The Adventurers' Guild's Review

At the Adventurers' Guild entrance, Alec and his group were about to submit their quest report and get closure for their fallen comrades.

"Well, well, if it isn't our B-rank team back from their goblin hunt! How'd it go?" they were mocked even before reaching the guild gates.

The jeer came from a sickly pale, pockmarked man with an insidious smirk. He was with some flashy young followers.

"What's with the long face, boss? Did something not go your way?" the man taunted with a sly grin.

"Where's your loot? Don't tell me you came back empty-handed after not even killing a single fly?" Another rooster-haired youth sneered.

"Out of my way!" Alec shoved them aside with a dark scowl and strode into the guild.

"And...where are your teammates? Don't tell me they all died out there and you couldn't even bring them back!" the man provoked.

!!!

At this, Alec visibly halted. He pursed his lips tightly, a fleeting sadness flashing in his eyes. Yet he silently lowered his head and moved on.

"Shut up! It's none of your business!" Agnes frowned and shouted angrily.

"Oh my, seems I hit a nerve! You really did lose to those goblins huh?" Colin saw he had provoked them and pressed on, even shouting his taunts for all to hear.

His cronies watched eagerly, laughing loudly and attracting attention.

"Stop clowning around. You'll never qualify for my team, Colin!" Alec's fists tightened as he emanated a magical aura, his eyes cold and hard.

This was the applicant Alec had rejected before. He had nursed a grudge ever since.

Colin was petty and deceitful, hoping only to ride on Alec's coattails. When rejected for lacking skills, he held a resentment.

The upright and steadfast Alec naturally looked down on such a small man.

"Haha, I'm so glad I didn't go with you guys. Otherwise I'd be dead like those poor sods now!" Colin ignored Alec's warning and continued his shameless mockery.

"Where are your other teammates? Why do you all look so shabby now?"

These days Colin had nothing better to do than lurk around observing adventurers.

From afar he had noticed Alec's bedraggled return - not only were three familiar faces missing, but there were unfamiliar children among them too.

Clearly they had suffered a devastating blow.

Casualties were commonplace in the wilderness. Many never returned from adventures.

Man and monster struggled to survive out there, hunting yet also hunted in a merciless process.

"And you still came to the Guild? Don't tell me you want to forfeit the quest!"

"Haha Alec, look at you now! If I were on the team, we wouldn't be in this mess with my skills!" Colin continued his vicious attacks.

The usually soft-spoken Alec and Agnes just marched on to the service counter quietly.

"Ma'am, we're here to submit our quest report," Alec told the clerk in a green cap.

"Tch, submit a report? You still have the cheek to say that? Your team's wiped out, no way you completed it!" Colin heckled loudly, attracting more attention.

"Some captain you are, getting your team killed and still talking about reporting! That's just laughable!" Colin's gang joined in the derision.

"I told you to shut up! Why keep spewing this rubbish?" Davy finally had enough and sighed, glaring back in retaliation.

"Well, well, what's this little punk daring to talk back to me? Beat it kid, or uncle will beat you dead!" Colin immediately turned ugly, deliberately exerting his aura to intimidate Davy.

To Alec's group Colin only dared hurl verbal insults.

He knew their strength could easily thrash him if it came to blows.

But when facing those weaker than himself, Colin didn't even waste words. He just bullied with might!

"Try laying a hand on him and see what happens," Alec suddenly whipped around, glaring coldly at Colin with killing intent in his eyes.

Alec's eyes flashed blood red as the air around him seemed to freeze.

That bone-chilling killing intent made Colin's hair stand on end. He instantly felt his blood run cold, unable to move a muscle.

"Ha...for real?" Colin turned pale, completely overwhelmed by Alec's powerful aura.

Alec had reached the Enlightenment realm while Colin was only a 4th level Awakening. They were leagues apart.

"Remember, never touch my people. Or I'll hunt you to the ends of the earth," Alec enunciated each word with grave seriousness.

He was genuinely concerned Colin might harm Davy, which would have severe consequences.

Stunned by his attitude, Colin froze speechlessly for a few seconds, sensing his earnestness and at a loss for how to respond.

"Ha...just kidding, why would I do that..." He forced out an awkward laugh.

"Useless. Threatening me won't work since I didn't kill your teammates. Go take revenge on the Goblin King if you have the guts. He's the one who killed your brothers right? But I don't see you hunting him down, hahaha!" Colin quickly regained his sinister sneer, deliberately prodding Alec's wound.

He knew well that with three dead teammates, Alec's team had clearly failed their quest and couldn't possibly have strength left for the Goblin King.

Under such circumstances, just barely making it back alive was already great luck on their part.

Alec really didn't want to bother with Colin, but it seemed his earlier threat had worked. Colin likely wouldn't dare actually hurt Davy now.

"Alright, please provide proof of slaying the Goblin King," the clerk then said sweetly through the window.

"Ha? You want proof? Don't kid around, how can he have proof if he failed the quest?" Before Alec could reply, Colin and his gang jumped in heckling and laughing.

"Hey, we're all watching. Still want to save face? Just admit you failed, no need to keep up pretenses. It's fine, hahaha!" He continued taunting.

But Alec ignored him and took out a jagged shard from his pocket, emitting a dim emerald green glow, like a fusion of jade and gemstone, but the color wasn't very bright.

"Only fragments remained due to the intensity of the battle," he explained to the clerk.

"Huh? How could only fragments be left?" The clerk was surprised as she took the shard.

"Tch, nice try, but magic cores are the hardest parts of a beast. You expect me to believe you smashed it? What a preposterous lie, who'd ever believe that?" Colin immediately seized the chance to mock him again.

He absolutely couldn't believe anyone capable of shattering a core, let alone from a beast of the Goblin King's level. At least Class B, no way this happened!

But as the staff examined the shard closely, she went from skeptical to more and more shocked.

"This...this is from a Class A core?" She tentatively asked with a slight frown.

From experience she could tell with one look, but it was only a small fragment so she wasn't fully certain.

Class A cores were exceedingly rare, though she had seen some before. But completely shattered was something she'd never witnessed!

"Yes, the intel was wrong. That Goblin King had actually ranked up to Transcendence, extremely dangerous," Alec briefly said, unwilling to elaborate.

Recalling that catastrophic battle always plunged Alec into despair and dread.

The horrific scenes had left him deeply traumatized. Now even just seeing a green goblin made him involuntarily shudder.

"Transcendence??" The clerk reacted in surprise. "How can that be? A Class A core shattered to fragments? You didn't just buy materials from the market to try and fool me did you?"

"You must understand, falsely reporting quest progress is a grave violation. It generates misinformation, misleading other adventurers, ultimately leading to irreversible consequences!"

Crack!

Alec suddenly clenched his fists tightly, hair covering his face as his expression was hidden in shadow.

"You dare say that!" Alec couldn't help but yell out, "It's because the client didn't investigate clearly that we fell into such dire straits!"

"My three comrades all died by that monster's hands!"

Alec finally erupted emotionally, tears streaming down uncontrollably.

Silence instantly fell around them, even Colin stopped speaking.

"I'm very sorry to hear that, please accept my condolences," the clerk gently consoled.

"Now I can confirm this is indeed a Class A Goblin core fragment, but it's still insufficient to prove you killed the Goblin King."

"I'm not doubting you, just need more solid evidence."

"The issue is, the core's energy has already dissipated, losing value. This could just be an old, used up fragment."

"Plus, I highly doubt your team has the strength to defeat a Class A Goblin King. It's far too powerful, likely beyond what a Class B team like yours can handle."

The clerk rationally analyzed the evidence Alec submitted with skepticism.

"How about this..." She quickly thought of a solution.

"Zachary, come help conduct an in-depth appraisal of this Goblin core!" She called to a staff member behind her.

"On it!" He responded.

An in-depth appraisal could uncover a lot of information if the core owner's time of death was recent, like its size, age when alive, etc.

The core's freshness could also indicate if the owner died recently, clarifying many questions.

"Alec, please give a detailed account of how you defeated the Goblin King."

"If your description aligns with our appraisal findings, we can confirm you completed the quest." The clerk told Alec.

She was being so meticulous to uphold regulations. She couldn't just accept a quest completion claim without solid proof.

Such stringent verification wasn't normal practice, but Alec's situation was too suspicious. Class A cores were already so rare, and now only a fragment remained, defying common sense and baffling understanding.

A common Class B team claiming to have felled a Class A beast was simply mind-boggling.

"Hmph, still trying to pull the wool over our eyes? I'll see today exactly how you plan to spin this lie!" Colin stood with arms crossed, eagerly awaiting the spectacle.

"Alec, why make things difficult? Failure is normal, isn't it better than embarrassing yourself publicly?" Many adventurers had gathered, including acquaintances persuading Alec.

"A Class A core fragment? Wow, those exist in this world? How on earth was it done?" Some were just curious and determined to hear an explanation.

The situation grew increasingly chaotic and complicated.