Chapter 102: Weird Interaction
Terrence smirked, his head shaking in utter disbelief. Just how on earth did things turn out this way so quickly?
The exact second he had entered the room, the president was beyond pleased to see him, but now he was so thoroughly displeased that he would throw a childish tantrum like that just because Terrence didn’t agree with his terms?
If this man had whined his way to such a high position, how could Terrence even trust or respect a person like him in the first place?
Sighing heavily, Terrence turned his back on the desk.
"You act like a child for someone your age," Terrence mumbled, though his voice was still completely audible in the quiet room.
"You are acting like no one in this city can kill you," Ronald growled, his voice dropping into a dangerous whisper. "Trust me, kid. Beasts aren’t everything in this world. I can easily kill you right here and now if I wanted to."
Terrence chuckled softly, his stride coming to a sudden halt right before the exit door.
He wore a thoroughly sarcastic look on his face as he turned around to face the old man.
"Does aging actually regress brains? Why would you say something so foolish in broad daylight? That is legally considered a direct threat."
Ronald snorted in complete disdain. "As if I have to worry about threatening an unbacked kid like you. You should consider yourself lucky that I am going to let you walk away from this room without being harmed today. I will get that secret tool from you at all costs."
Terrence smirked, his posture remaining completely relaxed.
"I see. So the moment I step out of this room, you will have your people follow me everywhere. Investigate my every move. Or even just steal whatever tools or secrets you discover from me, right?" Terrence asked in a bold, firm tone.
Ronald raised a hand near his temple, aggressively combing through his thick grey hair with his fingers.
"Tsk. You are still just an arrogant kid. If you are going to talk to me like that, then I have no choice but to do this..."
Ronald raised his shoulder, and a small black turtle materialized directly on his shoulder fabric. It was so tiny and summoned so quietly that Terrence didn’t even notice it pop up on Ronald’s shoulder until it was already sitting there.
Terrence stopped a chuckle from forming, his eyes widening slightly as he suppressed a sudden wave of laughter.
"What is that? Is that supposed to be a toy?" Terrence mocked, his words making Ronald’s eyes instantly flash a terrifying shade of red.
"How dare you!"
A thin, concentrated beam of black laser light materialized inside the tiny black turtle’s open mouth and shot straight toward Terrence’s head.
Terrence was barely able to dodge, leaning his upper body hard to the side as he felt his physical frame moving a little lighter than usual.
Terrence was genuinely surprised at his own reaction speed. He was becoming noticeably more agile with every single life-or-death threat he faced.
Facing this sudden attack made him realize that all those grueling dungeon fights had truly elevated his base physical reflexes.
He glanced back at the wall behind his previous position. Plumb in the middle of that spot was a tiny black dot burned into the wall, but the beam had pierced so deeply into the structure that he could actually see the reinforced steel bars hiding inside the concrete.
"Are you seriously planning to kill me right here?" Terrence mumbled, his brows furrowing. "Why are you acting like this? This is way too sudden and extreme."
Ronald clicked his tongue in annoyance, flicking his wrist to instantly dismiss the tiny black turtle beast back into its portal.
"That was just a warning, kid. Now get the hell lost. You don’t need to keep rubbing salt on an open wound," he said coldly before sitting heavily back down in his leather swivel chair and attending to his desk documents.
Terrence tilted his head in complete confusion.
What the hell was that whole interaction? That was so utterly weird that whoever heard him share this story later on would be completely baffled as well.
No normal, high-ranking guild leader would ever act so impulsively like that. But Terrence paused his harsh judgment for a moment.
’I’m really in no place to judge someone for acting that impulsively. Maybe he has some intense personal issues going on behind the scenes that are making him extremely desperate.’ He sighed, slowly shaking his head. ’Or maybe he’s just old and already senile.’
Terrence opened the wooden door to step out, but right before he could fully leave the room, Ronald muttered something under his breath.
It was just a low mumble and completely inaudible from the doorway, making Terrence stop in his tracks and turn around to ask.
"What?"
However, Ronald didn’t offer a reply, keeping his head buried in his paperwork. Terrence simply shrugged the strange moment off and left the establishment shortly after obtaining his official temporary permit from the clerk downstairs.
Terrence honestly didn’t know how to explain what had just transpired upstairs or how he still managed to walk away with the temporary permit in hand, but hell, what ultimately mattered was the final result.
He had secured his temporary permit. Now, all he needed to do was prepare a high-quality beast to sell before officially establishing his traveling merchant stall.
Terrence decided to operate as a traveling merchant this time around. So, he planned on visiting various popular taverns to spread the word among adventurer tamers that a specialized traveling merchant would be arriving around Hanging City in just a few days.
Soon enough, a massive rumor—which quickly escalated into major local news—spread like wildfire that a traveling merchant who sells living beasts would soon arrive. People even began wildly debating whether it was true that the beasts this traveling merchant sold didn’t require a traditional, complex contract process.
Well, almost no one actually believed that wild part of the rumor, but everyone was deeply curious to see how a merchant could possibly store and sell living beasts. It had been a very long time since a crazy traveling merchant had appeared in town with such an absurd line of merchandise.
Others speculated that he would probably just be selling normal, common-tier beasts, but most tamers wanted to see the stock with their own eyes before passing final judgment.
However, for newly awakened Talents who were desperately searching for their very first contract beast, they were eagerly waiting for this traveling merchant’s arrival with high hopes.
On the other hand, Ulyssia’s younger brother, Usaff, was also anxiously waiting for this traveling merchant to arrive, desperately hoping for an affordable price to purchase his first beast.
"Ulyssia, let’s go buy my beast from that traveling merchant!" Usaff pleaded, his voice full of excitement.
Usaff was only sixteen years old and possessed a sharp, youthful appearance—essentially a younger male version of Ulyssia herself.
His eyes had a slightly fierce edge to them that became quite appealing when closely inspected, perfectly matching Ulyssia’s naturally domineering facial features.
"I already spoke to someone about this exact matter," Ulyssia replied smoothly, looking down at her brother. "You don’t have to put your hopes in that random traveling merchant, Usaff."