“Hic! What took you guys so long? Hic!” said Jared, surrounded by girls, who are only aiming for his deep pockets.

Although they are doing it for the money, they didn’t look like they were pleased. It was Jared, after all. Despite his deep pockets, he doesn’t have the best attitude among his peers and has always caused trouble for many people. That is something everyone inside the pub knows.

His friends ushered the girls away, secretly handing them a few silver coins as they left.

“Haven’t seen you this drunk, Jared,” his friend said as he sat down,

“Well, I haven’t been this pissed in a long time~ So…”

Jared proceeded to tell his friends about what happened between him and his father. He shared every single bit of their fight and gave them his complaints about it.

“How can he treat me like shit? I’m his son, aren’t I?” he asked,

Although they are his friends, they did not share the same sentiment as he does. The other one shook his head and cleared his throat, slowly speaking in a rather low voice as if he was afraid that Jared might take it the wrong way.

“H-Hey jared,” he said, “I don’t think their decision is wrong anymore,”

The moment he spoke those words, Jared stared daggers at his friend, brimming with murderous intent.

“Heh? Are you now?”

His tone of voice instantly changed as if he was sober all of a sudden. Both of his friends froze. It was not the first time they saw him react like this, and they know it doesn’t end well every time. However, the die has been cast. There was no going back. The only way is going forward.

“Y-You see… I was curious when they said uncle was defeated So I went to visit him,” he said, slowly looking at Jared in the eyes, “You know how he locked himself up after he was allegedly defeated one-sidedly, right?” he asked,

Jared looked at his friend sternly and then nodded his head, “Yes, what about it?”

“When I visited him, I coincidentally caught him walking out of his room and followed him towards the lake. There, he stared at his reflection for some time before going back to his room,” his voice shook, “When I called out to him, he acted normal. First I asked him how he’s holding up and told him that I didn’t believe the rumors and how it was impossible in the first place,” he continued.

“So, what are you trying to say?” Jared asked,

The moment Jared asked those words, he saw his friend tremble in fear. Not because he was afraid of him but because of what he had seen. Jared could understand that without his friend putting it into words.

“My uncle trembled,” his friend said, “And do you know what he told me next? ‘That wasn’t human. Humans would leave openings after an attack, he doesn’t’ the person who said that would easily win in a fight of attrition, but he didn’t. He lost after his enemy exploited the weakness that most people don’t know about. After saying those words, he left.”

Instead of taking that as a warning, Jared’s face turned red in anger.

And to make things worse, the said subject passed by the pub making the ladies whisper sweet words to themselves, admiring the person from afar. Jared picked up on this and rushed towards the door, holding his sword in hand. It is then that his blood boiled even more. The person who was the sole reason for his cancellation of admission in the academy was walking past the pub.

Jared couldn’t hide his anger and called out to Jakob, loud enough for the people from a few blocks away could hear him clearly.

“Outsider!” he shouted, “Dirt-lickers like you should stop when someone is calling out to you!”

His friends immediately ran towards him, and tried pulling him inside the pub. However, their strength is not enough compared to Jared who has already unleashed his power.

“Hey, Jared! Are you crazy!? What if something happens-!”

His friend froze as soon as the other one pointed out at the figure ahead. No matter how you look at it, Jared had undoubtedly agitated the other party and his friends were scared. Really scared.

Not only that the person Jared is trying to taunt had one-sidedly beaten 2 instructors, he also killed the kidnappers with ease the other day. It was not hard to imagine that they would somewhat end up like the unfortunate kidnappers. So, instead of pulling Jared back inside the pub, they both retreated by themselves, hiding within the crowd that had gathered to watch what was about to happen.

Unaware that his friends had already left. Drowned in booze, Jared continued to talk Jakob down.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Looks like everything that happened got through your head~ you're drunk of praise now, aren’t you?”

“You must be the person whom I replaced…” Jakob said he immediately noticed that Jared was under the influence of alcohol and suggested, “You reek of alcohol. If you have something to discuss with me, do so when you’re sober,”

After saying that, Jakob turned and left. Everyone watching was disappointed as Jakob is not easy to provoke. However, their disappointment was short-lived when Jared lunged towards Jakob with his sword unsheathed, he was out for blood and intended to kill the man before him.

“Didn’t I tell you not to turn your back on me?!” Jared yelled.

FWOOSH! The air whistled as Jared swung his sword. It was surprising for everyone. In just a matter of seconds, Jared was able to close the distance between them, and he did it swiftly despite being drunk. However, no matter how fast he was able to close the distance, Jakob still managed to dodge his sudden attack.

Not surprised how Jakob was able to do that without looking, Jared continued his assault, swinging his sword left and right. Jakob dodged everything that was thrown at him with ease. Everyone was stunned, even Jared’s friends were gasping in shock. Hearing the rumors was completely different from seeing it in person.

They all know that despite being drunk, Jared is one of the fastest swordsmen in the city. And for that very swordsman to miss every single one of his attacks, says a lot about how formidable his opponent is. What’s more shocking for Jared’s friends is that Jakob is not even utilizing his blessing.

Cold sweat ran down their faces as they realized that Jakob was actually toying with their friend, who is known to be strong. Cementing the things they speculated to be true as facts.

The longer the fight dragged on, the more desperate Jared became. And as a result, he is getting careless. Along with the fact that he is under the influence of alcohol and anger clouding his judgment, Jared had become predictable.

None of his attacks are successful, leaving him and everyone watching speechless.

“Is dodging all you can do, outsider?”

After his relentless assault, Jared has started to feel the effects of exhaustion which has become greater than the influence of alcohol, he is now sober. Jakob on the other hand is still the same.

“It doesn’t matter how strong you are. If you don’t land a hit, it’s meaningless. You expend so much energy trying to land a hit and now you’re exhausted, while I, on the other hand, am still full of energy,” Jakob retorted.

Jared could not deny that fact, however, his pride wouldn’t allow it. Not in front of so many people.

And so, he wiped his sweat and stood upright with a smile on his face.

“This? This is nothing more than a warm up, don’t you think so?”

Jared tried to save his face, however, Jakob had already seen through his condition, and shook his head.

“I don’t think so, not at all,” Jakob grabbed a wooden plank from a stall and pointed at Jared, “If you still claim that in order to save face, I’ll have you prove it,”

It was the first time Jakob decided to fight back. Up until now, all he did was dodge every attack and it was already frightening. Now that he decided to fight back, not only Jared but even the spectators are afraid of the outcome.

Not willing to tarnish his reputation, Jared grit his teeth. He knows that it will be different from then on.

“You think a mere wooden plank can defeat me? I’ll cut it in two along with you!”

Determined to prove Jakob wrong, Jared dashed towards Jakob and swung his sword upwards. Jakob faced Jared’s sword and parried the attack, swinging the wooden plank sideways.

TAK! The wooden plank made the typical sound a wood would do when hit by a metal. After parrying the first attack, Jakob immediately started his counter attack. Due to the fact that the wooden plank is leagues lighter than the sword Jared is wielding, Jakob could move easily. Swinging the wooden plank again, and precisely aiming for Jared’s hand in swift succession.

Jared felt consecutive sharp pain on his hand, making him ultimately drop his sword. The crowd gasped in awe at the sight. Who would have thought that a mere wooden plank would stand a chance against a sword wielded by someone strong. It was not an easy feat and yet, they just saw one achieving it.

Unable to hold his sword due to his hand gone numb, Jared tried using his other hand to pick up his sword. Unfortunately, before he could even touch the hilt of his sword, Jakob hit his other hand, making it go numb as well. Jared was immediately out of commission. With his weapon inaccessible to him, the outcome has been decided.

“You bastard- !” he growled, “I’ll make you pay for this…”

Not caring what Jared says, Jakob shuts him up. He swung his wooden plank twice, hitting both of Jared’s knees. His body collapsed immediately like a sandcastle.

Jared’s painful moan could be heard by everyone, and yet no one came forward to stop Jakob. Sensing that it wasn’t the end of it, Jared turned his gaze towards his friends, who are terrified of what they have just witnessed.

“Hey- ! Call my fa- gurk!”

Before he could say any more, Jakob punched his face in and he fell on the ground, and fainted.

“Nobody came to your rescue,” Jakob said, turning around, “Looks like nobody liked you from the very beginning,”

Jakob couldn’t have said it better. Jared was known for being a troublemaker despite his household’s effort to make their name great and known. Despite how battered he was, none of the people in the crowd looked at him with pity. On the contrary, they all looked satisfied.

The people in the city have been waiting for someone to teach him a lesson, a lesson that will forever be etched into his mind, and he just learned that lesson.

Jakob turned to Jared’s friends and called out to them.

“You should have him checked,” he suggested as they walked towards Jared and made sure he was still breathing, “I didn’t hit him hard, he just fainted,” he added.

Out of fear, Jared’s friends didn’t respond and one of them ran out to call Jared’s house for help. And not long after, some people arrived at the scene and collected Jared. There were still a lot of people at the scene when his family arrived, they were all just watching.

The butler asked Jared’s friend where Jakob had gone, and told that he had already left. The butler didn’t continue asking any more questions, and ordered the men to go back to have Jared treated.