Facing Off

Yang Yu smiled with utter disdain, looking like a villain. "Why are you so sure I'm the captain of this team and not her?"

Seka Mens said righteously, "A girl couldn't possibly make such a dangerous decision!"

Was that even something a human should say?

Yang Yu shook his head. "As you said, I'm the captain of this team, but I'm definitely not the kind of person who gets blinded by profit. Just now, I was completely confident I could wipe out those Goblins without your help. And like you said, this place is close to town. If we really couldn't win, I could just carry my teammate's tiny frame and run. I wouldn't need your help then either."

Carry her? So he'd had that kind of idea? The image was too much for Bai Jin to imagine being carried around like a package. She looked at Seka Mens, then at Yang Yu. The two were locked in a fierce confrontation, and she had no chance to speak.

"Originally, you meant well but ended up causing trouble. I was going to thank you and leave it at that, but instead you started throwing accusations at me. Enough nonsense. Draw your weapon!"

As the saying went, a gentleman used words, not fists. Seka Mens looked dumbfounded. This was the first time he had met someone who started arguing with him the moment they met. A newborn calf truly wasn't afraid of tigers.

"Fine, since you have such backbone! I'll test your strength. If you earn my recognition today, I'll apologize for acting on my own."

[Challenge Quest: Seka Mens was a famous adventurer of Rhodes City, and his strength was widely acknowledged.

Requirement: Withstand Seka Mens's attacks for three minutes and earn his recognition.

Reward: Draws +1, Experience 3000, Reputation +10]

Yang Yu had only wanted to talk some trash and argue until the other side had nothing to say, but he had never expected to trigger a quest. Once he saw the requirements, who cared about reasoning? If they weren't convinced, then fight. Three thousand experience was enough to make up for the elite monster he had just lost.

Unjustified killing between adventurers would get them expelled from the Adventurers' Guild, turning them into unlicensed black-market workers. The other party didn't seem like the type to hold a grudge just because he was challenged, so there was no need to worry about his safety.

Yang Yu licked his lips and smiled provocatively.

"Don't regret this!"

"You'll be the one regretting it!"

Seka Mens raised his silver-white spear, his face filled with confidence. Among adventurers his age, he had been invincible for far too long. Being too strong was a kind of loneliness.

"Wait a moment! I used up quite a bit of stamina just now. I'm not stupid enough to fight you immediately like this!"

Yang Yu stretched his body and deliberately put on an exhausted appearance. Beside him, the thief Qi raised a finger and jeered.

"You sounded so confident just now, but when it comes to an actual fight, you're full of excuses! Even if you try some cheap tricks, you'll never beat Seka Mens. Hurry up and surrender, apologize, and leave! Maybe our captain will forgive you."

"I admit that I'm not his match right now, so I never planned to win from the start. My goal was to make him acknowledge me." Yang Yu did not argue. Instead, he looked at Seka Mens. "Those Goblins just now—you could handle them alone in five minutes, right? If I can last more than five minutes against you at full health, wouldn't that prove I'm as strong as those Goblins?"

"Three minutes. If you can withstand my attacks for three minutes, I'll acknowledge you."

The confidence on Seka Mens's face did not fade. He gave Bai Jin a concerned look. Even though the obscured-faced girl before him radiated a dangerous and unsettling aura, he treated her with the same consideration, like a warm central heating system.

"Miss, go rest over there for now. Luo Keke, heal this gentleman."

The purple-haired girl called Luo Keke nodded slightly and began chanting a spell.

A soft light enveloped Yang Yu. His exhaustion vanished, and his reddened health bar gradually rose, returning to a healthy green.

"Thank you."

In response to Yang Yu's thanks, Luo Keke softly said, "You're welcome," before returning to her team.

What a wonderful priest, as pure as a sacred lotus. With her around, the entire team's atmosphere felt different.

Yang Yu instantly had the thought of poaching her, but he had never had the nasty hobby of deliberately breaking up teams.

Though he had his flaws, Yang Yu had to admit that Seka Mens was still a decent captain. With his strikingly handsome face, it would have been easy for him to form a team made entirely of girls, yet he had not done so. They had a tank, damage dealers, and a healer—the team composition had the right feel.

If he hadn't misjudged my strength and stolen my monsters, maybe I could've let them follow my lead and defeat the boss deeper in the forest.

Yang Yu secretly felt it was a pity. He casually stretched his body, then added twelve free attribute points to speed, bringing it just over sixty. He put all his remaining free attribute points into endurance.

No matter how he allocated his points, Yang Yu's level-thirteen stats were far inferior to Seka Mens's. One of the other man's major skills would probably put him into the red, but Yang Yu was fearless.

"Feeling good. Let's begin!"

Seka Mens held his spear and stood face-to-face with Yang Yu.

"Iron Wall, be the referee. Watch the time."

"No problem."

Uncle Iron Wall patted his chest in agreement. He directed the bystanders to retreat, clearing space for the two duelists. After confirming that no one would interfere, he raised his right hand above his head, then swung it down sharply.

"Begin!"

His booming voice echoed through the forest. Seka Mens moved first; a flash of cold light arrived before the spear followed like a dragon, his movements exceptionally elegant.

Yang Yu, on the other hand, stood motionless, completely ignoring Seka Mens's attack.

Cold sweat seeped from Bai Jin's hand as she gripped her staff.

Before the match began, she had struggled over whether to tell Yang Yu that the other man was not someone he could easily provoke. If they forced this contest, Yang Yu would certainly be the one injured. But when she recalled how her former teammates had ignored her opinions, she swallowed those words.

Now, seeing Yang Yu stand there without moving, looking completely unable to dodge, Bai Jin was filled with regret. Unable to bear watching, she turned away and began thinking about how she could beg the other side to heal Yang Yu after he was hurt. After all, she was a Curse Mage and could not use healing magic.

"Watch carefully! See just how reliable I am!"

Yang Yu's roar forcibly pulled Bai Jin's gaze back to the duel.

Just when no one believed Yang Yu could dodge or block Seka Mens's attack, he moved. He crouched, tilted his head to the right, and evaded Seka Mens's strike by the narrowest margin.

"What?"

Before Seka Mens could react, Yang Yu slammed his shield into his lower abdomen. Metal crashed with a piercing screech, and the impact forced Seka Mens's body forward. At that moment, Yang Yu's right hand, clenched at his waist, snapped out with his index and middle fingers aimed at Seka Mens's unprotected blue eyes on his handsome face.

Seka Mens instinctively shut his eyes, completely failing to notice that Yang Yu had slowed his eye jab. Yang Yu seized the spear with his other hand, pulled it forward, and swept away Seka Mens's beloved weapon.