CHAPTER 138: BARKING DOGS 2

Chapter 136 – Barking Dogs

Ethan took a single step forward.

The three adventurers who still stood instantly shuffled a step back, their bravado unraveling under the weight of his calm, predatory advance.

Kent’s lips trembled as he tried to gather his voice.

"Y-you! D-don’t you know who you’re messing with?!"

Ethan tilted his head, his expression one of mild confusion, as though Kent had just spoken nonsense.

"Messing with? Hm. No, I don’t recall that. I’m simply teaching some dogs a lesson... dogs who thought to bare their fangs at me." He said it as if stating a fact.

The insult struck harder than any blow. Kent’s face turned crimson.

One of the mercenaries, desperate and reckless, took advantage of what he thought was a distraction. With a roar, he lunged forward, sword thrusting for Ethan’s chest.

A metallic snap! rang out.

"Huh..?"

The man blinked, utterly bewildered. His blade had shattered mid-strike. He was hovering in air mid flight. Ethan’s palm had struck his chest with casual force, hurling him through the air. He crashed into the market’s stone wall with a sickening thud before crumpling.

Silence. Even the crowd’s whispers had died, as though the entire square held its breath.

Ethan turned his gaze back to Kent Ventross.

The young noble looked as if he had seen a specter crawl out of hell. His once-proud posture sagged, sweat gleaming on his brow.

"So?" Ethan’s voice was calm, almost bored. "Did the dog learn his lesson... or does it need more?"

"You... you bastard!" Kent’s voice cracked with rage and terror. "What do you think you’re doing?! I am Ken—"

The words froze in his throat.

Because Ethan was suddenly there. He hadn’t walked, hadn’t even sprinted. He had simply appeared in front of Kent, his towering 6’7’’ frame casting a long shadow over the noble.

Kent craned his neck upward, trembling.

Ethan’s hand shot out, fingers tangling in the silk of Kent’s well-kept hair. With one effortless pull, he yanked the noble’s head back, forcing Kent to meet his eyes.

Cold, sharp, and unyielding—Ethan’s gaze bored into him like steel through flesh.

"I didn’t quite hear you," Ethan murmured, each word deliberate, heavy. "So I’ll ask again. Did. The. Dog. Learn. Its. Lesson?"

Kent’s lips quivered. "B-bas—"

The word never finished.

Ethan’s kick swung in a brutal arc, a clean roundhouse strike across Kent’s face. The noble’s body left the ground, spun, and then slammed into the cobbles several paces away. He lay there unmoving, blood streaking his mouth, his once-pristine garments stained with dust and humiliation.

Ethan released a faint sigh, brushing his hands together as though swatting away dirt. He turned back toward his companions with practiced nonchalance.

"Some people really are insufferable," he muttered. "I wonder how they even manage to live this long."

Lirael giggled, her tone sweet but teasing.

"In my eyes, Master, you top that list."

Ethan blinked, then let out a low chuckle.

"Well... in a good way, I hope."

Still smiling, he motioned with his chin, and the three of them walked off, leaving the wreckage of the confrontation behind as if it were nothing more than an unpleasant errand.

Only when their backs disappeared into the street did the two remaining adventurers dare move. Pale-faced and shaking, they stumbled toward their fallen comrades.

Not far away, Kent Ventross remained sprawled on the ground, unconscious, blood trickling from his split lip and nose. Nearby people dared not touch them, their fear of getting them selves pulled in noble’s disputes..

The crowd parted in silence, every onlooker wearing the same expression: a mixture of awe and dread. None among them would ever forget what they had witnessed—nor ever think to trifle with that man and his companions.

---

The three of them walked side by side, the market street parting for them like water around a rock. Whispers followed in their wake—half in awe, half in fear—but no one dared step too close.

Sylvie clutched the hem of her robe, still trembling faintly. Her voice came out small, hesitant.

"M-master... what if... what if they come after us for revenge?"

Ethan didn’t even slow his stride. He adjusted his cloak, his tone light, almost careless.

"Revenge? Of course they’ll come. Didn’t that brat say he was some ’Ventross’? Probably a high-ranking noble. Families like that always retaliate. And if not—" he shrugged, "—then it just means their young master was nothing more than a discarded toy."

Sylvie blinked in confusion, while Lirael tilted her head.

"Discarded toy?" she echoed, her voice laced with curiosity.

"Think about it." Ethan’s eyes swept the bustling street, watching the adventurers and merchants go about their day, oblivious to the storm that had just passed. "Who in their right mind sends the supposed heir of a noble house to face a beast tide with such a pitiful force? Only a family that’s already written him off. Bet you anything, with that arrogant attitude of his, his family already assumes he’s dead."

Lirael frowned softly, her golden eyes thoughtful.

"And if that’s not the case?"

Ethan smiled, a slow, confident curve of his lips.

"Then we deal with it. Simple as that. I still have more than eighty stat points left to distribute. The real question is..." He glanced at his own hands, flexing them slightly, feeling the weight of his own power humming beneath the skin. "...where exactly do my limits lie right now?"

Lirael giggled lightly, though there was admiration in her tone.

"If I had to guess, Master... you’ve probably reached A-rank already."

"And too...you are also nearing peak of B rank."

Sylvie gasped, her eyes going wide as saucers.

"M-Master is A-rank!? A-and big sister is B-rank!?"

Ethan chuckled at her earnest disbelief, ruffling her hair with one large hand as if she were a child.

"Officially, I’m still registered as B-rank, and Lirael’s only C-rank." He winked, voice warm but firm. "Don’t worry, Sylvie. You’ll reach there soon enough. Faster than most."

Sylvie’s cheeks colored faintly at his confidence in her, though she tried to cover it with her staff.

Around them, the guild’s towering building came into view at the end of the street, its banner snapping crisply in breeze.