Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Aura Pressure Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 4.

'Even with a 15% reduction in the force of his aura, it's still a struggle to stand without my legs threatening to buckle beneath me,' Lone thought bitterly.

"Is this how dwarves do things?" he asked with accusation and scorn in his tone as he fought against the aura's effects on him. "You ignore reason, respect, and intelligence, in favour of attacking whoever you assume has even a mote of culpability for what has happened to you?"

Lone spat on the floor of the guild's training area. "I don't know what went down in Urd Grun exactly but I can guess it wasn't anything great. And you, in all of your great wisdom, have judged me to be responsible without asking any questions, without speaking to me, without even giving me a chance. You don't only shame all dwarves, you shame all species capable of more than just grunting and fuckin'."

A handful of people in the crowd were affected by Lone's harsh words. Their expressions of hate and anger morphed into ones of shame and realisation.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Persuasion] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 7.

Lone hadn't fully spoken his mind yet though so he didn't stop to admire his skill's level-up. "You come to the inn I and the people I care for call home, you assault me, kidnap me, then force me to fight you despite being two whole ranks higher than me. And not only that! You even put the weight of your aura down on my shoulders. I don't know what kind of pushovers you're used to bullying, you fuckin' cunt, and I don't care what reasons you have for doing this but I will not let you walk all over me like some sort of doormat!"

A hint of something... humane flashed across Hamish's face. he withdrew his aura and nodded. "Ye speak some truth, Fox. Ah willnae kill ya. Despite it all, ye've backbone. Regardless, the duel will 'appen. Attack me afore ah attack ye."

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Persuasion] has levelled up! It is now Intermediate Level 8.

'Hah! This bastard was going to kill me?' Lone's opinion of him fell even more. 'I'm glad I don't have his impressive talent for impeccable first impressions.'

Of course, the last thing Lone really wanted to do was fight a presumed B-ranker, especially when outright killing him with Mental Destruction would be equivalent to suicide. If not mortally, then socially for sure.

However... some excitement was building in the foxkin's chest. 'I've never fought a B-ranker before... C-rankers were very difficult to handle but I'm a higher rank now than I was then and I have the stats from killing the king of Milindo... If I'm going to get beaten, not only will I steal your skills but I also won't be the only one needing a stretcher when we're done, asshole!'

Lone lowered his stance and withdrew his swordspear from his Dimensional Storage, while, of course, making it look he'd taken it out of an adventurer's pouch.

He carefully examined the unmoving dwarf and asked, "Not gonna draw your weapon?" In fact, Lone didn't even see a weapon on the man, not at his hip nor on his back.

Hamish scowled. "Ah've dishonoured ma people enuff. Fist'll dae fae ah D-rank'r."

Upon having said that, a trail of dirt was kicked up behind the short and stocky man as he lunged forward with a kind of speed Lone had never seen before.

Lone knew he had stats far exceeding his rank thanks to his unique skill, Growth Accelerator, however, even he wasn't confident if he had the needed Agility to dodge this incoming blow or not. That was also considering the fact he had Evasion Mastery to help him. Still, he gave it a go.

He tilted his body to the side and spun his feet on their heels. with less than an inch of width between his stomach and the incoming punch, Lone had successfully avoided the attack.

Hamish's eyes narrowed slightly and, unbelievably, he stopped all of his tremendous momentum with apparent ease then used his free hand to quickly whip Lone in the gut with it.

Lone's eyes snapped wide open and he felt a nauseous sensation rising from within him. Just as the force of the blow was spreading through his body, the laws of gravity got to work flinging Lone across the training area.

Luckily for the punters onlooking, they'd already moved away the moment Lone withdrew his weapon. Speaking of his swordspear, it flew out of Lone's hand when his back impacted against a stone pillar, leaving cracks in the muraled object.

Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Nausea Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 2. Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Nausea Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 3. Congratulations! the host's passive skill [Nausea Resistance] has levelled up! It is now Beginner Level 4.

Thankfully, Lone's almost 6,000 Vitality made the punch do minimal damage, though that was likely in part due to Hamish holding back, Lone suspected.

Just as he was getting to his feet, a spinning kick entered the corner of his eyes aimed for his head. Lone managed to raise his arms to block the attack and was sent sliding across the dirt like a truck which had just slammed down its handbrake.

The strike left his arms numb and in a sizable amount of pain but at least he was still standing this time. "That's a high level of Unarmed Combat Mastery," he noted as spat out a small mouthful of blood, presumable from the earlier punch. 'I doubt he'll just let me go and pick up my weapon... Does this need to be a fistfight?'

Hamish lowered his still raised leg as he retorted, "An' ye'r nae ordinary D-rank'r. There should be an 'ole in yer belly an' those arms should be as floppy as ah fish ootta wat'r on account ah breakin', Fox."

"My Name's Lone, not 'Fox', just as your name likely isn't 'harmless animal related to dwarves in some way.' A gnome, perhaps?" Lone replied as he took up a martial arts stance - one Sophie often practised related to her Wing Chun Mastery skill.

Lone didn't have the skill himself since he didn't want to steal Sophie's well-earned pride, but it wasn't beneath him to take parts of it to help him in facing a far stronger opponent.

He'd watched her practice the art for hundreds of hours. It'd be weirder if he didn't know at least the basics by now, at least mentally.

"Ah couldnae care less what ye'r call'd or what ya call me," Hamish answered before launching towards Lone once more.

"As if I'll let you hit me again!" Lone snarled before jumping up into the air.

Not a single person spectating could make any sense of Lone's actions, least of all Hamish.

Lone watched as power welled up in the dwarf's shins before he sent himself into the air and stopped just a little bit above him. 'He can apply his Strength like Grimsley? And that level of control is incredible!'

An unjust fight or not, Lone could only admire Hamish's skill. However, a single thing was on his mind when Hamish moved to dropkick his left shoulder, 'You're not the only one with tricks up his sleeve!'

"Momentum Shift!" As if strings were attached to his back and a heavenly puppeteer was guiding him, Lone stopped ascending straight into Hamish's leg and instead moved sideways.

"Ungrounded!" Lone evoked, using his Primal skill granted by Sky for the first time.

An utterly shocked Hamish watched as Lone sprang up from the air as if it were solid ground to above him. Lone then viciously brought his hands together and slammed them down onto the dwarf's head like a judge's gavel.

Lone had put every ounce of his Strength into that attack. He may not be able to apply any stats yet as Grimsley or this dwarven man could, but he was certainly able to control what the stat itself afforded him naturally.

If he couldn't, he'd be ripping off door handles and cracking roads as he walked with his almost 3,000 Strength. Maybe if he could apply that stat he'd be capable of lifting carriages and blowing holes into solid concrete, but for now, he was content.

After all, he'd heard a pretty loud cracking coming from his opponent's skull after his downwards strike just then.

Lone quickly walked back down to the training ground from the air. Every second spent off the floor was another 1,000 SP consumed by the ridiculously expensive skill. It had only been four seconds since he had jumped up into the air but he'd already used up 4,000 of his 59,100 SP. 1,000 on Momentum Shift and the other three on Ungrounded.

Hamish didn't crash into the ground but instead landed rather steadily after a wobbly backflip. He was holding a now bleeding and slightly dented head in one hand. "'Ow in the Stone's 'oly feckin' name are ye ah D-rank'r?! Ye'r as fast as ah new B-rank'r an' 'it as 'ard as an old C-rank'r! Needless tae mention ye've got Evasion Mastery tae advanced-rank!"

It was only par for the course that an adventurer from a group as accomplished as the Black Iron Company was aware of the talent Evasion Mastery offered people in its third rank - Momentum Shift.

Hamish didn't ask any questions about the walking on air since he was sharp enough to quickly see the link between it and the sky-blue peeking out from under his black-tipped tails, hair and irises. Awakened beastkin were always tricky to deal with, regardless of rank.

It was an unexpected trick but an exposed one now if there were a silver lining to be seen from that exchange.

Lone grinned. "You can fuck right off if you think I'll tell you anything. I hope I rattled your brain around a bit though, it could certainly use the stimulation since you're as dense as the Stone you worship."

"Fine," Hamish growled as he lowered his stance. "Ah only really wanna ken why ya led ma fam'ly tae their deaths when ye'r clearly pretty strong yerself... Nae mere 'oldin' back on accoont ah ya bein' ah weaklin'."

The next thing Lone saw was the ceiling as he felt his feet being ripped out from underneath him. A massive impact then assaulted his abdomen. Someway, somehow, Hamish had moved so fast that he'd been able to hit Lone with enough force the knock him clean off his feet.

Lone rocketed through the air and smashed heavily into the walls, blood poured out of his mouth as he coughed up a storm and his insides were slowly becoming his outside. This time, Hamish had, true to his word, created a hole in Lone's gut.

The dwarf stood over him confidently as he said, "Strength's nae the only stat ah can apply, ya cunt. Ah said ah wouldnae kill ya, aye, but 'at depends on 'ow 'ardy ya are. Ah'm far fae satisfied."

"I swear, Wilbur, the next time I meet you, you will be a cold hunk of rotting flesh. These house calls need to stop since you're, like I said the last time and the time before that and even when you brought that good-looking foxkin to me, a lost cause," Rella admonished as her small and round rabbit ears twitched.

The old dwarf smiled faintly. "Ah was hoping ye'd find a way to stave the Stone away. Ah don't really want to be reclaimed just yet."

"And here I was thinking you were ready years ago," Rella remarked as she removed her hand from his head, having completed her use of her world skill, Full Body Diagnostics. "It's that kid, isn't it?"

Wilbur nodded. "He's like no one ah've ever met before... Ah see a lot of myself in him. He's ma apprentice too and as the sayin' goes, 'a teacher's work is never done'."

"Sentimental old sop," Rella said as she sat down next to the man and stared at his wife's statue of a corpse. "Still got that cogogramme prototype?"

"Aye. It's almost done to," Wilbur answered with pride in his tone. "The council breathing down ma neck for it doesn't help, but it'll be done before ah keel over, ah reckon."

"You and your crazy ideas... If you weren't suffering from such bad Hemoptysis, you'd easily live another century or two. Only an idiot like you would catch an incurable disease that hasn't even been officially discovered yet. If that fox knew Hemoptysis wasn't even your more serious of symptoms, I bet he'd cry. He seemed the sort," Rella said as she leaned back and stared at the ceiling.

She added, "I do wonder though what kind of other things you'd be able to add to your epitome legacy had you not been born with minus Luck?"

"Oi, don't make fun of my Luck. It isn't minus, you cheeky cow. You're right though... the only saving grace is that it's incredibly hard to spread what ah've got... Also, my legacy lives on through ma apprentice, does it not?" the old man laughed. "He's got a brilliant mind."

"More so than yours?" the Pygmy Rabbitkin questioned.

"Easily. The speed at which he learns... It's unheard of. What ah've done in ma millennia on Altros? He could do in a few years if he put his mind to it," Steamforger Wilbur answered with a shocking amount of conviction and pride considering he'd only met Lone a couple of months ago.

Rella considered his words for a moment and was about to reply before she frowned as a sliver of magic entered her mind from a faraway and automated source. "I wouldn't be so sure," she said with a heavy sigh. "Can't do much if he's a puddle of blood, now can he?"

Wilbur raised a curious eyebrow. "A healer summons? To ye? Why in the name of the Stone, the Primals, and all other things holy, would the council request yer help?"

Rella got up and rolled her shoulder in disappointment. "Seems your 'brilliant' apprentice is getting the life beaten out of him as we speak by Hamish Understone of the Black Iron Company. Damn-near every healer in the city has been called on-site."

"What? Why?" Too many questions flooded the dwarf's mind. "He's only a D-ranker! Why would a B-ranked adventurer do something like that to the boy?!"

"Wanna come with me and find out?" Rella asked as he pushed up her glasses inquisitively.

The dying man practically jumped off of the sofa and shouted, "Ye fookin' bet ah do! Ah've got some words for that Hamish lad! The boy too!"