Did this girl just call me "young man"?
Barrett felt both amused and angry. The clueless girl in front of him was probably a rookie adventurer fresh out of the nest. Forget the fact that he was more than a decade older than her and a whole head taller. Just in terms of experience, he'd been in this line of work for nearly twenty years.
Barrett waved his hand, about to turn her down, when an adventurer holding a mug of black rye beer sidled up beside him.
This adventurer had a longsword strapped to his back and a face full of freckles. When he grinned, everyone could see a missing front tooth in his yellow, grimy gums.
He leaned toward EeDechi with a smile he probably thought was sincere and said, "Little girl, this guy's lower half doesn't work anymore. If you're into older dudes, I'm your man. I'm a platinum-level adventurer! Super strong! I can even be your guide for free."
He puffed out his chest proudly, the shiny white platinum-level metal badge on his chest gleaming brightly.
Barrett knew this guy—he was "Scarface" Valent. Lately, with age creeping up on him, Valent had been itching to retire from the adventurer gig, head back to his rural hometown, marry a wife, and have kids. That's why he'd been shamelessly hitting on every unfamiliar young girl he came across.
Problem was, he was too ugly to get any attention from the pretty ones. Still, he was the type to "take whatever he could get"—even daring to flirt with EeDechi, a girl whose face practically screamed "serious and mature, strangers keep away."
EeDechi, expressionless, lifted a corner of her gray cloak. Pinned to her chest was a yellow metal badge that glinted under the tavern's hexagonal candelabra chandelier, shining like the sun itself. The dazzling light hit Barrett and Valent square in the eyes.
She shot a glance at the dumbfounded "Scarface" Valent and said coldly, "A guy with a Justice Value of -120? Get lost."
This girl was an orichalcum-level adventurer! Barrett's mind reeled in shock.
Orichalcum-level was just one step below the top-tier adamantite-level! It was a rank above his own mithril-level and two whole ranks above Valent's platinum-level!
Orichalcum-level adventurers were as rare as a needle in a haystack. Across the entire empire, there were only thirty or forty teams with an orichalcum metal badge to their name.
Barrett was already the center of attention in the tavern, so now pretty much everyone had caught sight of the orichalcum-level badge on EeDechi's chest—a symbol of power and status. Whispers buzzed among the adventurers, and waves of gasps rippled through the tavern like water spreading across a pond.
(Note: Adventurer ranks from lowest to highest are: Copper, Iron, Silver, Gold, Platinum, Mithril, Orichalcum, Adamantite)
"WHO'S THE ORICHALCUM-LEVEL?!"
A gruff, irritable voice boomed from the middle of the tavern. At the same time, a hulking brute stood up from the crowd. The big guy sneered at EeDechi, then shoved his way through a few tables, stomping straight toward Barrett and the others.
He shoved his way through the crowded tavern, pushing aside several adventurers who were just trying to enjoy their drinks in peace. One scrawny adventurer even tumbled under a table, but no one dared to snap at this hot-tempered, beefy guy—too scared to mess with him.
Barrett knew this man. He was "Bonebreaker Axe" Wood Balder, a notorious mithril-level adventurer who always carried two heavy, dwarf-forged blood-streaked battle axes.
Wood was bigger and brawnier than most, a skilled fighter with a short fuse. He'd taken down plenty of famous, terrifying monsters and broken more than a few noses and ribs in brawls with other adventurers. That's how he earned the nickname "Bonebreaker Axe"!
From what Barrett had heard, Wood Balder had applied to the Adventurer's Guild multiple times, hoping his combat record would bump him up from mithril to orichalcum. But the guild kept shooting him down, saying he didn't have what it takes.
"Bonebreaker Axe" Wood towered over EeDechi by two full heads, his body nearly three times her size, like a walking wall looming in front of the black-haired girl.
He glared down at her, a long scar on his face twisting into something ugly and menacing. "You, a little twig of a woman, are orichalcum-level?" he sneered. "I've killed tons of monsters and still can't make orichalcum! How many times did you suck off the guildmaster's dick to climb your way up to that rank, you little bitch?"
Barrett wanted to step in and calm things down, hoping to soothe Wood's raging temper. Sure, EeDechi had the vibe of some old nun crawling out of a convent, but Barrett still felt a twinge of sympathy for her. Plus, he figured a man with any self-respect shouldn't be laying hands on a woman.
Even though Barrett wasn't a knight, he stuck to a code that some adventurers scoffed at.
EeDechi's adventurer rank was definitely higher than Wood's, but Barrett didn't think she'd have the upper hand if it came to a fight. Sometimes a tight-knit adventurer team could hit orichalcum-level without every member being orichalcum-level strong themselves.
Just as Barrett opened his mouth to mediate, EeDechi cut in first. "You Justice Value -250 piece of trash," she said. "You're a adult—stop yelling in my face like some brat."
Justice Value? Barrett had no clue what that meant, and Wood clearly didn't either. But the words "trash" and "brat" hit him like a match to gasoline, setting his fury ablaze. He lunged, his arm—thicker than a gorilla's—reaching to grab EeDechi's neck.
But EeDechi moved faster. Or maybe she moved second but struck first.
The black-haired girl seized Wood's neck and hoisted him up. His neck was so thick, like a damn tree trunk, that her hand could only grip half of it. At a glance, it looked almost comical—like a dainty elf lifting a hulking troll.
Wood's legs thrashed like crazy. Thanks to his height, even with EeDechi holding him up, his toes could still brush the ground. But no matter how hard he kicked and pushed off the floor, he couldn't break free from the slim arm locked around his throat.