9 Edmonds Challenge (2/2)

Bending back and straightening himself, the Chief said, ”Well, too bad then. I was looking forward to tasting the famous City of Wine's specialty. You've come a long way. Why here? Why not go to a hamlet closer to your city?”

Aaron, who was watching, felt amused when he saw the one who had called himself Edmond raise his fist and use it to beat his chest twice.

If a 4-Armed Gorilla were here, it would definitely go forth to answer the mating call.

However, it looked as if Edmond treated it as some impressive gesture, as doing so made his eyes blaze with excitement.

”For a challenge! I know you're one of the strongest Hamlet Chiefs. You might even break through soon, right? I wanted to beat you before that, so I could boast that I took the hardest way. My father told me that when a man does something, he should do it in such a way that everyone looks up to him.”

After a few seconds of silence during which the children stared at him with awe, the Chief broke out into loud peals of laughter.

These surprised even Aaron, who had been expecting some sort of acknowledgment from the Chief.

He had no social skills whatsoever, but this sight had reminded him of a face-off between two Crocodrills who had been leaders of their respective tribes.

Crocodrills usually settled disputes by using their sharp, pointed snouts to drill holes in their enemies. Yet, these two had wanted to sort it out by communication, as there had been a bigger threat which wanted to eat both of them.

So, the two fought, and the loser agreed to follow the winner.

However, nothing similar happened here.

After laughing for a few seconds, the Chief wiped away the tears at his eyes before laying a hand on Edmond's shoulder and saying, ”Yeah, great choice, kid. If everything went well, I would have retired in 3 days. I guess you'll be the last one I crush. That guy from the World Government always complained that I'm unfair. Well, he can't blame me now, as you came looking for me by yourself. Time for some fun. Children, follow, and when you go home, tell your mothers what you see. Ok?”

Aaron and the children didn't understand too much, but they nodded and followed, looking forward to the fight.

Edmond only humphed, looking as if he would settle this in the ring.

Jenny had stayed silent till now, but eagerness appeared in her eyes, too, meaning that she, too, was looking forward to the fight.

Still chuckling under his breath, the Chief led them all to outside before heading to an open area.

On seeing the crowd, the hamlet folk who were idle heard the news that there was going to be an Ascender Challenge and chose to follow.

Finally, by the time they reached, the audience had at least 50 members.

Aaron was more excited than all of them. The condition to follow the clue in his mind to find out his identity was to beat this man, and he was going to get a chance to see someone try. Hopefully, he would pick up some tricks.

He still hadn't had time to clearly order all of his thoughts, but this was something he really wanted to do.

His identity had been the biggest mystery that had haunted him throughout his life.

Who was he? Who were his parents? Where was he from? What was that white pod?

He had always been afraid that there might never be a chance to pursue these questions, but now that there was one in front of him, there was no way that he would let it go.

Amid the cheering for the Chief, Edmond humphed again before artfully raising his hand.

Instead of simply letting his Tera appear, it seemed that he had other plans.

First, he raised his left leg, before bringing it down forcefully and shooting an uppercut with his right hand into the air.

The moment his fist reached its highest point, the white gem appeared between his knuckles and flashed, resulting in a shape which seemed to be half the size of a human.

That shape flew through the air before landing on the ground with flair, awing all the spectators and making a few even say things such as 'Cool!'.

However, when Aaron saw the Tera that had appeared, he scoffed.

It was one of the weakest that the two of them usually encountered in the jungle: a Foxtail Rabbit.

”Goooo Bewitching Fox! Show 'em hell!”

Wh-what?

A Bewitching Fox- one of the strongest predators in the forest?

Clearly, there was a case of mistaken identity here.

This thought appeared in Aaron's mind, and it seemed to dawn on the villagers, too, as they started to chuckle among themselves.

Edmond saw that something was wrong, but he just assumed they were jealous of his Rare-grade Tera.

Yet, when the fat viper which appeared shot a single attack, the 'Bewitching Fox' jumped in fright and ran out of the ring, resulting in an automatic forfeit.

Finally, even Edmond understood what was going on when he heard the words which floated to him from the villagers.

Apparently…he had been cheated into buying a Foxtail Rabbit, instead of a Bewitching Fox.

Shock coursed through his mind, along with panic and alarm.

Yet, he had to save the day.

So, touching the poor, frightened Rabbit, Edmond took it back into his Core and struck another heroic pose before saying:

”I seem to have misplaced my Tera. I'll be back. I assure you that I haven't been cheated! My Bewitching Fox must be…lost in the jungle! I'll go search for it now! Goodbye, everyone! It was really nice meeting you!”