In the Plaza of the Leaf Village, Lux stood still as he faced the group of six that fought against the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis.
Their leader, Frederick, had his arms crossed over his chest as he looked up at the Half-Elf who was taller than him.
“I heard that you brought back the corpse of the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis after it was killed by the Red-Striped Predator Mosquitoes. Is this true?” Frederick asked.
“Yes,” Lux answered. “However, the ones that dealt the killing blows were the dozens of Obsidian Mosquitoes which were all Rank 1 Monsters.”
Frederick nodded his head in acknowledgement. “I know that you were not in the wrong, and simply took advantage of the situation, but it still didn’t sit well with us. We can only stay here in Leaf Village for a little more than four days, but the Red-Eyed Terror Mantis might not spawn again before we leave this place.”
“You can keep the Beast Core if you like, but we need the Terror Mantis’ bladed claws and its exoskeleton. Can you give this to us as a sign of friendship?”
“And, if I refuse?” Lux asked.
He didn’t mind giving them the Terror Mantis’ bladed claws and exoskeleton because he was sure that he could farm these items before he left the Leaf Village. However, the hateful glares that Frederick’s party members were giving him, which made it seem as if he was someone that had killed their family members, were ticking him off.
“Hah? You dare refuse?” the Shield Warrior of the group shouted. “We are being civilized with you even though you stole our prey. If you are really an upstanding individual, you should hand the Beast Corpse over to us along with an apology!”
“That’s right!”
“Augustus is right. The Terror Mantis is rightfully ours, you thief!!”
“Give us back what is rightfully ours!”
Although Frederick didn’t say anything, he still didn’t stop his party members from voicing their complaints. His gaze remained calm as he just stared at Lux, waiting for his answer.
Because of the commotion that had happened in the Figaro Gardens, some of the Dwarves who were in Leaf Village turned to look at the disturbance in the Plaza. Soon a crowd formed and watched this scene with great interest.
Dwarves were known to be a rowdy race, especially when it came to drinking. They were also not afraid of a brawl, so the other races had learned not to tick off the stubborn Dwarves, who were known to raise their war hammers at the first sign of conflict.
“How about you buy them from me?” Lux asked. “I’ll give you a fifty percent discount on the market price. How about it?”
Before Frederick could give his reply, the Shield Warrior, Augustus, immediately raised a ruckus.
“You’ve got guts I’ll give you that!” Augustus shouted with a sneer. “Selling something that originally belonged to us? Is this how Half-Elves operate?”
“Bastard!”
“Scum!”
“Thief!”
The Dwarves in the crowd that had encircled them were starting to murmur to each other.
Colette’s group had also arrived at the scene and looked at the Half-Elf and Frederick with frowns on their faces.
“Frederick, are you bullying my Big Brother?!” Colette immediately stepped forward and stood between Lux and the party leader of the Shadow Tempest with her arms crossed over her chest. “Although you were the ones that fought against the Terror Mantis, the ones that killed it were the mosquitoes. Meaning, it no longer belonged to any of you! How dare you gang up on Big Brother like this?”
“Oi, little girl from the Goldenslayer family, it is best if you stay out of this!” Augustus didn’t back down as he glared at Colette.
Both of them were children of Ducal Families in Solais. Although their territories were far from each other, the World of Elysium allowed the dwarves from Solais to appear in the Dwarven Lands ruled by the Dwarven Kings.
This allowed these families to get to know each other, and form strong connections even though their territories were far apart.
“Hmp! You think you can scare me, you pig?!” Colette shot back. “Come. I’ll smash your face with my mace!”
Lux hurriedly grabbed the little girl who had already taken out her weapon and was raring to fight against the Shield Warrior who was looking down at her in disdain.
Clearly, Colette wasn’t a match for the Shield Warrior, but she still made her stance known because she couldn’t just sit and watch on the side as Lux got bullied by other Dwarves. Nw novel chapters are publshed on ovlꜰre.et
“Calm down, Colette,” Lux said as he tried to pacify the adorable girl whose cheeks were puffed up like a hamster. Deep inside, he felt very touched because the other Dwarves in the crowd were looking at him as if he was their common enemy.
After spending some time with Colette and the others, Lux had almost forgotten that he was the only Half-Elf in this Beginner Village that was filled with Dwarves. In a conflict between two races, it was only normal for every race to back their own.
“How do you want to settle this?” Lux asked Frederick who had kept his silence from the start of the conflict.
Frederick gazed at him with a serious expression as he unsheathed his sword. “A duel. If we win, you will give us the Terror Mantis’ bladed claws and exoskeleton.”
“And, if I win?” Lux asked.
Frederick didn’t answer right away. Instead, he looked at his party members to see if they had other opinions. All of them nodded their heads at the same time. Actually, he had already told his party about his plan to duel Lux if the negotiations didn’t turn out the way they wanted.
Naturally, since this was a duel, they also needed to give something in return to make it fair in front of everyone.
“A favor,” Frederick replied. “We will owe you one favor that you can ask of us when you meet us again in the future.”
According to his Grandma, Dwarves were known to honor their promises. This was why, when dealing with other races, most people would use Dwarves as intermediaries in negotiations. They knew that the Dwarves would uphold their part of the bargain.
“A favor? What if I ask you to explore a dungeon with me and I get all the loot, you’re still willing to do that favor?”
“We are Dwarves. We will honor our word without fail.”
The Dwarves who were watching from the side all nodded their heads in acknowledgement of Frederick’s words.
“Fine,” Lux said as he patted Colette’s head. “Since you want a duel, I will give you one. What are the rules?”
Frederick smiled. “All you need to do is defeat me…”
“And me!” Augustus interjected. “I also have a say in this. So you need to defeat me too!”
Frederick and Augustus were both Apostles now, which meant that among the Dwarf children in Leaf Village, they were the strongest. They also did an investigation about Lux’s history and background and found out that he had only recently arrived in the Beginner’s Village.
Since that was the case, there was no possible way for Lux to win against them in a one-on-one battle. After all, they were stronger than him.
At least, this was what they believed, so they decided to go with a duel to make it look fair to everyone. Also, they were technically on the moral high ground, so no one would bat an eye and call them bullies.
“Big Brother, you can’t beat them,” Colette grabbed Lux’s hand and looked up at him. “They are already Apostles. They’re way stronger than you.”
Lux smiled as he crouched down and whispered something in her ear. “Don’t worry. I fought the Dark Draugr, remember? I can handle them just fine.”
Colette’s eyes widened in shock because she had almost forgotten about Lux’s bodyguard, Diablo.
Although the Skeleton wasn’t as strong as an Apostle, a two-versus-one battle would still prove difficult for someone that had just become an Apostle.
“Okay!” Colette nodded as she returned to where her party members were. “Don’t lose to them, Big Brother!”
Lux gave her a thumbs up as he stood up. He knew that the majority of the Dwarves didn’t like him, but that was fine.
Duels that were held in town were quite safe because there was a universal law that prevented deaths from happening. This was one of the safeguards that the God of Games, Eriol, had made to settle disputes over disagreements that might lead to brawl.
Of course both parties must accept the duel for this feature to work.
Anyone who started a fight in any of the villages, towns, and cities without declaring a duel, would be treated as a criminal and captured by the guards that patrolled these territories.
Frederick declared a duel invitation directed to Lux, and almost immediately, a small orb of light appeared in front of him.
The young swordsman pricked his fingertip with a dagger and dropped a drop of his blood on the floating orb to signal his intention to start the duel. After receiving his blood, the orb flew towards Lux.
Summoning Oathbreaker, Lux did the same and dropped his blood on the orb, signaling his agreement to the duel.
“I recognize this duel,” a voice filled with Divinity said. “The fight will begin in thirty seconds. Make your preparations.”
A countdown timer appeared on the surface of the orb signaling that the duel was about to start.
Lux equipped his Relentless Warrior Armor, which made Frederick and Augustus arch their eyebrows. They had not seen this set of armor before.
When the countdown reached ten seconds, Lux pointed Oathbreaker towards Frederick and smiled.
“Don’t get surprised when you lose, okay?” Lux said with confidence.
“I won’t be surprised,” Frederick replied as he pointed his own weapon at Lux. “That’s because I won’t lose.”