The Competition

"Hey!" Noemi shouted angrily. "Those were our prey! This isn't fair! Go hunt somewhere else!"

The mysterious hunter shrugged. "There's no such thing as fairness here, little lady. There are only the strong and the weak." After saying this, he went to the wyverns and began collecting the dropped items.

Footsteps echoed in the rocks. Five figures appeared in the distance. They were three men and two women, all wearing extremely expensive-looking armor. At the front, a tall young man wearing gold-trimmed plate armor approached with confident steps.

"Ah, Hunter Kaine," he said with a smile. "You've done your job perfectly as always."

Hunter Kaine bowed slightly. "Lord Varen, now that we've killed all three Poisonwings, we've completed your quest. We can move on to the next one."

Someone from Lord Varen's group stepped forward. He was wearing an almost comically ornate purple and gold-trimmed robe. "Where did these peasants come from?" he said, turning up his nose. "This is our hunting ground. It's been allocated to the Crownveil Guild, the most prestigious guild in the world."

Noemi's face reddened with anger. "Peasants? We're adventurers! Besides, this isn't any guild's private area. Anyone can hunt here!"

"Ah, dear little... peasant," said the young man in the purple robe, drawing out the last word mockingly.

At that moment, Lord Varen spoke. "I am Varen, son of Raven. My Father, the founder of Crownveil, has a special agreement with other guilds regarding the rights to the crystal mines in this region. So technically, you're now on private property."

Boran silently assessed the situation. The group's armor and weapons were truly extraordinary. Each piece was worth at least tens of thousands of gold. Varen's armor in particular was probably one of the best. However, their movements and posture revealed their inexperience. They were just rich kids - they could buy the best equipment but had no real combat experience. That's why they had hired someone to hunt for them.

"I have a proposition for you," said Lord Varen in a diplomatic tone. "Let's forget this incident. We'll give you some gold, and you can go to another hunting ground. What do you say? Let's say... five hundred gold each?"

Boran grunted. "Everything should be earned by merit, not money. We came here to gain levels and complete quests, not to accept handouts."

Edmund let out a loud laugh. "Levels? That's really funny. What takes people like you months, maybe years to level up, we complete in a few days with our high-level adventurers, special equipment, and unlimited resources."

Kaine quietly interjected. "Lord Varen, we're wasting time. We have more quests to complete. You could reach level 50 in an hour if we hurry."

"You're right, Kaine," said Varen. Then he turned to Boran. "I'll say this one last time. Either you accept the offer or..." He placed his hand on his sword hilt. The sword was so beautifully crafted that a normal adventurer would need years of work to save up for it.

Boran stepped forward. "Or what? You'll kill us? Don't forget this is a PvE zone. PvP is forbidden."

Lord Varen smiled. "PvP is forbidden, yes. But there are other ways to drive you out of here. For example..." He snapped his fingers. Two more people appeared from behind the group, holding strange-looking crystals.

"These are Summoning Crystals," Edmund said with a smug expression. "Single-use, extremely rare items. They contain level hundred creatures. If we release them, they'll chase away all the low-level monsters in the area. You won't find anything here for days. That is, if you survive."

Noemi hissed angrily. "This is just like you. You think money can buy everything!"

A girl from the back of the group, playing with her pearl-inlaid staff, said in a bored voice, "Yes, pretty much. My father bought me this staff for my birthday last month. Do you like it? Only ten were made, because it's crafted from a level six hundred boss. What do you have?"

Boran was weighing the situation. Their opponents were arrogant rich kids, but they had powerful equipment. Plus, they had an adventurer like Hunter Kaine who seemed genuinely high-level. The Summoning Crystals threat was serious too - they were crazy enough to use such items.

"What if I proposed a competition?" Boran said suddenly. Everyone turned to him. "We should all be at the same levels, right? So let's have a fair competition. Who can kill more Poisonwings?"

Edmund laughed dismissively. "Comparing our equipment to yours would be laughable."

"That's exactly why," said Boran, with a slight challenging tone in his voice. "Think about it, how embarrassing would it be if you lost. The elite members of the most prestigious guild, equipped with the most expensive gear, losing to simple adventurers with ordinary equipment... Such a story would spread from ear to ear, become everyone's gossip. Maybe even other guilds would hear about it. After all, everyone knows that true skill isn't measured by equipment alone. Wouldn't that be quite... uncomfortable for you? Or you could refuse and run away..."

The confident expression on Lord Varen's face slowly dissolved, replaced by slight uneasiness. He furrowed his brows, looked at Boran, and after staying silent for a while, said, "You're trying to manipulate us. You're trying to corner us using our prestige and pride," his voice carrying both awareness and slight appreciation.

"Maybe it seems that way," Boran said thoughtfully. "But you know I'm fundamentally right about what I'm saying. If you don't accept this competition, people will think you only rely on your equipment and lack real skill. Besides, my offer is quite reasonable - if you manage to beat us, we'll leave without any objection. But if we win... all we want is to stay here and level up. I think this is a pretty fair deal."

Kaine smiled slightly. "This kid was clever. He had used the pride issue well."

The group members looked at each other. Finally, Lord Varen nodded. "Alright. We accept the competition. Let's keep the rules simple - whoever kills more Poisonwings in ten minutes wins. Kaine will stay as referee."

"Fine," said Boran thoughtfully. "But with one condition - I can't accept Kaine as referee. It wouldn't be fair to have someone from your team as referee in a competition that should be impartial."

"Coward," Edmund muttered with a mocking smile, but Lord Varen immediately intervened. With a confident expression on his face, he said, "No problem, I accept. We're going to win this competition anyway. In fact..." He paused, continuing with excitement in his eyes, "Let's make this even more interesting. Let's invite the whole guild here. So everyone can see how you lose. What do you say, shall we turn this into an official guild event?"