Chapter 101: You Think You're Strong Enough?

"Arran, a beautiful day begins with Freya's blessing."

Ever since her seal was lifted, Freya had been insufferably pleased with herself. Early in the morning, after washing up, she came skipping into Ye Ran's room, wrote that line down, and then stood by the head of the bed, holding a pink ring in both hands.

The pink ring first expanded, enveloping Ye Ran, and then the rosy halo dissolved into a faint radiance that seeped bit by bit into Ye Ran's body.

Ye Ran felt like an utter fool. He muttered under his breath, "Does this thing actually work?"

Freya nodded with great confidence. Yesterday, when Charlie had lifted her seal, a flood of memories had materialized out of thin air, and among them was the "Blessing of the Love God."

Sinclair and Meng Qi had also heard about this miraculous ability. After getting dressed, they came running over to try their luck, and they happened to witness the pink circle vanishing into Ye Ran's body. They found it utterly extraordinary.

"Freya, give me a blessing too," Meng Qi said with a grin.

Sinclair chimed in, "Me too, haha—the envoy made it sound positively miraculous."

Freya shook her little head and wrote on her drawing board: "My divine power is limited. Only Arran gets one."

"Fine, then tomorrow. Let me and Brother Sin have a taste of it too. Anyway, you two have all the time in the world together."

Meng Qi laughed as he slung an arm around Ye Ran. "Come on, Brother Ye, let's go get a drink. Bannal was already going on about it yesterday."

"So, Brother Ye, what does the Love God's blessing feel like? Refreshed and invigorated? Spirits soaring?"

"Honestly... I don't feel anything special..."

"Hey, Brother Ye, mind the door—"

"Thud."

Lost in concentration as he tried to sense the changes in his body, Ye Ran accidentally smacked right into the doorframe. The impact made him grimace in pain, and behind him, the confidence on Freya's face visibly dimmed a notch.

"Ugh... damn it. That Charlie must have been spouting nonsense..."

...

The Midnight Tavern was the largest tavern in the Yipo Wasteland. It boasted the most complete selection of liquor and the fairest prices. Unlike taverns that catered exclusively to humans, the Midnight Tavern harbored not a shred of racial prejudice—even trolls could walk in and have a drink or two.

In fact, elves, trolls, hunters, and tauren always came here to drink. They had a stubborn, almost obsessive fondness for the place. In the whole Yipo Wasteland, it was probably the only spot where the air felt free.

There was a gang here that could get their hands on almost anything you wanted—whether it was strictly prohibited drugs, dangerous tools, or rare essence stones. As long as you could afford the price, they would always manage to procure it for you.

Despite its name, the Midnight Tavern was open around the clock.

At ten in the morning, the tavern would normally be a riot of noise and commotion at this hour, but today was completely different. After two loud crashes, the entire establishment suddenly fell silent.

The elves, dwarves, and tauren who had been drinking all turned toward the sound to see a table in the middle smashed to pieces, with two young men collapsed in the pool of spilled liquor, while a few elves stood off to the side with their hands over their mouths.

Just moments ago, they had been happily drinking when they overheard the faint sound of an argument from the corner. At first, they paid it no mind, but soon the quarrel grew heated, then turned into an all-out brawl, and then these two poor fellows came flying over, shattering the table on their way down.

Over by the east window, the instigator—that troll—was gripping a bottle of liquor and tilting it into his mouth.

Sitting next to the troll was a rather young youth in a black silk shirt, his face wearing an arrogant, disdainful expression.

If Ye Ran had been there, he would have recognized him at once as Gellanton of the Blood Panther family of Linshuang City.

At that moment, the youth was holding two school badges in his hand. He glanced at them briefly and sneered, "Taiding Academy... Zhao Kai, Gules. If I remember correctly, you two are on the martial rankings. Weaker than I imagined."

"Unfortunately, in Linshuang City we only revere the strong. There's no sympathy for the weak. I'm taking all these seats. If you're not satisfied, let your fists do the talking."

He tossed the two badges to the ground and ground them under his heel.

"You bastard—"

The hulking Gules rose to his feet and tore a leg off a bench, his inner force surging outward. But just then, two more people walked in, heading straight for Gellanton.

In front was a young woman wearing a straw hat, clad in a golden cowboy outfit, her blonde curls spilling down from beneath the brim.

Behind her came a young man with long hair, reeking of blood and radiating a razor-sharp edge. His narrow, elongated eyes were especially unsettling—when those eyes fixed on him, Gules felt nothing but discomfort all over.

"Gellanton, are you picking fights again?"

The straw-hatted girl walked up beside Gellanton, took off her hat to reveal a pretty, flamboyant face, grabbed a bottle from the table, and took a swig. Then she reached out and patted the troll on the head.

Unexpectedly, the troll, who was normally docile only toward Gellanton, didn't resist the girl either—in fact, he seemed to enjoy her stroking.

The blood-soaked young man also walked over and sat down across from Gellanton.

Gellanton waved his hand dismissively. "Tavern brawls are completely normal. Some whelps from Baoliu City tried to snatch my spot, so I taught them a lesson."

He spoke as if it were nothing at all, paying no mind to the slender young man in white who stood up behind Zhao Kai and Gules.

That man exchanged glances with Zhao Kai and Gules, then, without a word, grabbed a chair beside him and hurled it at Gellanton, leaping forward at the same time. His powerful qi crashed toward the three of them. While drinking, he had seemed like a courteous, refined nobleman, but now that he was fighting, he moved like a tiger descending the mountain.

The troll beside Gellanton immediately turned his head and let out a roar, about to rise, but the straw-hatted girl said unhappily, "Big guy, sit down. Grey Wolf alone is more than enough."

"Bang."

No sooner had she spoken than the long-haired youth across from her let out a cold laugh. With one hand he caught the flying chair, his qi exploding outward and sending Zhao Kai and Gules flying. Then he reached out and seized the white-clad youth by the ankle.

That white-clad youth was formidable, though. He forced the long-haired young man to stumble back two full steps.

Two steps—but only two steps. The youth called Grey Wolf let out a hearty laugh, slashed out with a claw, and three lines of blood arced through the air as the white-clad youth was sent hurtling backward.

The white-clad youth tumbled backward through the air but managed to use his qi to absorb Grey Wolf's force and land steadily on his feet, not ending up as pathetic as Zhao Kai and Gules.

Even so, his expression changed.

Grey Wolf clapped his hands and sat back down, laughing. "Those Baoliu City folks are all soft and weak. Even White Tiger is nothing special."

That slender youth in white was none other than White Tiger, ranked first on the Taiding Academy martial rankings. Having been insulted for the first time in his life, rage flared in his chest and he readied himself to attack again.

But no sooner had he straightened up than he heard the whoosh of wind, and a massive object came flying in from the doorway, hurtling straight at Grey Wolf, who had just taken his seat.

When he saw what the massive object was, he nearly froze. It was the statue used to attract customers at the tavern entrance—half a person in height and weighing two hundred pounds.

A familiar voice came from the doorway.

"Hmph. You think you're strong enough?"