Volume 1 Chapter 8 The Villainous Guildmaster, Battle with the Hero Party
Yui and I had arrived at the Guild-Owned Training Ground.
Located behind the Guild hall, it was designed like an arena, spacious and built to withstand roughhousing without any issues.
"Well! Mr. Act, what are you planning to do?"
At the training ground were Hero Lawrence and Party Member Ulgar.
It seemed they were captured shortly after.
Before the Heroes returned to the Royal Capital, I had stopped them.
"Lawrence, I've become curious to see how much you've grown, I want to have a sparring match with you."
"I see! Understood!"
Then Ulgar spoke in a mocking tone.
"Are you stupid? Guildmaster, you're a non-combatant, right? Hero Lawrence has more combat power than me. You'll die if you fight him."
"Oh, so Lawrence isn't that great then."
"What!?"
The Hero widened his eyes, but nodded and smiled, "...I see what you mean."
"Wh-what are you saying! Lawrence is strong! I know that very well from our many training sessions together!"
"Lawrence was always weak. Losing to him means you're not that strong either, Ulgar."
With his pride wounded, his face turned red and his shoulders trembled.
"...Don't get carried away! Hey, Guildmaster! Fight me one-on-one!"
"What!? What are you saying! Sir Act is not a combatant!"
Yui shouted, her face turning pale.
"Very well, I'll have a sparring match with you."
"Sir Act!?"
I took off the coat I was wearing and handed it to Yui.
"I'll make you regret it, for looking down on this master spearman, Ulgar!"
Ulgar's weapon of choice was a long spear.
On the other hand, I would face him with my bare hands.
"Please stop, Sir Act! You'll get injured!"
"Don't worry, miss! It'll be fine!"
Hero Lawrence patted Yui's shoulder and said.
"But Mr. Ulgar is strong, right?"
"That's right, quite a skill! Thanks to Mr. Act's training, he possesses the strength of an S-Rank Adventurer or higher!"
"Wha, S-Rank!? That's the highest rank! Mr. Act! Stop it!"
We move away from Yui and face off in the center of the training ground.
"Come at me anytime."
"Hah! I'm going to make you eat dirt!"
Ulgar charges at me with his spear ready.
"HYAAAHHHHH!"
I twist my body to dodge his spear strike.
"Wha!? What!?"
I sweep Ulgar's legs.
He dives to the ground.
"Fugyaaah!"
"Incredible... Sir Act, you avoided such a fast attack..."
Yui is watching me with wide eyes.
"As expected of Mr. Act's Eye of the Time King!"
An S-Class Appraisal Eye capable of perceiving the flow of time itself.
It possesses reflexes that surpass those of ordinary people.
By reading Ulgar's attacks, I'm using Unique Time Acceleration to evade his strikes.
"What's wrong? Is this all you've got?"
"Damn it! You little!"
He closes in and thrusts his spear repeatedly.
"Amazing, it looks like there are a hundred spears coming at me at once! And you're dodging all of them! Mr. Act, you're incredible!"
Since I can see the attacks, using acceleration makes it easy to avoid all of them.
"You! This! Why?! Why can't I hit you!? Damn it!"
Has he started to panic?
His attacks are becoming wild.
Eventually, Ulgar stops and breathes heavily.
"Well, well, is this the Hero Party? You've really lowered the bar."
"Guh...! Don't mess with me!"
With his fighting spirit on display, Ulgar glares at me.
"Even someone who's not a fighter like you can't even touch me. That's your limit. Know your place."
"No! I'm not done yet! I'm the greatest spear user ever!"
GOOOOO...!
A colossal amount of magical power erupts from Ulgar's body.
It's a magic power multiple times greater than when he was at the Gem of Heavenly Gift.
"What the... I had such vast magical power hidden inside me... well, whatever! With this, I can win!"
Ulgar readies his spear, concentrating his magical power at the tip.
"Take this!!!!"
Ulgar charges at super speed, drilling into the ground.
"That's a good strike."
I accelerate and leap to dodge his attack.
Ulgar crashes into the wall and comes crashing down.
"Damn, damn it all..."
I approach Ulgar, who has collapsed in a starfish position, and look down at him, saying,
"I heard you joined the Hero Party and was excited to see how much you've grown, but you turned out to be a bit of a disappointment. All your old bad habits came back."
"Damn it..."
Is he frustrated about losing to a non-combatant (me)?
Ulgar grinds his teeth and pounds the ground with his fist multiple times.
"To be insulted by someone like this! Damn! Damn it!"
I turn on my heel and leave him behind.
"W-wait a minute! Let's have another match!"
"It's pointless no matter how many times we do it. At your current level, even if you challenged me a thousand times, you wouldn't win. You would only continue to expose your shameful self."
"~~~~~~~~!"
I go to the Hero and pat him on the shoulder.
"I'll leave the rest to you."
"Understood!"
Lawrence approaches Ulgar, squats down, and says,
"Nice fight, Ulgar! Especially that last strike was great! You really showed the fruits of your training!"
"Mr. Lawrence..."
"At this rate, you'll surpass Mr. Act in no time! Let's work hard on training together!"
Ulgar sniffles and says with determination,
"Just you wait, Guildmaster! I'll get stronger and make you say 'wow'!"
* * *
A few days later, in my (Guildmaster's) room.
"Sir Act! Did you see this morning's newspaper? It looks like the Hero Party defeated one of the Four Heavenly Kings!"
Yui comes to me with the newspaper in hand.
"The article says, 'The new member, spearman Ulgar, also made a remarkable contribution, delivering the final blow to the heart of the Four Heavenly Kings!'"
I listen to Yui while doing paperwork.
"During the recent mock battle, you intentionally provoked Ulgar to motivate him, right?"
"You're overthinking it. Yui, please bring the coffee."
Yui brewed the coffee and placed the cup in front of me.
"As expected of Sir Act! You acted like a villain on purpose so that Ulgar could grow as a true member of the Hero Party!"
"Don't be ridiculous. I just wanted to know the current abilities of the Hero. It was Ulgar who came at me, and I had no other intention than to fend him off."
Yui was watching me with an increasingly cheerful smile.
"What is it?"
"After all, Sir Act is the greatest Guildmaster in the world! I will do my best to study and become a good Guildmaster like you, Sir Act!"
Is she still planning to use me as a model?
Well, there's a saying about negative examples too.
I'll let her remember me as a bad example and hope she grows into the best Guildmaster.
"Yui. Make sure to keep an eye on my back."
"Yes!"
Please bookmark this series and rate ☆☆☆☆☆ on here!
Donate me
Support Me with USDC
(ERC20)
Support Me with XLM
(Stellar Lumens)