CHAPTER 257: A SPAR

Vacuse watched the atmosphere with satisfaction. Although some people might have thought it was much better if nobody complained about the fact that he was taking over the Dragon Hunters, he knew for a fact that it was better that they were complaining.

If they didn’t complain so openly, then he should be wary of an attack from behind. But now they were complaining that they didn’t want him, and that was good.

He could directly address the root cause of the issue.

And it was simple. They did not think he was strong enough to lead them, and frankly, he didn’t blame them. Who would want an untested kid to lead a group of experienced hunters?

Suddenly, he straightened, and his face became serious. His red eyes glittered like wet bloodstones, and his aura swelled to slowly fill the place. Slowly, the training ground fell silent, and everyone watched him.

He nodded as he now had their attention. "A lot of you don’t know me, and I don’t know you either, so I will tell you about myself. I am Vacuse Vorrakyn, and I am the leader of the Dragon Hunters."

He didn’t need to wait for their reaction; it was exactly as he wanted it to be. An uproar broke out immediately, and the hunters began to strongly voice their disagreement.

"You? The leader of us Dragon Hunters? You must be dreaming! You think you can just walk in here because you know Captain Amros and try to take over?"

"Dream on, kid! All these spoiled young lords don’t even know what’s good for them! Imagine trying to claim the leadership!"

More and more grumbling broke out, getting louder and louder still. Vacuse thought that since he was to lead the Dragon Hunters for a while, then wasn’t it better to show everyone who was truly in control instead of doing things through Amros?

Suddenly, Vacuse pointed into the crowd. "You! You said what?!"

The person he pointed to blinked in surprise and looked at himself in shock at being suddenly called out. "I..."

"Too slow and too weak. It’s not worth it fighting with you!" Vacuse had already turned away.

Wait... what? The gathered hunters were stunned because the person Vacuse pointed to was in the third circle, and he was too weak and slow to fight someone at the power level of the second circle?

What a joke!

Vacuse had already started turning, whispering loudly to himself. "Hmm... this one is weak as well! I won’t even get to enjoy the fight with that one! No for that one too!

"I’m not fighting that skinny one. He’ll likely fall with a single punch from me. Yes, how about you?!"

By this time, the gathering was deadly silent as it seemed everyone was trying to watch a mad person. This Vacuse did not even look at a single second-circle Magus, and he was dismissing the majority of the third circle, only to stop on Magus Arch!

Magus Arch, the strongest of the third-circle Magi in the Dragon Hunters?

Surprise wasn’t even among what the people were feeling; some of them directly began to laugh.

They now understood that Vacuse had come out to joke with them. Maybe that was his job in the Dragon Hunters, to make jokes and make them laugh their troubles away.

But Vacuse was serious as he walked closer to Magus Arch. In truth, Amros and the others had already told him about the storm in the Magus group and that the others respected him.

That was what Vacuse was coming after.

His fight with other third-circle Magi had really made his confidence grow, and he was confident he could handle a third-circle Magus now. Besides, his powers had grown as well.

Magus Arch was a skinny man with a small face, but his wiry frame was filled with corded muscles, and his eyes were alight with strength. "You want to fight me? I must admit, it’s flattering that the one we’ve been looking for all this while wants to have a spar with me.

"But I really don’t want to cause any damage. We are hunters, after all."

There was no arrogance in his voice as he only spoke the truth. Hunters didn’t have the luxury to spar while holding back that much. In fact, almost all serious forces were like that.

And as Magus Arch was closer to Amros and the others, he knew how hard and how much they had done, and would do, for this Vacuse that was found. So how could he just fight him so willy-nilly?

Vacuse shrugged. "You don’t have to worry about me. In fact, I don’t want you to hold back. If you hold back, you might get hurt!"

Magus Arch frowned when he heard that. He was quite confident in his strength, and among other third-circle Magi, he was quite strong, so it was strange to hear such from a second circle. He looked at Amros, and the captain only smiled and shrugged.

Magus Arch sighed. "Very well. But if it gets dangerous, then I’m going to stop. I don’t want Captain Amros to come after my head."

Vacuse laughed. "Alright, alright. Just don’t forget my warning. Don’t hold back."

Vacuse had thought about it, and he had decided not to hold back as well. He was strong, and he was going to show them how strong.

Although he knew that there were others—almost everyone curious and powerful enough to see into the happenings of the Dragon Hunters—looking at the gathering,

he didn’t care.

Perhaps it was also a warning to those others.

With Magus Arch taken care of, Vacuse turned to the other hunters, who were still astonished that the spar was actually still going to go on between their respected Magus and this kid.

"If you want to bet, you can go on. But as your leader, I’ll strongly advise you not to bet against me. You will end up losing a lot of your money that way," Vacuse told them.

Of course, what followed were snorts and jeers.

But some were doubtful enough to follow Captain Amros, Harkon, and the others to bet for Vacuse. Lady Slave and Yukata also knew to bet for him.