"You’re dead meat!"
Lilith blushed furiously, pulling out her sword.
A group of Treant Heroes also stood up, glaring at the man menacingly.
"What, you country bumpkins want to fight? Look around, know where you are, know who we are?" The burly man sneered, slightly lifting his shirt to reveal a gold coin badge. "This is Riverside, and we’re from the Bounty Guild!"
He slapped the table hard, and immediately a group of Heroes wearing the same gold coin badges stood up, surrounding the Treant Heroes.
Zachary Barnes leaned in to Ethan, whispering, "My Lord, the Bounty Guild is a B-rank guild, one of the three big guilds in Riverside... With our current strength, we are no match for them. Maybe we should endure this... Picking a fight with them right now is not a good choice."
"Hey, newbie, you look like a greenhorn. Riverside is no place for weaklings, better scurry back to your country hole!" The burly man glanced at Ethan, instinctively knowing that he was the leader of this group of Treants, and began to taunt him loudly.
Even in Riverside, Lilith and Alicia were top-grade beauties.
If he didn’t provoke these weaklings in front of him, how could he possibly get a chance to get closer to them?
"Is that so?" Ethan raised an eyebrow, a glint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
"An underdeveloped gorilla should go home and find his mother. Oh wait, you’re a gorilla, your place is in the zoo." Ethan mocked, looking at the burly man with contempt.
"You bastard!" The burly man roared and rose to his feet, lunging at Ethan.
The crowd in the tavern quickly dispersed to the sides, shouting excitedly, "Richard Clark, go get him!"
"Smash this green-skin, snatch those two lasses!"
"Hey, Richard, those two girls look pretty tender. Don’t forget your brothers after you’ve had your fun!"
Like a raging bull, Richard Clark charged at Ethan.
The wooden floor of the tavern creaked under his footfall, while the swords and shields on the walls gave out a muffled noise from the vibrations.
He leapt up and aimed a punch straight at Ethan’s face.
Ethan slowly clenched his fist and threw a punch at Richard Clark.
Their fists collided with a thunderous boom.
However, it was the clearly larger Richard Clark who was sent reeling backwards, stumbling a few steps back.
"Who do you think you are, you damned thing!" Richard Clark roared and rushed forward again, his fist now shrouded in a terrifying white light, aimed straight at Ethan.
Ethan chuckled softly, dodged Richard Clark’s punch, and slammed a heavy fist into his ribs.
A chilling sound of bone cracking was heard, and Richard Clark immediately spat out blood, knocked to the ground by Ethan’s punch.
Ethan put his foot on Richard Clark’s head and spat on his face.
He forcefully kicked him out of the tavern.
Looking at the rest of the Bounty Guild’s heroes, Ethan coldly said, "While I’m still patient, take this trash and get out."
The Bounty Guild members glared at Ethan, seemingly trying to etch his face into their memories, and then left in a flurry without uttering a single threat, carrying Richard Clark with them.
"Holy... How is this NPC so fierce?"
"It’s Ethan who’s fierce, right? Even his underling has this much strength."
A group of Treant Heroes couldn’t help but murmur amongst themselves, their fear of Ethan growing.
They had assumed the Treant Ethan had transformed into was just a minor subordinate of his.
After a bit of stretching, Ethan was quite satisfied with his strength.
Although he couldn’t use magic or his divine dragon form due to the transformation potion that had turned him into a Treant, his inherent attributes were strong enough.
He was more than enough to disguise himself as a warrior.
The lively adventurer’s tavern quieted down after the conflict.
Ethan finished his strong drink and walked back up to the female orc.
"Um, I’d like to take on a new quest. Any recommendations?"
The female orc pulled out a massive notebook, flipped through it, and began to explain, "There are many quests you can undertake. This one is to exterminate the giant rabbit on the outskirts. And this one is to guard the reclamation of farmland..."
After she had introduced a few missions, Ethan frowned, interrupting her, "Are there any more difficult quests? These low-level quests offer little benefit and consume time."
"Find me some high-difficulty, high-reward quests."
The female orc was somewhat troubled, she scanned through the task log meticulously and said hesitantly, "Your guild, Wings of Freedom, is brand new. Most of the quests are too difficult for you. However, if you’re fearless... there might be a quest here that suits you."
She pulled out a piece of paper from the log and handed it to Ethan.
"This is the least restrictive but the most challenging task I can find at the moment."
[Extermination Quest]
Exterminate the Orc Dark Lord in Riverside.
Challenge Level: B
Reward: 20,000 gold coins.
A reward of 50,000 gold coins for a peer?
Ethan licked his lips, his eyes lit up.
"This quest, we, Wings of Freedom, will take it."
...
After resting for a night in Riverside, the Wings of Freedom gathered outside the city early the next morning.
The team wasn’t large, only 55 people, but they were about to face a high-level B quest, with the Dark Lord as their target...
Most heroes would be anxious, but on the faces of these Treant Heroes, there was no hint of worry, no sense of pressure.
The majority of the Treant Heroes had a simple thought process - the quest was dangerous, sure, but they had a Dark Lord backing them up.
Compared to the Dragon Dark Lord, an Orc Dark Lord was clearly a piece of cake.
After a brief preparation, the team set off for the Orc Dark Lord’s territory.
Before they left, Ethan gave a quick pep talk.
"Let’s speed things up, guys. Kill this Orc Dark Lord quickly, don’t want it to ruin tonight’s dinner," Ethan said, his voice filled with determination and resolve.
"Ooh!"
"Kill!"
The crowd cheered together, their morale high.
The group left the main city and ventured into the outskirts.
They crossed through the dense forest and as it neared noon, they approached the Dark Lord’s territory.
The surrounding area of the Dark Lord’s dwelling was foggy and filled with thick grass and forest.
The trees were tall and obscured the sun.
Ethan led his warriors cautiously forward. Behind them, a squad of Divine Dragon Warriors and Divine Dragon Angels followed closely, hidden in the forest, ready to launch an attack at any moment.
"Shh... it’s right ahead," the scout Alicia soon returned and reported.
Ethan looked forward and saw a large camp beyond the forest, with a few towering orcs standing on the watchtower.
"Zachary Barnes, you’re in command. As soon as you hear chaos inside, start the attack," Ethan instructed Zachary Barnes and then snuck into the orc territory with Alicia.
As the leader, Ethan should avoid such risky actions, but as the strongest in the group, it was the best option to reduce casualties.
They stealthily snuck into the Orc Dark Lord’s camp.
The orcs in the camp were playing and making noise, completely unaware of the impending danger.
Ethan whispered to Alicia, "Alicia, target the commanders. The orcs aren’t very smart, without their leaders, they’re just headless flies. If we can throw them into chaos, we can easily defeat them!"
The duo maneuvered through the encampment, quickly arriving at the heart of the base where two orc guards stood alertly at the entrance.
Ethan signaled Alicia to stop, whispering, "The Orc Dark Lord is likely inside. I’ll create a diversion, and you can take out the rest amidst the chaos."
Alicia nodded in agreement, curious as to how Ethan planned to distract the orcs.
Soon enough, she witnessed it.
Ethan brazenly strode into the camp center, let out a furious roar, and morphed into a fearsome, towering dragon.
With a powerful blast of scorching dragon flame, the central tent was instantly engulfed in fire.
"Who dares to offend the mighty Orc Dark Lord?" A deep growl emanated from the burning tent.
An enormous orc, well over two meters tall and particularly rotund, emerged from the blaze.
However, as he looked up at the massive dragon hovering in the sky, the initially furious Orc Dark Lord paused, dumbfounded...
"Hold on, brother, could there be some misunderstanding between us?"