Hidden genius: Black belly snake

"Hmmm? Joined the guild? You must be joking right?" Reynolds muttered solemnly, turning his attention away from Rhea who was not too pleased with everything that was happening.

However, her displeasure only made Reynolds want to question the elf that much more and firmly establish his own superiority.

"You do know that not just anyone can join our guild right? Which circle have you reached? 3rd? 4th? Who vetted you?"

Xander remained silent. He had already taken a look at the different ways these people categorized strength.

This was another distinction between the northern and the southern territories. 

People in the north, beast clansmen, and other races preferred the realm categorization while the people in the south, devout worshipers of the Immortals preferred the different circle categorization.

And one was considered to be superior to the other for no particular reason.

"I am a Demi-God." Xander swirled the wine glass in his hand another time and answered. It was clear that he didn't care which was superior and which was inferior.

Standing a few feet away, Xavier was already sweating. "Brother… Aren't we supposed to keep low-profile…" He did not have a good feeling about what was happening.

"Huh? Demi-God? What the hell?" All the men standing around Xander and Rhea, including Reynolds broke into a fit of laughter.

"Who invited this joker to the guild? This is embarrassing?" Someone else added as Reynolds grinned.

"Please stop and apologize." Rhea couldn't stand it anymore and muttered, stomping her feet. She found the behavior of the privileged men around her nauseating.

"Apologize? Why should we? You must be joking, Lady Rhea."

"All of us gathered here have top contribution points in the guild. We have performed several meritorious services." 

"Why should we be forced to share our advantages with nobodies like this?"

"The person who needs to apologize is the elf who is standing here, a place where he clearly doesn't belong."

"Who the hell invited a useless piece of trash like this?"

A loud burst of laughter rang out, but not long after, a clear voice cut through the chatter and the murmur.

"These are my guests. I was the one who invited them." Lucas weaved through the group of nobles and walked over to stand next to Xander and Rhea.

His presence immediately silenced everyone and made them swallow their condescending words. 

Not many had the courage to oppose Lucas who had a strong pull in the guild, especially among the high-ranking members.

"Now what are we talking about?" He placed his arm over Xander and raised his brows, question Reynolds and the bunch of men standing at the front.contemporary romance

"Lord Lucas, it was not our intention to create a ruckus. We had no idea that Mr. Xander here was your invited guest." Reynolds smiled and calmly replied. He was not in the least bothered like the rest of the crowd.

"I am not sure why Mr. Xander purposefully hid this fact. Maybe to get a little bit of attention? Ha Ha." Reynolds muttered, tossing the ball out of his court.

"I guess it is my fault then." Xander chimed in with a smile. He calmly took another sip from his glass, his crimson orbs gazing at the man as if he was purposefully taunting him.

Reynolds didn't miss his small action and the more he watched the cocky and arrogant elf, the more his blood pressure increased.

"Lord Lucas, you must forgive me for poking my nose, but I am unable to control my curiosity." 

"Please introduce your special guest to us. He must surely be talented to catch your eye, am I right?" Reynolds probed, one end of his lips pulling upwards.

He could tell something had happened here and it was either nepotism or corruption as clearly the elf was too weak to join the guild otherwise, especially through the normal route.

So he wanted to use this chance to humiliate Lucas in front of everyone and weaken the bond between him and the elf. 

He did not know where the elf had suddenly come from, but he was determined to make sure that the guy didn't last long in the guild.

"Lord Reynolds, perhaps we should call it a night," Lucas muttered, his expression slightly darkening. 

He didn't want to reveal certain things in front of everyone but the man was forcing his hand.

"No, Lord Lucas. Surely, he must be genius to have joined our guild without even materializing mana right?" Another voice chimed in on Reynold's behalf.

"The bloke is only at the 'Demi-God' realm." Someone else added, mocking Xander.

"Oh! If he is such a genius, it shouldn't take him long at all to reach 4th circle."

"Come on. We are all here to give you pointers. As our guild's senior members, it is our duty to nurture and give pointers to the juniors."

"Yes! Yes! Why don't you try to make a breakthrough right here? What else could be a better place?" The crowd started getting rowdy once again.

"What nonsense are you all spouting? Literally, any other calm and quiet place is a better place?" Rhea shouted, quite fed up with everything that was happening.

She had just wanted to have a pleasant conversation with a man that had caught her eye but somehow things had turned out like this.

Standing near her, Lucas as well was immensely frustrated. He raised his hand and calmly spoke. 

"I think we all have had one too many drinks. How about we call it a night?" He hurriedly tried to calm everyone down and get out of the gala hall, along with the three elves.

However, just as he tried to leave, he couldn't help but the elf next to him was missing.

Lucas's eyes instantly widened as his gaze shifted down to see the elf now sitting cross-legged on the clean marble floor, willingly playing along with the whimsies of the boisterous crowd.

"Xander, you don't have to do this," Rhea muttered, being just as surprised as Lucas.

done.co