'Just like the mist world huh...' Jeff sighed in his mind. 'You've got to show your strength to earn the respect.'

"Hmph." Red Crimson puffed out a chuckle. 

Leaving a trail of red light, Red Crimson shot towards Jeff. 

"Take this!" Red Crimson hurled a punch at Jeff face. 

Pa! 

At the impact, a torrent exploded out from the two. 

With a single hand, Jeff caught the towering warrior's fist. 

"P-Peak tier!" Someone yelped. 

"Why is he wearing those rags?"

"Quiet!"

"Are you out of your mind? Are you trying to offend a peak-tier?"

Red Crimson widened his eyes. 

"Aren't you a mage?" The warrior dumbly blinked in confusion. 

"I am a mage." Jeff squinted. 

The warrior puffed out another chuckle. "Let's see a spell then."

"Don't mind if I do." Jeff suddenly let go of the warrior's fist. 

Without its blocking force, the warrior's fist headed towards Jeff's face. Yet, leaving a blur in the crowd's view, Jeff had easily dodged that attack. 

"Hadooooouken!" Jeff threw a punch at the warrior's face. 'Back at you!'

Raising his other arm, the warrior blocked this punch with his forearm. 

Tap. Tap. Tap. 

The warrior got knocked back three steps by the force. 

"You little..." Red Warden gritted his teeth.

"Are you getting too old now Warden." A peak-tier elf laughed. 

"Maybe you should retire! You are an old man by human age right? Hahaha!"

"Look you! The kid isn't even wearing proper equipment!"

"Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. Who would've guessed. The famous Red Warden would lose to a new recruit."

Hearing the mockery from his fellow guildmasters, Red Warden's face reddened in humiliation. 

"You shouldn't have put my prestige on the line boy. I'm getting serious now."

"I gave you a chance. But you didn't appreciate it. Your journey as an adventurer ends now."

"Red rage!" Red Warden roared. 

"Boiling blood!" Red Warden's body quickly reddened up. White fumes of sweat started to steam off the dude's body. 

"Those two unique abilities!" Someone yelped. 

"Only the guildmaster of the Crimson Force can learn them right?" A guild member whispered in awe. 

"Correct." A guildmaster glanced at his subordinate. "These are the trump cards of the Crimson Force. These two top-tier abilities are the fundamental base of that guild."

"When stacked, these two abilities can increase Red Warden's strength by five times!" A lone wolf added with a serious expression. "It's over for the kid."

"Only two? Why doesn't he stack more abilities?" A guild member mumbled. 

"Tsk. You'll know when you own a passive ability you poor wretch. There's a limit to how much your body can handle." A lone wolf scoffed. 

Jeff put his gaze on Red Warden. However, Jeff's focus was actually on the crowd. It's not like Red Warden was much threat anyways. 

This guy clearly needed time to get used to this mode. Jeff didn't mind giving Red Warden the adjustment time. 

Hearing these useful information from the crowd, Jeff's gaze glinted a little. 'There's still much to learn...'

"Do you have anything left to say." Red Warden lowered his body for a lunge. 

"No. Not exactly." Jeff squinted. 

Red Warden puffed out a chuckle. Leaving a trail of red light, the dude lunged towards Jeff. He's much faster this time! 

Pa!

Jeff had caught the dude's fist again! 

Except... If people took a closer look at Jeff, they could see that Jeff was emitting a subtle golden glow now. 

"Impossible!"

"How!" 

People looked at Jeff as if they'd just witnessed a miracle. Even the peak-tiers couldn't believe what they'd saw. 

'Five times increase?' Jeff faintly smiled. 'Sorry. But my limit is fifty times!'

"Who are you!" For the first time, a trace of panic appeared on Red Warden's face. 

He can't win! Can't even knock this little man a step back! They weren't even close!

"You can call me the mission machine." Jeff squinted. "I gave you many chances. But you didn't appreciate them."

Leaving an afterimage in the air, Jeff raised his leg. Front kick! 

Like a cannonball, Red Warden flew across the lawn and smacked into the wall. Bouncing back down, Red Warden kneeled onto one knee. Behind him, a few cracks could be seen on the wall. 

If this was in the mist world, Red Warden would have blasted through that wall. Yet, in this world, things were much sturdier.

Seeing this result, the crowd fell silent. 

A peak-tier... The strongest among the adventurers... Just got defeated in one shot. If that's the case, what tier was Jeff? 

Sensing the reverent gazes, Jeff raised his brows. 'In the end, it still boiled down to a fight.'

'Establishing my dominance here, check.'

"Fighting in the Adventurer's Hall, damaging the hall's property, this is the equivalent of challenging the organization's dignity."

Jeff looked at that direction. It's a young man wearing a brown cloak. 

"And?" Jeff knitted his brows. 'Another guy picking a fight? I just wanted to peacefully select a section. Why is this so hard.'

Seeing Jeff's gloomy expression, the dude put on a smile and raised his hands. 'Sire. If you don't mind, please allow me to fix the walls and the lawn for you.'

'Oh. This guy is trying to sell me a favour.' Jeff's expression eased. 'Well, that's a quick turn on attitude.'

"There will be no need." A worker elegantly bowed towards Jeff. "This is a negligible situation. Sire, if you have time, I'm sure our branch president would love to have a meal with a powerful solo adventurer like you. When you are free of course."

"It would be my honor." Jeff smiled and nodded. 

"There's only two of these young fellas. Let them have a select first." This was a good-looking young man. Standing under the shade of an umbrella. Wearing a classy set of suits. This was a high-tier vampire. 

"Yes yes. We don't mind."

"Only two spots. That's insignificant business."

"Young couples these days. We understand."

"Have a fun trip."

All the guildmasters and the lone wolves here nodded like it's truly nothing. 

If these guys weren't so hostile towards the cloaked girl before, Jeff might have believed these guys. 

At these regards, Jeff nodded and smiled in reply. After all, he was here to make a living, not declaring war against the adventurers here. 

Some people here thought they were a couple? Jeff was too lazy to explain. 

Seeing this result, without further hesitation, the girl walked up to the map. This time, there's no one blocking her way. 

The girl tapped on a section. After a nod, two wooden plates appeared in her hand. 

"Lawn green? You don't want a spot at dark green?"

"Isn't mine entrance 34A at that spot? You guys better beware of those kobolds hahaha!" Someone joked. 

Ignoring the crowd's friendly wishes and heads-ups, the girl threw a wooden plate at Jeff. "See you at the dock."

Sensing the people's quick change of attitudes, the girl knitted her brows in disgust. Without stopping, she headed out. 

Looking down at the wooden plate in his hand, Jeff blinked a few times. 'So is this a party invite?'

Behind Jeff, the girl blinked a few times in thought as well. 

Seeing that Jeff had actually accepted the wooden plate, the girl seemed to have understood something. But she couldn't be certain. 

"Ahahaha!" Red Warden got up. 

"Looks like I'm actually getting rusty." Red Warden walked up to Jeff. 

Plung! 

The big dude knocked on his chest armor with his fist. Wearing a serious expression, Red Warden made a thirty degrees bow. "Thanks for holding back. The Crimson Force will forever be your friend."

"I'll be glad if you don't mind my ignorance about this profession's rules." Jeff lightly bowed as well. 

"A friendly spar is a good start for friendship right? Hahahaha!" Someone heartily laughed. 

"Mister Mission Machine, the Heroic Ascension Guild is always open to you! We've got great drinks. And if you need help, we are always here." A dwarf extended a hand.

"You must be Stormbeard, the guildmaster of the Heroic Ascension Guild." Jeff shook the dwarf's hand.

Only now, Jeff felt like he'd been accepted into this circle. At least on the surface, this was the case. 

One after another, Jeff had a pretentious chat with the top dogs here. These guys welcomed Jeff like he's their lost siblings or something. 

After this, an Adventurer's Hall worker came to greet Jeff. Still maintaining that humble and patient attitude, this guy set up a meeting with the president for Jeff. 

Before knowing it, almost half an hour had passed already. All the guildmasters of the big guilds had left. Now, the guildmasters of smaller guilds were coming in. 

Tapping the wooden plate against his palm, walking through the hall of offices, Jeff smiled in thought. 

Things were not as he'd imagined, nor as he'd intended. But hey, it all worked out in the end. In some sense, Jeff had stepped into the elite adventurers' circle now. 

There's only a bright future ahead. 

Stepping outside the adventurer's hall, looking at the dispersing flea market, Jeff smiled under the sunlight. 

'My patience had paid off huh... Coming out now, at late-tier, that's the best decision of my life!'