The group was now completely surrounded by the hostile Adventurers. Akhil knew this was a serious matter; if they wanted to leave intact, he would be forced to act.

{Player Korak}

{Mutant level: 3}

The Adventurer who wanted to face them, Korak, was a Level 3 Mutant. But Akhil knew the man had to be strong, considering the intimidating aura he emitted. If he was to take a rough guess, the Adventurer had to be around Level 50 or higher.

Akhil preferred to avoid a fight if possible, but facing such a stubborn opponent... 'I have no choice,' Akhil thought. He moved his hand, but the gesture was cut short as he felt Langdon's hand clasping his.

"Let's resolve this peacefully," Langdon stated.

"Like I said, they're with me. Logically, we can agree they're my catch. If you want them, you'll need my permission."

Korak threw a fierce glance at Langdon, then burst into a loud, mocking laugh. "You're not an Adventurer, so you won't be able to claim the rewards. Your permission is useless."

"Very well then. I will go through the Adventurer test program. That would make me an official Adventurer, correct?" Langdon's two bots moved forward as he spoke, his calm gaze sharpening into something predatory.

"Tsk. You think I'll wait that long? I can just attack the Orcs here and now," Korak scoffed, placing his massive Warhammer on his shoulder.

"Shouldn't the Guild have laws that prohibit that?" Langdon shifted his gaze to the receptionist behind the counter, and so did everyone else.

They could only see the figure's long black hair, as they lazily rested their head on the table. The figure wore a light brown jacket and looked utterly drunk.

With a lazy motion, the receptionist raised a hand. "Yeah, yeah. That law... the one prohibiting Adventurers from claiming kills that other Gamers made and claiming it, right?" The drowsy voice drifted from the counter.

"Yes," Langdon confirmed, looking back at Korak. "You heard he—"

"But that law only stands when the catch is killed," the drowsy voice cut in before Langdon could finish. "The Orcs are still very much alive. So, you can both duel for them and see who takes the bounty. You could kill them yourself and settle this immediately."

Korak looked at Langdon with a victorious grin.

Akhil frowned. This was an entirely unexpected situation. He looked to Langdon, wondering what option the Level 4 Mutant would choose.

'If he wants to maintain peace with the Orcs, he'll choose the duel. That would also give me the perfect opportunity to see just how strong he is,' Akhil analyzed.

Akhil knew that if the duel failed or never happened, he could easily fight the Adventurers himself. He wasn't concerned by their numbers. Call it overconfidence, but at his current level, facing multiple opponents wouldn't be a problem, provided they weren't all high-level Mutants.

He had quickly checked the Adventurers: a great majority were Level 1, followed by Level 2, and a handful of Level 3 Mutants. He wasn't worried about the Level 3 Mutants, as he had Nibo and Ryan.

The only person that truly worried him was Langdon. Akhil had no idea how strong he was. If Langdon decided to join the Adventurers, it would leave them at a severe disadvantage. Killing the Orc leaders now would remove the threat to the human settlements for a while, and it was safe to assume Langdon knew this.

With all his assessments, everything was reliant on Langdon's reply. Would he turn his back on them? Or would he fight for them?

'Either way, if he chooses to fight for us, I'll get to know just how strong he is,' Akhil concluded, staring intently at Langdon.

Langdon rubbed his beardless chin for a moment. "I don't have to be the one to fight in the duel, right? One of the Orcs can do that. I don't think there's a rule against that."

"Yeah, yeah, you can do that too," the drowsy voice conceded with a wave of the hand.

"Wonderful!" Langdon beamed, turning to Akhil.

"I'm too fragile to be fighting a duel. I'm sure you'd do a better job than I will, so why don't you go do it?"

Langdon's words struck Akhil like a bolt of lightning, leaving him speechless. 'Fragile my ass! How utterly shameless is this guy!'

Akhil realized Langdon intended to gauge his strength by making him face the Adventurer. But calling himself fragile was outrageous. He was a Level 4 Mutant, hailed as one of the strongest in the city.

It was like a lion, pretending to be a chicken. Even more absurd was the fact that no one reacted to his words! Akhil was certain if the Adventurers knew who he really was, they wouldn't have even asked for a duel. They were deceived by his small stature, yet again.

Akhil let out a long sigh after quickly appraising his enemy.

'If it's just that guy, I won't need to reveal much, either...' He thought, readying himself.

"Alr—"

"Nexus, a duel sounds fun! I'd love to take the challenge!" Nibo cut him off instantly, taking a confident step forward, his muscles bulging as he rested his axe across his shoulders.

Akhil glanced toward Nibo. "Are you sure?" Akhil asked, raising an eyebrow.

He knew Nibo was strong, but compared to the Adventurer, it was a major gamble. Nibo was probably around Level 38, after the last scenario. While that was a great number, compared to someone up to 20 levels above him, it seemed like an unfair challenge. To make matters worse, Nibo had only fought with mindless beasts, lacking experience against veteran Gamers. If it were Ryan, Akhil would have had more hope.

"Yeah, I'm certain," Nibo said with a cocky laugh. "Besides, if you fight that guy yourself, it might give them the wrong impression that the Orc leader is weak. Leave this for your subordinates."

"Idiot... You didn't have to reveal that," Akhil muttered, facepalming.

The lobby burst into a mocking laughter after hearing Nibo's casual reveal. The burly man threw a sharp glance at Akhil.

"So that scrawny boy's the Orc leader? Pathetic! This is wonderful, at least we can take down their leader here today."

Langdon let out an awkward, nervous laugh at the man's insult. Akhil simply let out a long sigh.

If only they knew he was the owner of the city that they were currently residing within.

'I need to add some weight soon, or I don't think they'd ever stop making fun of me,' Akhil thought with a wry smile.

"Well, enough with the chit-chat! We've decided, so let's go to the battleground and settle this," the burly man roared, walking toward the open training ground beside the lobby. "I'll win for my Adventurers, and after this, maybe we'll raid the Orc settlement as well and clear the rest!"

Akhil shot a cold, dark glance at the man's back after hearing the explicit threat.

"Nibo, do me a favor," Akhil said, his voice dropping to a grim whisper. "Beat the absolute crap out of that guy."

"I'll make sure I do that," Nibo replied, his previous cockiness replaced by a look of grim determination as he marched toward the open field.

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