- Charges

The guards were stunned by Leonel's question. Were they… being doubted?

The two suddenly began to look around as though to check whether or not they were in a dream world. Seeing the individuals walking around, some of which had actually noticed that something was off only to begin observing, they quickly came to the realization that they were, indeed, not in a dream. Some Tier 1 fool was actually questioning them…?

Leonel stood in silence, his gaze carrying with it a hint of cold. However, without even answering, the sound of tearing paper resonated through the gate entrance. Leonel could only watch as the documents it had taken him half a day to earn were torn to pieces.

His gaze followed the fluttering pieces of paper as they were whisked away by the wind. The guard who acted seemed intent on staring him down as he tore the documents into smaller and smaller pieces, trying to humiliate Leonel to the greatest extent.

It was as though they were eager for Leonel to snap, waiting for him to attack so that they'd have all the reason in the world to teach him a more physical lesson.

"The Force Crafters Exam will not be taking place today. Come again another time." The words were repeated by the sneering guard. "If you can, that is."

The spectators watched on in curiosity, some who were even waiting to enter the Guild after Leonel rolling their lips over one another as though to hold themselves back from laughing. One of the first rules anyone who came to this planet would learn was the importance of status. The second rule they would learn was the importance of not offending those your status couldn't be above.

As long as you followed these two rules, even if you were trampled all over, you would at least be left with a small bit of a face. The question was if you were willing or able to protect this small bit and go about your merry way.

Over the years, there weren't a small number of individuals who hadn't managed to control their anger. However, each one of them had a more miserable ending than the last. By now, it had already been a very long time since anyone tried to stir up trouble. Or, at the very least, it had been a very long time since anyone who dared to cause trouble actually managed to stir up any waves.

Usually, such people would end up like Leonel here, having barely gotten a question out before suddenly and harshly being ruthlessly suppressed without even room to breathe.

Leonel didn't say a word as they guards continued to sneer.

"What are your names?"

The second question came out of nowhere almost like the first. In fact, it stunned the two guards once more before the one who tore up the documents began to laugh uproariously.

"Who the hell are you to ask for our names?! Didn't you hear me earlier?! SCRAM!"

The second guard laughed maybe even harder than the first.

"No, no. Hold on. The little guy must be thinking of revenge, how about we give him some hope, Rio? My name is Xander. Now that you know, what are you going to do about it? I'll give you three seconds before we throw you out of here."

Xander already had at least three charges he could drop on Leonel's head. With how harsh the punishment was in the Guild's territory, this alone would be able to get him locked away for years, not to mention being pinned with an additional ban even after he got out. He couldn't help but chuckle as he thought of how this bastard was just ruining himself because he didn't know how to control his rage.

What Xander and Rio didn't know, though, was that if Leonel really wasn't able to control his anger… They would already be dead.

Leonel didn't even look them in the eye as they reported their names. He stretched out a finger, causing dozens of thin strings of neutral Force to connect with the fluttering torn pieces of document. The moment these Force strings connected, the papers vanished into Leonel's spatial ring.

Xander and Rio put on odd expressions when they saw this. What was the point of that exactly? They were more baffled by the action and didn't even register just how much skill it would have taken to replicate what Leonel had just done.

"Do you know how many monitoring Force Arts there are in this region? Xander? Rio?" Leonel asked a third question.

The two guards frowned, but this time, Leonel didn't let them answer as he began to point.

"There's one at every street corner. Given their scopes, there were four that had a vantage point toward this location. There are two at the top of this very gate, that makes six. And finally, there's my own, making seven in total."

Leonel finally looked up again. But, even when his gaze met theirs, it felt as though he was seeing right through them, as though they weren't truly worthy of him gazing upon them.

"Do you know why I bothered to tell you all of this? The reason is quite simple."

Leonel's fingers flipped over, suddenly revealing a piece of torn paper pinched between two of them. On this torn piece of paper, there was a symbol that looked like it had just been freshly stamped. Clearly, it was an authentication seal, something that represented the Guild's bureaucracy department.

"What do you think the punishment for destroying government documents is, exactly?"

The two guards froze.

…

Back in a certain office, a young woman with a cold expression sat at her desk, reviewing some things. She had her hair up in a neat bun without even a single strand out of place and skin tight office clothing that clung tightly to her curvaceous body. However, with her expression, it was hard for anyone to sexualize her.

Suddenly, she froze.

'Hm? He was approved? How? That should be impossible…'

Before the young woman could even investigate, a man with an expression just as cold walked into her office copyrighted © content.