“Listen here, you little shit…”

Stan was about to get into a physical altercation with Eren when he verbally defiled him to no end. But then the latter crashed on the ground himself and wailed in agony as if Stan had punched him in the guts.

Stan was stupefied by the act. But Eren didn’t stop there. With both of his hands holding his seemingly injured stomach, he cried out to someone.

“Aaaaagh! Reece… help, Stan… he is trying to kill me.”

Reece who was coming behind Stan heard Eren’s voice and executed her movement spell right away. Both of her legs were engulfed by green flames before she disappeared from her position. In the next moment, she appeared beside Eren, bent down, and embraced him in her arms.

“Eren… what… what happened to you?”

Reece seemed visibly panicked. She just heard Eren’s cry and rushed to the scene without hearing what Eren had to say. The hustler didn’t mind. He repeated the whole turn of events for her.

“Reece did.. Aaah fuck. Did you remember you were asking about the wounds that I had received during my training? I lied to you. They were all inflicted by this guy and his rowdy group of friends.”

Eren spoke while his face still showed signs of pain and agony. He pressed his lips against one another as if trying to deal with the pangs of pain before speaking once again.

“I don’t know what I have ever done to these guys, Reece. They just keep on harassing me physically and verbally for no reason. Even today, I was just waiting for you here. This guy jumped on me from nowhere and punched me.”

Eren stood up with Reece’s help as he said that. He even used the opportunity to slightly hug Reece in front of Stan while giving him an unnoticeable smirk. Once again, the expressions on his face were those of pain, as if he were wearing many masks at once.

“If this keeps happening, I’m afraid I’ll die before breaking into Rank 1. Could you ask Captain Miranda to help me out in my current state?”

Reece looked at Stan with a blank look on her face. But those who knew her well could tell she was extremely angry. She was about to launch her attack spell on the guy. But then Eren intervened.

“No, Reece. Not like this. We are not Bourgys, are we? Let’s file an official complaint against Stan and his lot. We’ll let her handle the rest.”

Reece was about to argue with Eren. But then she quieted down and nodded at him. She let him keep his arm over his shoulders and walked him as if he was unable to walk properly.

The hustler had overacted his part. He had said that he was punched in his guts. But now he was walking as if his legs had been injured. He had to thank his lucky stars for overacting and still managing to find a buyer for it in Reece.

This whole time Stan was silent.

He didn’t know what had just happened here.

‘I didn’t hit him, did I?’

Stan thought to himself as he watched Reece and Eren enter the guild’s large welcome hall. As he replayed the scenes of what just happened in his head, he got angrier than before.

He was also confused and baffled by Eren’s transformation in his personality. The way he behaved and acted. Stan wanted to scream that he was the victim in this whole fiasco. At least this time, he was.

***

“Stan, Jayce, and Ralph. You’d not participate in this week’s raid. I’ll request other team members from the guild master for this mission.

Also, you’d have to pay 10 mana quartz each to Eren for all the damages you have done.”

Stan, Jayce, and Ralph were fined heavily for the torture they had put Eren into all of a sudden. The trio’s expressions were a cocktail of puzzlement, anger, and unbelief. Jayce and Ralph both looked at Stan who was supposed to be their leader. He just gestured to the duo to keep their mouths shut and meet him outside. Since they were not participating this week, there was no need to be here.

It was Miranda Bloom who handed out this punishment to the trio. Reece and the trio were members of her team. Eren was assigned as support staff for the same team. So he called Miranda captain too.

Miranda had lustrous golden-blonde hair and gray eyes. She had a sharp nose and naturally cherry-pink lips. Her rosy skin spelled unblemished perfection. Her bust size was prominent. And her waist was exceptionally slim. Her ample derriere gave her an hourglass figure. Plus, her thighs were as shapely and gave her a fuller figure. Her feminine charm could make any man’s heart race, young or old.

Yet, the most exceptional thing about her wasn’t her beauty. But her ranking status as a Meta in their 9th stage. She was a step away from breaking into the Awakened rank. And this was when she was technically a teen. Just a few days away from entering her 20s.

Miranda always appreciated Eren for his behavior and for the work he did. She doubted that Stan and the rest were creating problems for him for some time now. But she couldn’t do anything until the guy came forward and asked for help.

The punishment she had given to Stan and the rest could be considered the maximum punishment she could give the Metas for their transgression against a non-ranker. Things would have been different if Eren was a ranker as well. After all, societal and official rules were skewed toward benefiting rankers more than mortals and non-rankers.

There were rules set for non-rankers’ and mortals’ safety and well-being. But they were more like guidelines for the ranker population. When a ranker engaged with mortals too much, they were considered to be losing their footing. The other rankers would view them as kingfish in a small pond if they bullied weak mortals.

It is unlikely that any mortal or non-ranked person would use these rules against any ranker regardless of how much of a need they might have. Rankers were known to hold grudges. The mortals liked to stay away from the repercussions that would follow if they got a ranker into any kind of trouble.

Vik didn’t care about these self-assumed repercussions. There were negative consequences to not taking action as well.

He’d rather face those repercussions head-on than let someone else walk all over him. At least, with this route, he could anticipate when they would be coming and take necessary measures accordingly.

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