Chapter 12 The Barbarians

  "Wait!" The two men were ready, but before they could start, the thin man who had been shouting earlier suddenly called out for a halt. He glanced at Kowell and a somewhat sinister smile spread across his pale face as he said, "Don't you think this trial is a bit dull? Why don't we add some excitement to it?" The thin man drew a dagger from his waist and with a flash of cold light, plunged it into the table. Then, looking at Kowell, he said, "This dagger is a top-grade Lingguang, if you can win, it's yours!"

  "A top-grade dagger, heavens! This is actually a top-grade weapon."

  "The Venomstrike Mercenaries are indeed wealthy, and they can easily take out a few Luminari weapons."

  "Hum! What does this have to do with having money or not? Those poisonous people, when did they ever spend their own money to buy something? This must be something they robbed!"

  。。。。。。

  The thin man pulled out a radiant weapon, instantly causing a stir among the surrounding adventurers. For most of the adventurers in Mill Town, radiant weapons were something they could only look at and admire, but never possess. The adventurers looked on with envy and jealousy, their eyes gleaming with greed. However, as the one involved, Kowell did not show the same excitement as the other onlookers. He calmly glanced at the dagger on the table, then coldly stared at the thin man and said, "Put away your thing, this gamble is meaningless. Even if you win, I won't be able to take out something of equivalent value."

  "No, no, no!" The thin man laughed and shook his head, "Since I've taken out the goods, there's no reason to take them back. You don't have anything to bet? No problem, let me choose something as a stake then!" The thin man looked around, and his eyes lit up as he pointed at a girl on the outskirts of the crowd, "It's her! If you win this dagger from me, I'll let you have it, but if I win, that girl will go with me."

  The girl he was referring to was called Sasha, also an adventurer. When there were tasks, she went out to complete them, and when there weren't any, she came to the tavern to work as a part-time cook. Although her appearance wasn't particularly striking, as an ability user, Sasha's figure was well-maintained. When the thin man came in and unintentionally saw Sasha, he went up to greet her but was ruthlessly rejected.

  "This I cannot decide!" Cowell shook his head and said, "I can only represent myself, others have nothing to do with me!"

  "It doesn't matter." The thin man shook his head, with a nonchalant expression staring at Sasha, and said with a tongue-in-cheek tone, "You just focus on the competition, we'll take care of other things ourselves, heh heh... heh heh..."

  The thin man looked at Sasha, who was not far away, and smiled. Sasha was startled and turned to leave, but was blocked by two other members of the Poison Stinger Mercenary Group.

  "Preparations are complete, let's begin." Seeing Sasha being blocked, the thin man puckered his lips and focused his attention on the table!

  "Three, two, one, go!"

  "Ah!"

  As the countdown ended, Kowiel and the strong man simultaneously let out a loud roar, concentrating all their strength on their arms placed on the table. Veins instantly bulged on both men's thick arms, and to everyone's surprise, Kowiel, who usually took advantage of girls, was actually evenly matched with the strong man, with neither able to gain the upper hand.

  "My goodness, what did I just see? Old Kowell is actually evenly matched with that big guy." Many people were greatly surprised by Kowell's performance. No one expected this old, lecherous and somewhat disabled bartender to have such abilities!

  "You little brat, you shouldn't be so arrogant! I'm going to give you a lesson you'll never forget for the rest of your life!" Cowell gritted his teeth and stared at the burly man in front of him, with a fierce battle fire burning in his eyes.

  The old man's blood surged, and he suddenly seemed to have become ten or more years younger. He let out a series of loud roars, using all his strength to push forward against his opponent. Amazingly, he managed to bend the strong man's arm backward, curving it into an arc. Seeing Cowell gain the upper hand, the surrounding adventurers went wild with cheers and applause, causing the tavern to erupt in excitement. In the eyes of the adventurers, since the strong man had been suppressed to this extent, there was basically no way for him to turn the tables anymore! In other words, this victory belonged to Cowell, belonged to the entire town of Mill. However... Just as the adventurers thought victory was within sight, a sudden and strange change occurred!

  "Old man, I admit you're pretty strong, but don't think that this little bit of endurance can win against me? You're too naive, no wonder you got your arm chopped off! ROAR!!!!!" The burly man's wrist was at a 45-degree angle with the table when he suddenly spoke up. Amidst Cowell's astonishment, a series of fierce roars erupted from the man's mouth, and his black-and-white eyes turned crimson in an instant. His originally sturdy body seemed to thicken by another circle in that moment, and his arm, which had been bent under pressure, suddenly straightened up!

  "Are you a savage?! Ah!" Old Kowell exclaimed, followed by a pained cry. His remaining arm was heavily pressed onto the stone table by the burly man, with such great force that it cracked open a 10-centimeter thick stone tabletop. The burly man seemed to feel it wasn't enough, grabbing Kowell's arm and lifting his entire body up. He spun Kowell around twice before tossing him out like a sandbag, slamming Kowell's over-200-pound body onto a table. After that, Kowell couldn't get back up again.

  The ferocious barbarian's mighty strength awakened the adventurers' deep-seated fear, and everyone hastily retreated from the stone table. Several adventurers rushed over to help Kowiel up, and the scene was in complete disarray. Just then, a shrill cry pierced the air - "We won! Grab that little girl!"

  Sasha was a thief, although not very strong, but she had speed. Seeing Old Colewell being thrown out, Sasha accelerated with all her might and rushed towards the tavern door like a ghostly shadow. Her speed was fast, but someone was even faster than her. One of the two men responsible for intercepting Sasha, who sported a goatee beard, was also a thief. Before Sasha could rush out of the tavern, he had already blocked the large door with his body.

  As soon as she saw the gate being sealed, Sasha's heart sank, but she didn't give up hope of escaping. She had heard about how the poisonous thorn mercenaries treated women, and a female warrior who used to be with her was caught by them in Kuren Town because of some past grievances. Three days later, her body was found in the wilderness near Kuren Town, with all her tendons torn apart, hundreds of large and small wounds on her body, and her lower body was a bloody mess. It was clear that she had been tortured to death. Sasha didn't want to end up like that female warrior, so no matter how slim the hope was, she would never give up.

  However, she was only a third-rate ability user, while the Toxic Stinger Mercenaries were at least fifth-rate ability users. The two sides' abilities were not on the same level to begin with, and what's more, the tavern's space was limited, making it impossible for Sasha to fully utilize her speed.