A tense atmosphere was quickly created around Johnathan and Marlon as they had a brief staring contest, the former with arrogance and the latter with a bored expression.
Johnathan’s party members stepped forward to assist their leader, reminding Marlon of his family name and strength and warning him not to irritate him.
But Marlon did not care. All he wanted right now was to return to his tent, analyze his progress and plan how to make use of his loots.
Now he had to deal with a proud second generation young master for an entirely unnecessary reason.
"I’ll repeat myself for the last time for the sake of peace. Tell me what happened inside the danger-zone," Johnathan asked again with an even fiercer tone, his eyes gleaming with pride and authority.
"My teammate already narrated the entire ordeal to you, didn’t he?" Marlon asked blankly, then his eyes lit up and he tilted his head slightly to the side. "Or you’re in love with me, hence why you want to hear my voice." ᴛhis chapter is ᴜpdated by novel-fire.ɴet
"Y-You..." Johnathan was stunned.
He could hear his party member chuckling, and even Lyra, his crush, seemed amused by the insult.
He grew more enraged and barked while puffing out his chest. "Do you know who I am?"
"Dude, do I look like I care?" Marlon responded tiredly. "If you’re not attracted to my angelic and masculine voice, then let this quarrel die right here and right now. My teammate and I have walked a long distance, we need rest."
Saying this, he signaled Ashton and Logan and began strolling away.
The two were previously startled by the provocation, but when they saw him walking away, unbothered, they immediately rushed after him.
Nonetheless, before they could leave, one of the boys in Johnathan’s party stood in front of Marlon, blocking his path.
Marlon’s face turned cold in an instant. His eyes shone with killing intent as they met the eyes of the brazen young man standing in front of him.
The killing intent he radiated from his gaze was brief but enough to make the young man step out of the way cautiously while gulping nervously.
’What just happened? Was that killing intent I felt from his gaze?’ he wondered. He quickly shook his head, disregarding the thoughts. It must be the winds, he concluded.
Meanwhile, Marlon and his teammates strolled past him without sparing a gaze.
When they walked past Lyra, standing leisurely far behind the others, Marlon winked at her and continued onward.
Lyra stared at his departing back with an ugly scowl on her face. He is indeed a weirdo, she thought.
Then she turned to look at her speechless party members.
Johnathan was at the front, shivering with anger. Two other party members were beside him, consoling him with their words, reminding him not to place such a lowlife in his radar of concern.
’Such a crybaby,’ she scoffed.
"Since the danger-zone has already been cleared, our raid for today is over, right, ’LEADER’?" She emphasized her last word sarcastically.
"We would resume our raid tomorrow," Johnathan heaved a long sigh to cleanse his mind of anger before responding. "The entrance exam begins two days after tomorrow, so we would hunt tomorrow, rest the day after to prepare for t—"
"I didn’t ask for such a lengthy explanation," she cut him off before he could finish, then turned her back to leave.
Johnathan wanted to continue speaking but quickly kept his mouth shut to avoid getting more embarrassed than he already was.
Inwardly, he swore to find Marlon and deal with him.
He thinks I’m like every other boy. I’ll teach him not to mess with me ever again, he vowed.
"Do you think you could have beaten Johnathan?" Ashton asked as they trudged through the cold desert toward the encampment.
"Of course," Marlon responded confidently.
If he wanted, taking care of Johnathan’s entire party would be a piece of cake. His only problem might be Lyra, who possessed assassin talent and thus was very swift, stealthy, and tricky. But he could still take her down with a single strike.
Nonetheless, he had already made up his mind to only reveal his talent at the entrance exam.
Then he could get all the recognition and resources to boost his growth as a hunter.
For now, showcasing his strength to the likes of Johnathan was a waste of time.
"Johnathan is the only son of a high-level B-rank hunter who would soon ascend and become a guardian. It was very wise of you not to take him on even though you could easily beat him up," Logan commented.
"Do you think his father or grandfather would actually stop me from beating sense into him if I really wanted to?" Marlon snorted.
When the world finds out he has an EX-rank talent, he would be protected and catered for. Mere hunters would not be able to hurt him even if they wanted to.
On the other hand, Ashton and Logan feared that he would get into trouble in a very short time if his brazen attitude didn’t end.
But at the same time, they replayed the scene that had taken place inside the last danger-zone they raided and realized that his brazenness was pretty deserved.
"If a veteran hunter saw what he did... they’d cough up blood," they thought.
The three of them walked through the desert for about two hours, discussing before finally reaching the encampment.
But when they arrived, their eyes widened.