"We'll stop here for the night…" declared Raiz upon arriving at a natural cave near a stream flowing through the Great Carralis Canyonlands.

It has been two days since they entered, and they were still around three to four days away from the Southern Seas, depending on how fast they advanced.

Hal and the escort force had already encountered more than ten S-ranked beasts and monsters in the said span.

However, the adventurers of the Imperial Wizard Guild had been steady and rock-solid, seemingly unshakeable in combat.

They were a horrifying lineup of wizards for sure.

As a result, Hal, Loki, Shaun, and Isolde didn't need to do much..

This, however, led to the youngsters of the guild becoming more and more brazen in their insults.

The headmistress had already reprimanded them once.

But this only resulted in the young wizards disdaining her student even more.

And naturally, patient as he was, even Hal had limits.

The seasoned adventurers patrolled the surroundings, setting up defensive measures while the youngsters prepared the fire and the meat for dinner.

Their force was formidable, plus there were almost thirty of them in total.

There was no need to hide their location much.

If beasts and monsters wanted to make them their dinner, they were welcome to try.

Soon, night fell.

The gentle cracks of firewood as the massive campfire slowly cooked the meat of a bull beast brought Hal and the others moments of serenity.

It seemed that the peace would last, as the young adventurers seemed to be chatting happily about their small victories.

But then, when everyone was enjoying their meat portions, one of the young adventurers suddenly stepped out to relieve himself, passing Loki by and stepping on his tail.

The wolf companion wasn't stupid and knew that the bastard was trying to provoke his master again.

And so, Loki held himself back. Such weak physical attacks could never hurt him anyway.

The brown-haired young adventurer, Finn, feigned indifference but was irked by the lack of reaction.

Wolf-type beasts are only dangerous when they are fighting with their pack.

A lone wolf such as Loki would never scare the talented A-ranked young wizard.

And so, upon returning, Finn deliberately stepped on Loki's tail again, this time much harder.

But the wolf companion still ignored him, munching on his portion.

The young adventurer finally couldn't help himself and crossed a boundary he should never have crossed.

Finn shot Loki a blunt Glacial Shard.

With his abilities as an A-ranked Wizard, the now A-ranked wolf beast was hurt, quickly standing up and, by instinct, turned to bite at his attacker.

"ARGH!"

Finn roared in agony as rows of sharp teeth sank moderately deep.

If not for Loki's unusual intelligence and great restraint, the bastard would have lost a hand.

Severed body parts were extremely difficult—even borderline impossible—for even the highest-ranked Augurs to restore.

Finn lucked out this time, as he truly did not expect that Loki was that nimble.

Naturally, the young adventurer's anguish reached the ears of those in the campfire, prompting them to turn, witnessing the scene of the snarling wolf stepping back to dodge another Glacial shard from Finn, whose forearm was bleeding heavily.

"Damned mutt, die!" roared two of Finn's friends in unison, shooting a Fireball and a Wind Cutter at Loki.

It was then that a figure reappeared in front of the agitated wolf, blocking everything with a level 200 [Mana Barrier].

The common-tier elemental projectiles failed to reach their target.

Of course, the older ones among the group wouldn't let the situation escalate.

"Enough!" roared Raiz and Isolde simultaneously.

Surprisingly, the former turned to Hal, questioning him: "Hal Fennec! What is the meaning of this?"

"Huh? What is the meaning of what? Are you dumb, or are you playing dumb? I'm sure everyone here sensed that your stupid subordinate attacked Loki first."

It was then that Finn spoke in defense of himself.

"This damned feral wolf tried to trip me with its tail not once but twice! I just thought that it's better to teach the disrespectful mongrel some manners!"

Unfortunately for the liar, Hal was already watching him from the moment he began approaching the exit of the natural cave, since Loki was eating there.

While he wasn't ready for the first petty attack, he had already activated an orb of memory and recorded everything from the moment Finn returned.

"Oh, really? That's what happened? Then what's this?"

Hal infused mana into the orb, replaying to everyone what happened.

It was naturally difficult for Finn to deny what he did after that.

Raiz and the other adventurers were embarrassed, not expecting the Magna Prospect to suddenly whip out a receipt of their subordinate's actions.

They naturally knew that it was Finn who attacked first, since, like Hal said, everyone there should've sensed the mana fluctuation.

"S-Still, this doesn't change the fact that your wolf companion wounded one of us. Just apologize to Finn, and we shall not report this to the guild."

"Hoh? I thought you were quite the respectable adventurer, but clearly, you're also one to condone and even back such unprofessional conduct." Isolde sneered, butting in.

She was a retired Magna, and her words naturally held weight.

Everyone fell silent for a few moments as the headmistress scanned her eyes over the wizards of the Imperial Wizard Guild.

She then broke the silence:

"I know what you lot have been trying to do." Isolde continued. "Fine then, since you guys want to be unprofessional, let us all be.

You want to see how your brats fare against my student? Let us, then.

But whatever happens, make sure to hold your end of the deal and escort us to Tiki Island.

Otherwise, we can all retreat to the empire in our own ways and try to reach the location another time. You're welcome to report whatever you wish to your superiors, but expect me to do the same. We'll see who is on the right, then."

Raiz and the other S-ranked adventurers' hearts skipped a beat. Only now did they realize they might've overstepped and messed up quite badly.

Just the Magna Prospect's recording alone would destroy them.

Raiz hurriedly tried to salvage the situation:

"W-We apologize, headmistress. We weren't thinking clearly."

"You lot indeed weren't. Unfortunately, things have already escalated to this degree. Let's just sort this issue out now. Your brats have been raring to test my student since the beginning, so I shall not hold my student back this time."

Isolde then turned to Hal:

"What do you want to do?"

Hal smirked coldly at his master's words. He had indeed been holding himself back, and it was incredibly difficult doing so.

There was only one thing he wanted to do:

"Hahaha! Finally, finally…" Hal began, locking eyes with Finn while lightly stretching his neck.

He had been observing the bastards' prowess for a few days now. He was certain of his chances.

"Since you guys want to fight me, then I shall give you a chance, but put your money where your mouth is.

Pick a representative and bet your entire loot, how's that?

If I win, everything you guys obtained and those you would obtain in the future would be mine. Also, you guys must continue to gather the resources for me.

Since you idiots are so confident, you should at least be willing to wager this much, no?"