The War Game between the Tyr Familia and the Loki Familia ended, as expected, with the Loki Familia claiming victory.
Ian, Finn, and Gareth were all in poor condition, so Riveria had a hard time tending to them for a while. Even so, she did not complain.
Ian thought it might have been her own way of showing gratitude. He lacked the courage to ask outright, so he kept his mouth shut. As mentioned before, Ian’s body was currently not in good enough shape to endure a punch from a Level 2 adventurer.
And so, time passed once again.
Having achieved a victory no one had anticipated, the Loki Familia rapidly began to expand.
Having all displayed the makings of heroes, the Loki Familia rose in the blink of an eye to become one of Orario’s most powerful Familias.
The person who contributed most to the Loki Familia’s rapid growth was, naturally, Ian.
The feat of overcoming a three-Level difference.
There were surely many who had become enamored with his overwhelming combat ability and come to admire the Loki Familia.
However, while every founding member of the Loki Familia ranked up and continued to soar, Ian alone remained stuck at Level 2.
His rate of growth was even slower than it had been at Level 1.
Before long, Finn, Riveria, and Gareth had entered the realm of Level 4.
Even among the Loki Familia’s members, there were few left at Level 2 or below.
Since Ian had unintentionally attracted so much attention by displaying outstanding potential, it took no time at all for words of disappointment and mockery to pour forth.
Of course, there were no fools who insulted Ian openly to his face.
No one knew what he might do with that personality of his, or what they might end up suffering.
Though his Level was low, Ian was unmistakably the Loki Familia’s strongest fighting force.
Finn predicted that even a Level 6 adventurer could not be certain of defeating Ian, and as always, that prediction proved correct.
"You fucking bastard!!"
"Guh?!"
"Ian?!"
Ian’s fist cut through the air and smashed into the chin of the snickering adventurer.
A dull crack of breaking bone rang out. The adventurer’s body flew into the air before crashing back to the ground.
It was Ian, unable to restrain his anger as usual, venting his irritation. Naturally, that irritation came out through his fists.
The problem, however, was that the man he had struck was a member of the Zeus Familia, which stood at the pinnacle of Orario—and that he had assaulted a Zeus Familia member right in front of their executives.
Of course, he had a reason.
To Ian, those sons of bitches had slammed his friend into the ground.
The boy had been happily celebrating his promotion to Level 3 just moments ago, only to be attacked because their shoulders had bumped. That was what Ian found so offensive.
And Ian did not hold back.
The water had already been spilled, and what had happened could not be undone.
Ian was not deluded enough to think he could defeat an executive of the Zeus Familia.
He simply could not contain his anger. He had not thought about consequences.
Finn, who had been watching from behind, immediately noticed that Ian’s movements were visibly awkward and stiff. If he had only ranked up, then at least in theory he could avoid being beaten one-sidedly even against a Level 7... But Ian was a Level 2 adventurer, and if he fought a Level 7, defeat was certain.
Even Ian did not enjoy being beaten up. He thoroughly hated the prospect and wanted to avoid it.
"Hey, you..."
"Stop, Zard. We were the ones at fault first."
A huge adventurer clad in armor as black as pitch rose to reprimand Ian. Had he not been stopped, he might have resorted to violence. Fortunately for Ian’s body—and for the Loki Familia’s finances, which would have had to pay for his treatment—a man intervened.
"...A monster."
"So it really was O’Hail. In all of Orario, you are indeed the only one with the nerve to throw a punch at a member of the Zeus Familia."
The monster approached with an almost friendly air and gave Ian an awkward smile.
So this was the strongest man in the world.
Even though he wore a harmless expression and posture, the aura of a powerful man pouring off him made Ian shrink back without realizing it.
"It seems one of our greenhorns was throwing his weight around. I take it you know that friend lying over there?"
"If I didn’t, why would I have done this...?"
"My apologies. I will make sure to discipline him properly."
"What...?"
The response was more trivial than Ian had expected, and a deflated sound escaped him. At that half-unconscious, dumbfounded reaction, the monster burst into hearty laughter.
"Ha ha! So Loki’s Raven can make that face too!"
"What...! Shut up, keep your mouth shut and answer what I’m—"
"Yes, yes, I understand. I was thinking it was about time for us to leave anyway. Sorry about this."
After patting Ian on the shoulder, the monster left the tavern with his members.
What the hell was that?
While Ian’s thoughts could not keep up with the incidents that had swept past like a storm, a woman with striking long silver hair—an executive of the Hera Familia, who had been seated with them due to the matter between Familias despite not belonging to the Zeus Familia—offered him a passing warning.
"If you keep biting at everything like a mad dog, you will die young."
"...What?"
"Or perhaps you lack the intelligence to think that deeply."
In truth, it was closer to a rebuke than advice, but Ian had already been left dazed by the monster’s uncontrollable momentum and failed to respond in time.
Eventually, after all the Zeus Familia members had left, Ian let out a frustrated groan and extended a helping hand to the adventurer who had only just regained his senses and was trying to rise.
"The Zeus Familia is full of nothing but weirdos..."
"Ugh... Ian. What happened...?"
"Get up, Ottar. I’ll buy you a meal tomorrow."
The adventurer named Ottar took Ian’s hand and got to his feet, having no idea what was going on.
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