Eric flew into the air until he crashed into the wall, causing massive cobwebs to spread across it upon impact. A stabbing pain coursed through his body as he slid down and plummeted to the ground, coughing a mouthful of blood.

"You're a good liar; you almost fooled me!" Marco said, pulling back the leg he had used to kick him.

Eric groaned before stumbling to his feet, as it wasn't time to dwell on injuries. He wiped the blood from his lips and panted. The attack had broken two of his ribs.

He's Strong!

Sweat dripped from his forehead as he warily fixed his eyes on Marco. Even though Eric's speed was now much faster than it used to be and even better than that of well-known athletes, he was still unable to dodge Marco's kick. No, he couldn't even react; he only felt it when he was thrown against the wall.

His stats must be much higher than mine!

He knew that Marco was stronger than him since he was rank 2 while he was still unranked according to the interface, but he didn't know how big the gap between them was. He had no concept of the difference in strength between ranks. The only thing he could estimate his level by was what Hawk said.

According to Hawk, the level 129 Venomous Bear he met was a rank 2 monster. Since Marco was at the same rank, he assumed that he was at about the same level. This made Eric feel that he had messed up this time.

How high are his attributes? Does he also have a system that makes him stronger?

"Huh, you're still awake?" Marco said in surprise, seemingly confident that his attack would knock him out. "You managed to endure my attack without passing out; that's impressive." Even though he complimented him, it was hard to tell if he was sincere or not due to his flat tone.

Ignoring his praise, Eric focused his attention on his broken ribs. Heat spread through his body, and he felt his wounds healing quickly. He winced as the broken ribs reattached and felt like a thousand ants crawling through his skin.

After a few moments, he was completely healed, and the heat faded, replaced by weakness. He knew this was the aftereffect of the orb, but he wasn't happy, his face darkening as he knew the side effects. Since he was out of magic power, the orb absorbed his life force to heal him. This was not a good thing.

"C-Captain, what's going on? Why did you hit him?" Mike asked, looking startled.

"Come on, rookie, didn't you hear what they were talking about?" Hawk looked at him.

"I- I did, but..."

"But your little brain is too slow and couldn't process all the information." Hawk cut him off while giving him a pitiful look. "I feel sorry for you; it must be hard to be an idiot."

"Y-you..." Hawk's condensed attitude seemed to infuriate Mike as a vein crept across his face, and he glared at him.

"Hey, don't give me that look," Hawk said. "All right, all right, calm down. I'll explain it to you so you don't have to be so angry." Seeing Mike grit his teeth in silence, Hawk continued. "Listen, rookie, because I'm only going to explain this once. The captain just asked 'John' to show him the 'Stigma' and his response was confusion. Well, as you know, every hunter had the temple mark on them. Why would he be confused?"

"Because he... doesn't have one," Mike said, sounding unsure.

"Bingo! And since he doesn't have a stigma, that means..."

"He's not a hunter under the temple..."

"Yes. See, you're getting smarter just by talking to me."

"Does that mean he's an imposter?!" Mike said, glaring at Eric.

Ignoring his two noisy subordinates, Marco approached Eric and stopped twenty feet away.

"I'm curious what exposed me. How did you know I was lying?" Eric asked.

Since they seemed certain that he was pretending to be one of them, even to the point of attacking him, Eric saw no point in pretending any further and instead wondered how they were able to tell.

"It was because something you said gave you away," Marco said.

"Something I said?"

"Yes. You mentioned that you were ambushed by a group of venomous bears, but that can't be possible. Because they're lone monsters that would attack each other if they met and would never cooperate."

"You attacked me just because of this reason?." Eric asked.

That didn't sound like a good enough reason to suspect him.

"You also said that you barely survived the monster after it chased you, but I don't see any injuries on you, and you also had the strength to break through the trap. An injured rank 1 hunter who survived the encounter with a rank 2 monster wouldn't be able to do that. He would be lucky to be able to move at all," Marco said.

"Huh, is that so?" Eric said.

Eric bit his lips. That was his mistake. His inexperience with the world power system and the habits of the monsters gave him away.

"Now tell me who you are?" Marco asked.

"Would you believe me if I gave you a different name?" Eric smiled.

"Not even a little bit," Marco said flatly.

Since he had lied once, there was no guarantee that he wouldn't do it again. The moment they caught him lying was the end of his chance to talk his way out of this. They would never believe a word he said, even if it was the truth. Well, except under certain circumstances.

"What about the real John? The tag can't be fake; I checked it myself. Did you kill him?" Marco asked.

"No, he was dead when I found him. Killed by the trap." Eric said.

He didn't want to worsen his already suspicious image. If they suspected him of killing their colleague, it wouldn't end well for him. They might try to retaliate, and he wasn't sure he could escape their clutches since he was surrounded and the only exit was the door behind them.

"We just came this way, but we didn't see a body." Marco looked around, his eyes searching the place. "And it's not here either."

"That's because I threw it out."

"Is that so?" Marco turned his attention to him. He didn't seem to be angry because his expression was still calm, which Eric found odd. He thought he would snap and lash out at him for throwing away the body of their colleague.

"Aren't you curious why?" Eric asked.

"Not at all. I just needed confirmation that he's dead. Everything else has nothing to do with me."

"You're a bit cold-hearted."

"And you're a lying bastard," Marco said. "Are you done talking, or do you need more time to stall?"

"You noticed, huh? Any chance of settling this peacefully?"

If it wasn't necessary, Eric didn't want to clash with them. The Temple of Iron and Fire was one of the four major powers on the continent. If he made an enemy of them, his days would be numbered.

"It depends. Will you come with us without resistance?" Marco asked.

"Where to?"

"Back to headquarters, of course."

"May I ask what would happen to me?"

Going to the enemy headquarters while being suspected of killing one of their subordinates wasn't a smart move.

"They'll just ask you a few questions, just to find out who you are and what your motives are for trespassing on the temple's territory."

"And I assume they won't ask nicely?" he asked.

Eric wasn't naive enough to believe Marco's words. Even though the knowledge he gained from the books had only a little information about all the major powers on the continent, he knew that they were above the law. This meant that they could do whatever they wanted, as long as they could justify their reasons. The chances of them killing him weren't too small, even if he told them the truth.

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

"Huh, well. Maybe you'll get out with a few broken fingers or one less hand. It depends on how fast you talk." Marco shrugged, seemingly not caring about his fate.

Stunned by his blunt and direct words, Eric laughed. "Yeah, on second thought, I'm sorry, but I have to decline your offer. Perhaps some other time."

"Unfortunately, you have no say in the matter. You're coming with us whether you like it or not."

"Then there's nothing more to talk about."

Since they refused to let him leave, he had to make sure the matter was settled here. He couldn't afford to let them report him to their superiors. If they considered him an enemy, they would hunt him to the end of the continent. He had just arrived in this new world, and he didn't want to spend the rest of his stay on the run.

Eric opened his palm and tried to pull a weapon out of his inventory because his dagger fell off after being kicked. But after a few moments, his eyes widened as he found himself unable to connect to the inventory.

What's going on? This had never happened before.

Usually, he could pull things out of the inventory with just a thought, but this time he couldn't. Not understanding the reason, Eric called up his interface to see if he could find the problem.

But instead of the interface, an unexpected window appeared in front of him.

[Insufficient Magic Power]

Does that mean this system only works on mana?

He didn't expect this problem to come up at the worst possible time. Had he known, he would have carried a few extra weapons instead of storing them in his inventory.

I guess we're doing this the old-fashioned way, then.

There was no time for regret as his opponent slowly approached. Eric took a defensive stance, raising his arms and clenching them into fists while keeping a close eye on Marco, watching his every move.

***

Marco put his hand on the hilt of his sword, but before he could draw it fully, a call from behind interrupted him.

"Wait!"

Frowning, he turned his head slightly to look behind him while still aware of Eric's movements. "What is it, Mike?"

The one who called was the burly man who had been arguing with the archer. He walked over to Marco and stood behind him.

"Captain Marco, please give me this chance to prove myself." He said.

"You want to fight him?" Marco asked.

"Yes. So far, nothing noteworthy has happened. I need to earn more achievements if I want to succeed in the test. If I came back to the headquarters like this, my test would be considered a failure. But if I manage to catch him, then..."

Mike didn't finish his words, but it was enough to understand his thoughts. Catching a suspicious person who trespassed on the temple's territory would be considered a great achievement.

Marco looked at him for a long time, and just as Mike started to get nervous, he heard him say.

"Okay, I will leave him to you," Marco said.

"Thank you, Captain!" The burly man said with a smile.

Marco put the sword back into its sheath and looked at Eric. "It looks like I won't be the one to fight you. As you can see, this guy here is more eager than I am."

"You all treat me like some kind of prize to catch; are you sure you want to send your follower? What if he's not up to the task?" Eric asked.

Marco ignored the words and walked away. As he passed Mike, he whispered. "Be careful of him. Even though his situation looks helpless, he has yet to show any signs of concern. Either he's an idiot or he had something to rely on."

Mike listened and nodded seriously.

"Stay alert; shoot him if it gets dangerous for Mike," Marco said as he stood next to Hawk.

"Why would you let him fight if you're worried about him?" Hawk asked, taking his bow and pulling an arrow from the quiver, putting it on the string.

Marco looked at him before looking forward. "I'm not worried. Mike asked for this himself, but it would be troublesome if he died on my watch."

"Hmm, I guess you're right. I don't want my salary docked because that idiot got himself killed." Hawk said as if the money was more important to him than Mike's life.

They both fell into silence and looked at the battle ahead.

***

"Are you sure you want to fight me alone? You don't seem to be of the same rank as your captain," Eric asked, looking cautiously at the archer, who held a bow with an arrow on the string, but kept it pointed at the ground.

"Captain Marco doesn't have to deal with people like you. Even though I'm still rank 1, I'm alone enough to deal with you," Mike said, stepping closer.

So he's rank 1, huh.

Eric still had no idea how far he was from reaching rank 1, and he didn't know what level Mike was compared to, but he doubted that it would be much higher than him.

I need to test his abilities first.

"Before we begin, Are you the kind of man who would fight an unarmed man with his weapon?" Eric said, trying to get him to put down the big hammer. He saw the interaction between Mike and the archer and noticed that the burly man had a short fuse. He could use that to his advantage.

"Huh," Mike said, raising his eyebrows in surprise after hearing Eric's words. He looked down and saw a dagger near his feet. Picking it up, he tossed it up and down in his hand and looked at Eric. "This is your weapon, right? You want it back so we can have a fair fight?"

"Huh," this time it was Eric to be baffled. He didn't expect Mike to give him back the dagger he dropped. "Are you really going to give it back?"

"Of course," Mike said as he held up the dagger, "not!" Then threw it away. "What, you think I'm some kind of knight and this is an honorable contest?" Mike said before lunging at him, clenching his hammer. "I'm... a hunter."

Mike dashed toward Eric and was beside him in no time, swinging his hammer. He hadn't expected such speed from the burly figure, but it wasn't fast enough for him to not keep up. He jumped aside to avoid the swinging hammer. It hit the ground, causing cracks that spread like spider webs across the floor.

How much does this thing weigh?

Such a result wasn't just because of the weight; it also showed Mike's strength.

Without wasting a second, Eric threw a left hook, but Mike let go of the hammer, blocked it with his elbow, and used his other hand to punch Eric.

Eric also raised his right arm to meet Mike's attack. The force of the blow sent him sliding through the floor before he stopped. His arm felt numb.

He has more physical strength than me. Eric judged, looking down at his stiff arm. But not by much.

Just their first confrontation had made him aware of his disadvantage. Mike's speed and strength were both higher than his, but Eric wasn't discouraged. As long as the gap between their attributes wasn't too big, he still had a chance to win.

"Huh, you avoid that! Not bad. But I guess that is to be expected from someone who dared to trespass on temple territory." Mike said, pulling his hammer from the ground. "But not good enough if you want to get out of here."

Eric looked at him, then at Marco and Falco. He knew that they would intervene as soon as their colleague's life was in danger.

So killing him is out of the question.

The moment he showed any intention of killing Mike, they would group up on him. This meant the game was over for him because he couldn't face all of them at once. The earlier hit from Marco had shown him the difference between them. And there was still the archer, whose rank he did not know yet. So if he wanted to get out of here, there was only one option left.

I have to capture him and use him as a hostage.