looked absolutely confused as she didn't know if she could really lead the pair away from their vice guild leader or not. However, she was only doing her job but that could lead to her getting in trouble, later on, this was quite the Conundrum.

This was also not what Kal had expected and he was momentarily at a loss for words, too stunned to stop him. Still, there was something he needed to confirm so there was no way he would give up now.

"Hang on, what do you mean by no interest, you obviously do. How bout this. I'll restrict myself to only using Tier 3 attacks and below, that way it would be a fair fight."

"Fair huh?"

Feeling like he had done it, Kal watched the man stop yet again and turn back to face him. There was no way he would be able to refuse his offer this time. He smiled proudly and waited for a positive response.

"Very well."

He did it. After all that talk of not being interested, it turns out he was just frightened of his power and didn't want to be in a disadvantageous situation. However, if he thought he could win against him just because he was restricted to only using Tier 3 spells. He would be in for a rude awakening.

After all, he was not a mage but a basic class Tier 4 magic swordsman and with his training, his physiques were already at the peak tier 4 standard. Compared to a Tier 3 mage whose physiques could not even be compared to Tier 3 magic swordsmen, he held an absolute advantage over this duo.

"However— the one who'll be facing you will not be me, but my partner here."

"Huh!"

What was happening? Kal could not figure out why this man had said that. Did he not value his identity as much as he thought, or perhaps the beast girl he had overlooked hid a secret he could not fathom.

"Are you serious?"

"Is there something wrong?"

"Oi Oi Oi is that guy serious, did he just send his partner in for him?"

"Well she was also pretty skilled, perhaps she's just better than him, and he's too scared to face the vice."

"True but don't you think he's kinda rude. That's the vice he's talking to and yet he's acting like that."

"Yeah, kinda feel like he's looking down on the vice. Imagine if the vice loses."

"Hey shut up the vice can't lose to a Demi-human, even one as hot as her."

"Quiet before the vice overhears you. You'll be mopping the floors all week"

The smile on Kal's face steadily vanished as his expression became one of fury, his aura seemed to skyrocket, making the entire hall tense and immediately grew silent. The spectators all seemed to take a step back, clearly intimidated by his aura.

However, neither Tyler nor Nadine flinched, nor did they seemed bothered by his aura. Kal frowned slightly as he shifted his gaze to the girl beside Tyler and stared at Nadine. A ferocious wave of killing intent immediately washed over her which seemed to have finally piqued her interest as her previously dull eyes seemed to have been reinvigorated.

Seeing her smile at him without a shred of fear in her eyes, Kal chuckled. "I see, I see... Very well then I'll accept your condition. I'll defeat your partner and personally rip that hood off your face."

Seeing their Vice Guild Leader lose his cool because of a pair of newcomers, the spectators were shocked. They all knew Kal to be a little bit free-spirited but he also had an impressive amount of self-control, which was why they were freely discussing him earlier with little fear for the consequences.

Yet here he was challenging a pair of newcomers to a duel that had already been refused twice already. They had no idea why he was so interested in the pair or the reason he wanted the man to remove his hood so badly.

It was important to know that while status was important in this world. It didn't hold up well in the three organizations who already had their own internal rankings so unless one wanted to be enrolled in the magic academy, one was free to keep their identities a secret. Moreover, there were even a few such people in this guild.

Although it would also affect one's ability to form a party, it didn't seem like this pair were in need of one. What was even more shocking was the fact that the vice guild leader had chosen to fight a demi-human on equal footing just for this bet. A bet that didn't seem to have any benefit to the guild.

At this moment, a single consensus thought swept through the entire hall as the spectators and staff members that watched the event unfold felt the same lighting thought about the absurdity of this current situation.

'What in the world is going on here.'