36.

"Not bad." This was the first time any of them spoke to Eldric. Though it was only one word, it was enough to show their acknowledgment.

"Who are you guys?" Now that the man behind him had retreated into the distance and the other four were looking at him silently, Eldric finally asked the question.

"That is irrelevant." It was a hoarse voice that replied to him. "I am surprised you were able to fend off our attacks so easily."

There was a hint of appreciation in his voice as he kept on looking at Eldric. When they decided to attack him, they didn't expect the guy to be so skilled.

"Is it all because of the horns!?" Grunting in pain, Eldric asked. There was no reason besides the large number of horns to attack him. But with the skills of the people in front of him, it wasn't a difficult task to earn these horns all by themselves.

"You all are pretty strong yourself... Why not hunt the bulls yourself?" This was what confused him the most.

"A thankless task that takes too much time." This was the reply one of the men gave him.

"....." Both parties just stared at each other in silence, perhaps waiting for the other one to make a move first.

Though Eldric's hand was hurting badly, he didn't pay any attention to it. On the contrary, he was wondering what he should do next.

And just when he was hesitating on his next course of action, a familiar long lost cold voice sounded in his ear.

"Have you gone stupid due to losing this much blood?"

Even though the person asking this question seemed to be mocking him, Eldric wasn't angry. On the contrary, he was filled with excitement and happiness.

Turning his head around, he finally saw the figure of the young girl floating beside him in the air while looking at him with dissatisfaction.

"....." Eldric didn't say a word due to the presence of enemies around him, but his eyes were enough to express his emotions.

"Why do you think those bastards who never wanted to talk to you before are suddenly so chatty??" It was a simple sentence, but it was enough to directly point out the seemingly small detail that he overlooked.

'Yes... Why were these people suddenly so interested in talking to him? Was it because of his way of fighting?' Eldric felt like he almost had the answer, but he just couldn't put his finger on it.

Seeing how he was still unable to come up with an answer, the girl shook her head in disappointment.

"It's the skills, you idiot.

They are just stalling for time till they can use their skills again after the cooldown ends."

"Shiiit"

This simple sentence of hers directly pointed out the missing piece. And the moment Eldric realized it, his eyes narrowed into slits before he suddenly stood up and leaped toward the guy holding the rapier.

Because of the mask Eldric was wearing, the people in front of him weren't able to see the changes in his expression. So, this sudden action of him jumping towards the guy with the rapier started them for a second before they took a few steps back, preparing for their next round of attacks.

Just like she had predicted, the enemies Eldric was facing were stalling for time till they could use their skills again. But seeing how Eldric saw through their plan, they could only face him head-on.

The guy holding the rapier took a deep breath and suddenly his body seemed to be surrounded by thin white smoke.

The person who was able to disappear ran towards the rapier guy and stood beside him.

The guy kneeling on the floor still didn't move but clasped his hands with fingers intertwining for prayer. Suddenly a small ball of white light burst out of his body before dividing into four parts and entering the body of the other four.

The one who threw a fireball too raised both his hands and closed his eyes as a small twirling pillar of flame began to form above his head.

And the last person just stood there with eyes closed while touching the arrow on his forehead, inserting a violet glow in it.

Eldric who was about to aim for the person holding the rapier changed his decision at the last moment, as his feet touched the ground just a few meters away before he turned around and plunged towards the guy trying to form a flame pillar.

This sudden action of his surprised the enemies but they were prepared. The guy holding the knife rushed behind Eldric, hoping to interrupt him while the guy forming a flame pillar didn't move but kept on concentrating on his skill.

Within a few moments, Eldric was already standing in front of him. Clenching his fist, he pulled back his left hand, activated his skill Thunderous Barrage, and threw a punch with all his strength.

The moment Eldric threw a punch, a thin paper-like barrier surrounded the man forming the fire pillar. The barrier was similar to the one before but Eldric could feel it was countless times weaker.

"Craa....cckkk.."

With the sound of shattering, under eyes filled with disbelief, the entire barrier crumbled to dust.

Though it weakened the power of Eldric's punch, it still wasn't something any of them could take head-on.

"BANG."

With a loud sound, the body of the man forming a fire pillar flew back like a tennis ball.

"Thump..." With a loud thud, the body fell to the ground as the man lay there motionless. His life and death remain unknown.

"Damn it... What kind of ordinary professionals have such skills?"

The man with the rapier finally couldn't hold it anymore and shouted at the top of his lungs. It was one thing to have a jumping skill that one can use anytime... But what was with such a monstrous punch?

He hadn't seen such a powerful punch even from people with a Legendary profession, much less someone with an ordinary one.

It was now that his intestines were turning green with regret. Had this bastard shown such skill while he was hunting those bulls, they wouldn't have thought about robbing him. But now...

Looking at Eldric who jumped towards the guy kneeling on the ground, the man gritted his teeth. He knew that none of them were able to take this punch head-on. Even though they have two more skills they haven't used yet, it wasn't going to make any difference.

Helplessly, he could only grit his teeth. In the end, seeing Eldric almost about to punch the man, he suddenly looked at the pitch-white space above his head and shouted at the top of his lungs with a voice that was filled with unwillingness.

"WE GIVE UP."

As soon as he spoke these words, everyone in the white space was covered by a thin layer of white light before disappearing completely.

.....

Eldric who was about to punch the guy kneeling on the ground only heard the shout before the world around him changed.

The people in front of him had disappeared, but his body still remained in motion, ultimately stopping only after a few meters.

"Huh!?" Eldric didn't relax when he came out, on the contrary, he looked around him, and upon noticing that there was no one near him, gritted his teeth in anger.

Looking around for a while and seeing the vortex in the distance, he finally understood that he had come back to the same place from where he disappeared.

"Then those bastards..." If he has returned to the same place, then it must mean that those people should have also come back.

Without any hesitation, he turned around and rushed back towards their location.

With his speed, it didn't even take him five seconds to reach there.

Looking at the four of them supporting the half-dead man, he bent down and used his skill Surging Leap to jump toward them.

How could he let them go after going through so much? The more he thought about it, the angrier he got.

"Shit... He's here." The man with the bow cursed the moment he saw Eldric rushing towards them.

"I will remember you... you little bastard."

The man with the rapier howled like a crying wolf, shouting at the top of his lungs while taking out a scroll and tearing it apart.

And the moment he tore it up, their entire group was covered in dim white light before disappearing.

"Gone!?" Eldric who soon arrived at their place of disappearance looked around carefully. But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find them.

"Don't let me find you ever again." Gritting his teeth, Eldric made his way towards the exit.

Anyone would be in a bad mood after going through this all, much less him. And the more he thought about them, the angrier he got. It was like someone slapped him in the face and then ran away.

"Relax." This was the only word the girl floating beside him spoke, but it was enough to calm him down.

"Where were you?" There was nothing he could do about those people, so Eldric decided not to think about them for a moment and focus on the girl beside him.

"I am always with you.

Whether you like it or not." There was a hint of annoyance in her voice as if cursing Eldric for her current state.

"....." Listening to her complaint, Eldric touched his nose and smiled with embarrassment. Even after everything that just happened to him, he was beaming with a smile, because of her sudden appearance.

When he didn't see her after completing the trials, Eldric thought he had perhaps lost her completely. But seeing her floating in the air beside himself, acting like her usual self, he finally let go of his worries.

"You should treat your arm first. This is not the trial where you will heal automatically." Seeing him smiling like a fool, she snorted coldly while giving him a piece of advice.

"Oh!" It was now that Eldric saw his right hand which had a small hole in it and was bleeding constantly.

Without wasting another second, he walked out of the Domain and opened the panel to teleport. But before he could even choose the option for teleport he saw a message popping up.

[Congratulations for your victory.]

[Gained 200 x Green Bull's Horn]

[Gained 100 x Green Bull's Meat]

[Gained 100 x Vials Of Green Bull's Blood]

Looking at the rows of notifications, Eldric was stunned for a long time. Even though he saw the message in the beginning that the loser would lose their entire inventory, he didn't think too much about it. After all, only those who teleport can use inventory to store specific items. And when they gave up the fight and ran away, he believed that he wasn't going to get anything from them.

But to his surprise...

"Hisss..." Looking at the newly refreshed inventory consisting of five hundred and ten horns, one hundred parts of meat, and one hundred vials of blood, Eldric couldn't help but take a deep breath.

"But how could they have the blood and meat?" This thought lasted only for a moment before he patted his forehead. While it was true that the bodies of the beasts would disappear once they were killed by people who used teleportation, there is still a way to get the body parts of a beast... And that is to rob other people.

Thinking about how they must have been robbing people left and right to accumulate this many resources, Eldric couldn't help but shake his head before teleporting back to the zone with a smile on his face...