Chapter 16

[“Triumph Over the Bully” quest has been activated.]

[Quest Info]

Yiran, a follower of Badulf’s eldest son, had come to find trouble with the third son of Count Badulf. Yiran is from the slums. He had lived in harsh conditions ever since he was young. But his life couldn’t be said to be hard. He was stronger than kids his age. He bullied the ones on the street, stealing what they earned through begging. He had stolen from countless people and killed dozens, old and young, in the process. He wants to show his loyalty to the next count by crippling Roy. Unable to get to Roy, he aimed his sword at his maid. But somehow, she survived. But he isn’t the type to stop after a mere warning. He will use underhanded means to break the last thread supporting Roy as soon as he gets a chance. And then aim for Roy

[GOALS]

-Defeat Yiran, the cruel.

[TIME LIMIT]

-1 Hour.

This quest will no longer be available to you after that.

[REWARDS]

-100 EXP

-Mini-Surprise Box

…

After Arlo intervened between them and stopped them, Roy had lost interest in fighting Yiran.

But after getting a quest that would give him a hell lot of EXP, his desire to beat the shit out of Yiran wasn’t only reignited but also blazed to the sky.

‘Let’s see this his stats firsts.’

[You’ve used Perception (Level 1) on Yiran.]

NAME: Yiran Budeldon

Age: 16 years and 4 months old

Level: Peak of Body Tempering Stage Lvl 3

Health: 12

Mana: 0

Strength: 12

Stamina: 8

Agility: 7

Perception: 5.4

Endurance: 12

Physical Defense: 2.4%

Magical Damage Negation: 1.34%

+2

Perception (Level 1) (3/100 EXP)

Just Inspecting a body tempering trainee had given him 2 points for the skill. How lucky!

‘He isn’t great. His stats are similar to a goblin’s. Maybe it’s because he’s my eldest’s lackey. There’s no need to back down in the face of this swine.’

Roy made his judgment and prepared for battle.

“Where do you think you’re going?!”

He took off his glove and hurled it at Yiran so fastly and smoothly that no one was able to react in time. They could only trace it with their eyes. With a wide opened mouth, they watched it fly through the air and slap its target on the back of his head before sliding down.

Yiran stopped walking. He cranked his neck to the side and looked at Roy over his shoulder, the desire to eat him alive blazing his brown eyes red.

“…What is the meaning of this?” He sad through gritted teeth.

“Are you illiterate to the point where you don’t know how men of status issue a challenge? Pick it up if you’re a man! Let’s fight with our honor on the line.” Roy pointed his sword at Yiran, urging him to man up and fight him.

Nobles could issue a fight to anyone by slapping them with their gloves. Actually, slapping wasn’t necessary. Just throwing it close to a certain someone was enough. But Roy wanted to shake up his opponent before the battle. Thus, he chose to slap him.

Yiran bent down and picked up the glove that was keeping Roy’s hand warm and had the insignia of the Baldwin on it. “I… accept.”

Arlo came in between them.

“Do you know what such a battle signifies? The winner can ask the loser to do anything except for taking their life. And the loser must oblige or pay with their life. Are you two sure you two want to do this?”

“Yes.” Roy calmly replied.

“I second that,” Yiran added.

Arlo asked the people to give them some space. Everyone moved back. They didn’t know why Roy had so confidently challenged a trainee at the fourth level of the body tempering stage. But they were going to find out soon.

Arlo looked at the brown-haired boy without much kindness. “What would you have the loser do if you win?”

“If I were to win, I want Lord Roy to hand over his maid to me and never come to this place to disgust us with his swordplay again!” Yiran eyed Roy challengingly. Then he directed his gaze to Amelia. His gaze lapped her from head to toe. ‘She has a pretty face. It wouldn’t be too bad to strangle her while tasting her sweetness.’ he thought.

Amelia took a few steps back as he disgusted her to no end.

Roy stood in between them, stopping him from eyeing his pitiful maid.

The onlookers didn’t feel offended by what he said. These were the times when women were the spoils of war and also battle. It wasn’t rare to see such events taking place in the empire. It happened quite often in the past. And it still does happen every now and then.

Arlo directed his gaze to Roy. But it was friendlier, unlike when he was looking at Yiran. “And you?”

Roy curled his lips into a smile. But behind this smiley face of his was an Asura. Whatever he was going to do to Yiran would be horrific, to say the least. “I will state my desire after dragging him near death’s door.”

Arlo and some knights couldn’t help it. They chuckled. This brat sure has a sharp tongue, just like his maid.

“Said the person who has never been trained for a fight.” Yiran made a line on the ground with a sword and then stepped beyond it. “If you push me over this line, it will be defeat. How about it?”

His confidence wasn’t without reason. To everyone present, it was quite clear that Roy hadn’t started to temper his body. Such a weak person… How could he win against a trainee who was at the peak of the third stage of body tempering? There was just no way!

“Challenge accepted. Just don’t regret it after you lose.” Roy welcomed his taunt with an open arm. He could advance his level at any time. They were all going to be shocked.

“Alright, you may begin fighting after I count to three!”

“Wait.”

“Yes?”

“I want to say a word to my maid.”

“Alright, you may.”

Roy went to his maid and whispered something in her ears.

Whatever he told her made her look at him ashamed.

“But I don’t have much on me.”

There were golden buttons on his shirt. He ripped them out and gave them to her.

“Just use these then.”

…

“1… 2… 3… You may start!”

Arlo signaled the start of the match after counting from one to three.

Roy didn’t move. How high was his agility? It was only 1 point. There was no point in approaching his opponent at a snail’s pace. He would just make a mockery out of himself if he did that. He stood still. Rather, it was Yiran who rushed towards him like an enraged bull. He couldn’t wait to whip him back into a docile sheep. Today, his tongue was like on fire. He wanted to extinguish that fire. His sword shot out, aiming straight for Roy’s face. But Roy blocked it with his sword.

“Just a fluke.”

Yiran attacked him three more times. The first time, his sword aimed for his left shoulder. Roy hit the tip of his sword with enough force to change its trajectory. It moved away instead of reaching him. Immediately after, Yiran brought his sword down on Roy’s right kidney. But that was parried by Roy. The third time, he thrust his wooden sword in the direction of his chest. But before it could land on its target, Roy made its tip point to the sky by hitting its lower surface with a sword of his own.

At this moment, when Yiran was left defenseless, Roy made his move. The sword he slashed at his opponent met empty air, however, as Yiran slipped past it. While doing so, he narrowed the distance between them. At such a close distance, it was nigh impossible for Roy to dodge his attack. The fifth attack he made since the beginning of the battle landed on Roy, pushing him back by a few steps.

[The attack of a 4th stage body tempering trainee landed on you, tempering your body by. 4 points.]

[You lose 0.2 HP.]

What the hell?

Roy wasn’t dreaming. Two blue screens had really appeared at the edge of his vision, barely disturbing him. Could he temper his body by getting beaten up by others? Why didn’t it tell him sooner!! He was only 6 points away from entering the first level of body tempering.

“Did you like that? There’s more where that came from.” Yiran said in a tone that signified he was looking down on him.

Roy smiled and responded like a true masochist, “Ohh, I like that a lot. Hit me more.”

“Disgusting.” Yiran scrunched up his nose as if he was smelling shit.