Chapter 25: Clash

Lucas could sense that some of the gazes of a few guests[1] were different, but he didn't dwell on it.

Suddenly, one of them -who had a bald head- asked Lucas, "Can you remove this glass? I need to feel it up close and check if the weight is suitable for me."

Lucas glanced at the other party before turning away. He found the question dumb and didn't bother with the speaker any longer. It was obvious that the other party wasn't actually interested in buying the vestiges. Releasing the vestige's aura wasn't the only thing that took place once the glass was tapped; there would be a display that appears on the glass, showing some of the details about the vestige like its name and weight.

At that moment, a coercive force was released from the speaker as he stated at Lucas.

"I insist you take the glass and let me have a closer look." The man with a bald head said.

Right then and there, the atmosphere turned strange as it seemed like a confrontation was brewing; almost about to break out. The other guests knew what was going on, but none of them made a sound. Whether they were of the same idea as the man, or they were just spectators, was unknown.

Despite the looming threat, Lucas ignored the man.

The black haired man watched as things folded, wondering what made Lucas feel so calm and confident against a second Aperture Opening stage freelancer, as a human.

*Ding*

Two figures walked through the entrance of the store right when things were heated up. They glanced around before settling their sights on Lucas and walking towards him.

"Welcome." Lucas nodded at the newcomers.

The duo were the couple he met the previous day; the young man and woman who were looking for a Grade 3 spear.

"I reckon what you told us was a lie?" The lady asked.

"Not exactly. I'm just running the store for a friend." Lucas replied.

The black haired man who was by the side was surprised by this. Lucas' previous statements and actions always seemed to hint that he was the main vestige-smith here, but his explanation to the new arrivals showed that this wasn't true.

If that's the case, then what was?

"You might have to wait in line. The store has a first come, first serve policy." Lucas said.

The young man who came in with the lady frowned and released a bit of his aura.

"Can't you make an exception?"

Fifth stage! [2]

This was the highest level of strength Lucas had ever seen, bar the elderly man from yesterday.

The guests in the store were shocked and even the bald-headed man who wanted to cause a scene went quiet. He still couldn't determine the relationship between Lucas and the newcomers.

"Rules are rules." Lucas ignored his show of strength.

The Host Protection Mechanism kept him safe from all forms of threat and harm. While the pressure the man gave off wasn't classified as harm by the system's definition, it was still of no threat to Lucas. In his first life as Yohan, Lucas had met face to face with the Dragon King, the Lord of all seventy-two dragon species. Such a powerhouse could wipe out the entire Eretre with ease and even compete with the entire hyuman Federation with its forces. Compared to the Dragon King who was like the Sun in its peak, the man before him wasn't even worth calling a firefly. The difference was too big.

"Don't make things hard on the storekeeper." The lady by the side calmly said.

The young man frowned but didn't make things hard on Lucas as she instructed. Instead, he glanced at the guests.

"Can you guys take a step back? The Black Lemon Squad would appreciate it."

Black Lemon Squad!

Once the freelancers in the store heard those words, they understood right away and couldn't help but be shocked.

Black Lemon Squad was one of the top freelancer squads in the whole of Baylands City, and by relation, Baylands city-state. The leader and founder of the squad was a six Apertures Opening stage stellar practitioner. Although he still wasn't at the top and couldn't contend with some top family heads, the founder was incredibly strong especially when paired with his Grade 4 vestige; so much so that he could even contend with an average seven Apertures Opening stage stellar practitioner.

A Grade 4 vestige was the limit for most freelancers, and unless one was a top figure in a city-state with some ties to the Oklo Dynasty's region, it would be impossible to have a higher ranked vestige.

Under the leadership of such a powerful figure, the Black Lemon Squad made its name as a top paramilitary force in Baylands City. It had also attracted other talented freelancers at the fifth and even fourth stages. As for those lower ranked, they were more, but each and every one of them was an elite.

The young man in the store was a fifth stage freelancer, and by the Black Lemon Squad's rankings, he would be a squad captain. In other words, he was a big shot.

Just as the guests were about to relinquish their spots and let him go ahead, Lucas spoke up.

"Relinquishing spots is against the rules. If you want to buy something or request a service, please queue up rightfully."

The young man frowned and glared at Lucas, but little did he know that Lucas was cursing at the system right now.

Just a while ago, the system had told him that queue-skipping was not allowed, neither was trading spots. This was to prevent powerful individuals from hogging the store's services all to themselves. If they wanted something from the store, they had to line up for it, fairly and justly.

What pissed Lucas off was that the timing of this information was bad. It would make it seem as if he was trying to purposely get on the bad side of the young man. Nonetheless, Lucas wasn't scared of offending him, but he was irritated by the system's antics.

"Are you messing with me?" The young man stared Lucas in the eye.

Lucas stared at him back for a while then ignored him and glanced at the black haired man.

"Are you buying anything else or not?"

At this time, the young man lost it and unleashed his aura entirely. Even the young lady didn't say a word as she too was pissed by Lucas' actions.

Lucas could feel a strange pressure acting on him in an attempt to get him down on his knees. Truthfully, this pressure wasn't worth anything thanks to the Host Protection Mechanism acting up right away as it determined the pressure to be harmful. However, Lucas still felt an uncomfortable sensation on his body as he frowned slightly.

The young man, the lady, as well as everyone else, was surprised to still see Lucas standing up straight without any sign of discomfort. In fact, the only difference between the Lucas under pressure and the Lucas not under pressure was the slight frown on his face.

This intrigued the young man, but he was still pissed nonetheless. He increased his force and as he saw nothing come of it still, he stretched out his hand to attack.

The young man's movements was too fast for Lucas to see but he didn't even bother dodging or anything. The system had his back.

The young man's hand caught Lucas by the neck and he grinned at him.

"What do you have to say now?"

Originally, everyone thought Lucas was impressive or maybe even like the human exceptions in Digress city-state. But when they saw him taken down so easily, they were surprised.

Lucas glanced at the young man, seemingly unbothered by the situation he was in.

Although the young man held him by the neck, the force was mitigated and Lucas simply felt as if a hand was laid on his neck with no force applied.

"Sighs. Why do people behave like this?" Lucas said.

The young man was surprised that Lucas could still speak after all, the force he used to clamp his neck was supposed to prevent that. It was then that the young man noticed that his hands weren't tightly gripping Lucas' neck as he thought. There seemed to be a strange feeling from his hand that despite being in contact with Lucas' neck, he couldn't tighten his grip.

"What's this?" The young man said out loud, but Lucas replied him with a punch to the face.

*Bam*

The young man was forced back and his hand released Lucas. He frowned and moved again, this time drawing out his stellar energy as he punched again.

Until the tenth aperture is opened, hyumans don't possess any superpower so most of their combat is done by using stellar energy in its refined form as well vestiges.

Lucas saw the incoming attack but didn't fret, letting it hit him.

*Bam*

A loud sound reverberated after the hit landed, but Lucas was still standing firm. At this point, everyone in the store was stunned silly.

How the hell did a human take a blow from a fifth stage freelancer without taking a step back?

The answer would remain unknown as in the very next second, Lucas had already retailated. The blacksmith glove has appeared in his hand at some point as he launched his counter attack.

*Thud*

The young man was punched and this time, he was sent flying.

Again, the crowd was stunned.

That was a fifth stage freelancer!

The blocked strike could be explained as some high grade vestige. However, even if Lucas had some defensive gear to keep him safe, the gap was too large to be able to deliver an attack capable of sending the opponent flying. Considering Lucas' strength, unless it was a Grade 5 or 6 vestige, it would be impossible to pull this off.