Moments Before
"Well, this is boring." I muttered as I kept reading.
Kelsa had not led me to a room where I would punch some machine through a wall, nor did she lead me to somewhere where some strong mage would hit me with spells to see how much I could take. No, the room I was lead to was a fairly small room with just a desk inside, and on that desk was a Guild manual, complete with rules and guidelines.
That wasn't to say that my time being bored was without merit. I learned quite a bit from this book, if I'm being honest. Many pertained to guild rules, and I even found a section that explained a few things I was curious about, like how I might be able to help that poor girl that the asshole in Tempest took as a slave. That shit really bothered me to no end.
Fighting in the guild was not allowed, but self defense was. If someone tries to harm you or someone else, you may protect yourself, and that person if they cannot protect themselves. Deadly force was prohibited unless it is the only way to ultimately deal with that situation. Guild members fighting each other was stronglh discouraged, though.
The part that I read about 5 times was the one that I felt might really help me in what I wanted to do in regards to the girl. I might have to wait to do so, but at least I had a clear idea. I was an SSS+ ranked Divine Primordial, which did mean I could just go out there and turn that dude and his team into paste. However, if I wanted to actually hangout in this city and keep helping Clarissa, experience the thrills of being a fucking Adventurer, and collecting loot and shit from dungeons, I unfortunately couldn't do all of that. More than anything, I was here for Clarissa, and I wasn't going to fuck that up.
That being said, if someone in the Guild were to do something to another that they felt was a massive slight to their honor, they could invoke the right to an honor duel upon that person, and it would be Framework backed, which meant if the Framework agreed that one party was slighted, disrespected, or whatever, it would enforce the duel, forcing the other to either agree, or face severe consequences, such diminished stats, or even losing class rank. The person issuing the challenge could also set terms should they decline, and if the Framework deemed it fair, it would either agree or disagree with the decision. This world was weird, but that was pretty cool I supposed.
Unlike a regular duel, an honor duel was to the death, and the winner was free to take everything the loser had. Actually, this appeared to be a Framework thing in general and not limited to the Guild. More over, if I got challenged to a duel, we could both agree on the terms of the duel. First blood, first to surrender, or even to the death. It was all very interesting, and made my fantasy world brain sing. This world was certainly lax on the violence and death, that's for sure.
"Hmm... I'll have to remember this... although the question is, how am I gonna do that?" I asked myself as I kept reading. This was exactly what I needed to help that girl actually. Would I have to make him antagonize me or something? Could I just challenge him?
In terms of the Guild itself, it appeared not too dangerous, as could only take on jobs of your rank, and in special occasions, you could take things on above your rank, but you needed expression permission from the Guild Master. That got me excited again. I wondered just who that was and-
A sudden feeling of annoyance surged through the bond, and I could tell it wasn't any of our new friends causing it. Someone was bothering Cici. Kelsa and Terroth were standing in the room with me by the door in the far back just chatting with each other, but they both noticed my sudden change.
"What's wrong, Mr. Crosse?" Kelsa asked.
"Someone is bothering my wife." I said with a growl as I stood from the chair, and began walkinv towards the door.
I just started to walk forward when more feeling came through the bond. More annoyance, disgust, hate, and... fear. I got the mental image of what the Baron did to her coming right from her mind. I snarled, and my next footfall cracked the floor underneath my foot, causing both Kelsa and Terroth to jump, and their eyes to widen.
"Elias?" Terroth asked me, his face concerned and a little fearful.
I just walked past them, and pushed open the door. Well, I meant to push it open, but I pushed it so hard the door spilntered and fell apart into tiny wooden pieces. Kelsa gasped.
"M-Mr. Crosse?" Kelsa asked with a trembling voice.
"The book said I can kill them if they hurt someone?" I asked, barely containing my rage and aura.
Terroth and Kelsa both blinked, and Kelsa actually took a step back.
"K-kill?" She asked with fear.
"Elias, what the hell is going on??" Terroth asked me, and I turned and looked at him, the image of a blonde piece of shit in my mind. Cici's emotions were so strong right now that I could see everything clearly.
"Tempest. They are harassing our table. Delvin is upsetting my wife, and harassing your team." I said with a growl as I kept walking, and even he looked angry, but also a little scared.
"Elias, he's powerful, you can't-" He said, and I turned to him, rage burning in my eyes.
"IF HE TOUCHES MY WIFE, I WILL SPLATTER HIM ACROSS THE FUCKING WALL!" I shouted, before tempering myself, and moving at a faster pace, "Sorry, but I'm done talking."
Both he and Kelsa had wide eyes, no doubt feeling the intent behind my words. I paid them no more mind as I reached the doors back out into the main area, and shoved them open. I made sure not to break them this time, but they did fly out and smack the wall hard, and I did hear a crack. Oh well.
I looked towards our table, and saw this piece of shit mere inches away from my kitten, and I actually had to school my rage before it consumed me. I hit all of them with a small fraction of my killing intent, and that did the job of making him back away as I began stomping towards them. They all turned around, and I noticed the woman and the smaller swordsman actually take a step back from the sight of me warrily. I was poised to just kill them all right now, but unfortunately, I actually had to think about the consequences this time. If I did, I'd either have to leave, or change my appearance, and I didn't want to have to do either of those things.
I looked at Delvin as his eyes met mine. I didn't use a whole lot of my killing intent, and I was subduing my aura so much that I gritted my teeth behind closed lips because it was goddamn hard not to let it all loose. He was stronger than the rest of them after all, I could tell his confidence was far higher than it had any right to be. As I got closer, I snarled.
"Get the fuck away from my wife." I growled as I closed in on them.
The Mauler or whatever, Morgan, stepped forward, a small smirk on his face as he stood in my path. Maybe I should have used more killing intent, because I really hated that look on his face. The fact that he thought he could actually bar my path would have made me laugh if I wasn't so pissed.
"Oh, are you the husband the animal talked about? I don't think-" He said, but stopped and yelped as I grabbed him by the shirt, and lifted him off of the ground.
His eyes widened as I pulled him in close so our faces were mere inches apart, and I pressed a dense amount of killing intent on him.
"I would watch your fucking mouth when you talk about my wife. The last person that insulted my wife did not have a good time." I pulled him in even closer until our noses almost touched, "And if you're not careful, I'll send you to meet him."
With that, I threw him to the side. He was so stiff and limp from the deluge of killing intent that his feet didn't even catch him as he fell to the floor, falling flat on his ass. The others stepped to the side, surprise and fear in their eyes as they did so. The Dhampir woman stood to the side, her eyes wide with surprise as I struck fear into the strongest party in Arbigold. I stepped past all of them, treating Delvin like the weak trash I saw him as, which I know pissed him off. I walked up to Cici, and put my hand on her cheek.
"Are you okay? Did this garbage hurt you?" I asked softly, and she shook her head.
"WHAT DID YO-" Delvin began, but I spun around and gave him a glare so cold, I heard the clack of his teeth as he closed his mouth quickly.
"I didn't say you could fucking speak." I said, a hint of aura leaving my body. It actually made his stance faulter.
I turned away from the useless asshole, and met Cici's eyes. I leaned into her, and she softly whispered into my ear. The things she told me that this man said actually made me clench my fists so hard, the air distorted around them. I could hear people whispering and muttering around me, but I couldn't care less. Oh how I wanted to break them Guild rules right now, as I could only get senses of what Cici felt before, but hearing what made her feel that way was another story. The only reason I could temper myself was because this stupid fuck actually did exactly what I needed him to do. I could actually kill him legally, in a sense, and take everything from him, including his slave, Valerie.
Once Cici was done, I gave her forehead a quick kiss, and stood back up, and turned to face Delvin, who swallowed hard despite putting up a strong front. Before I could speak, Clarissa grabbed my arm, and when I turned to look at her, she quickly kissed my cheek. That actually broke my anger for a second, and left me staring at her beautiful blue eyes. Then, she turned to Delvin, and actually gave him a smirk.
"Just so you know, it is very bad form to insult or threaten any member of a noble party." She said, which made everyone's eyes widen.
"W-what?" Delvin asked, his mouth going dry.
"Do you not inspect the women you intend to sexually assault? Do you even have that skill?" Clarissa asked questioningly, "I'm here to meet with your Duke."
I could not see Serena, Sheila, or Benji behind us, but I heard their gasps. I assumed none of them had an inspection skill. Kelsa and Terroth had finally made it out during Clarissa's proclamation, and now their eyes too were wide. I saw Kelsa's eyes shine with a skill use, and then she gasped. We hadn't told anyone yet, but the cat was out of the bag now. It made sense. I was going to fuck this Delvin up, but now with this information out there, this let the rest of their team know the gravity of their mistake.
"Slave! Inspect!" Delvin yelled at the Dhampir, who flinched, before doing what he said.
"Um... this woman is Baroness Clarissa Osark. The man... I cannot see." She said, and Delvin swore, while the rest of his team paled. The big man was still curled up in a ball on the floor.
"Yeah." I said, stepping up to Delvin, who shrank back, "But you have bigger problems than that. I'm calling on the Framework to challenge you to an honor duel. If you decline, I want everything you own, including your slave. You will also be reverted back to E rank, and Tempest will be no more." I said, making him stare at me in disbelief.
I was taking a gamble, but the Framework was... odd. I had a feeling that it did not engage with others like it did with me, and seemed to actively despise many of these assholes I always seemed to run into. He actually began to smirk, and a small chuckle escaped his mouth, until it stopped completely, and his face paled as a screen popped up in front of both of us.
[Honor Duel Terms have been accepted.]