"You haven't seen it?"

  ?Loren showed a somewhat surprised expression, then looked behind the burly man at the tear-stained girl who was gazing at him fearfully. He stroked his chin: "Well, if you haven't seen it, then forget it. Just hand that girl over to me. She lost my five thousand gold coins, so no matter what, I have to at least take her back. It just so happens I'm short a maid to do chores."

  ?"Kid, this girl is wanted by our Brotherhood. Are you saying you want to go against our Brotherhood?" The burly man looked at Loren with a dark expression.

  ?"Hehe..." Loren found it rather amusing: "The Brotherhood? Is that some kind of comedy troupe? Do you think something like that can threaten me?"

  ?Loren was a student of Valoran Academy. Compared to the massive Valoran Academy, the Brotherhood the burly man spoke of was indeed just a joke.

  ?However, his tone was too contemptuous, too punchable, causing the burly man to let out a sinister sneer:

  ?"Even if you are from Valoran Academy, if you disappear in a place like this, no one will know. Are you sure you still insist on taking this girl away?"

  ?His words now clearly carried a threatening tone. If it were an ordinary student, they might sense danger and think of retreating.

  ?"I think I've already said this: this girl stole my gold coin card. You guys either help her compensate me for the money, or hand her over to me." Yet, Loren still maintained his very calm demeanor.

  ?"You really don't know the immensity of heaven and earth, kid. Don't think you're so amazing just because you're a student at Valoran Academy. Even the most genius figures need time to grow. And you, a freshman who has been enrolled for less than a year, dare to say such things to us?" The burly man revealed a cruel smile: "I gave you a chance to run for your life, but unfortunately, you didn't grasp it. Now, even if you kneel and beg for mercy, it's too late."

  ?As the burly man spoke, his two companions had already quietly circled behind Loren, trapping him in the alley.

  ?"Are you guys going to fight me? Just for this thief?" Loren put on an expression of astonishment.

  ?"Hehe, carrying a gold coin card with five thousand on you, you must have quite a few good things on you, right? Kid, don't blame us for being ruthless; blame yourself for being too naive and having no experience at all. If I didn't eat a fat sheep like you that delivered itself to my door, I might as well go home and farm."

  ?Only now did the burly man reveal his true intentions. As it turned out, from the moment Loren showed up, he had never planned to let him go. Saying all those things earlier was merely to stall for time and block his escape route. Murdering someone and destroying the corpse in such a secluded place would never be discovered. He didn't know how many similar deeds he had done. Although the target was a Valoran student—meaning high risk but also high reward—not to mention Loren acting far too punchable, based on these factors alone, the burly man already had enough reason to attack Loren.

  ?Loren, however, couldn't help but burst out laughing.

  ?The burly man's face turned cold: "Kid, death is imminent. What's so funny?"

  ?"I'm laughing because this child is truly unlucky. To steal something and end up right in a thieves' den... hmm... it looks like her luck stat is a bit low."

  ?"Psycho!" Loren's words made the burly man curse out loud: "What are you guys waiting for? Grab him!"

  ?As soon as the burly man finished speaking, the two thugs behind Loren lunged directly at him. One of them pulled out a short sword and thrust it toward Loren's back.

  ?Although these two hadn't cultivated battle aura, they both possessed decent martial skills. Given Loren's frail physical constitution, there was absolutely no way he could dodge their lethal pounce.

  ?But Loren wasn't a martial artist, and he didn't need to dodge at all. He simply raised his palm, softly chanted a magic syllable, and activated the magic on one of his rings.

  ?Wind's Protection.

  ?A Level 3 Wind-attribute defensive magic activated. Before the guy who pulled out the short sword to stab Loren could even reach him, he was thrown flying by the hurricane that erupted from Loren's body. He crashed heavily into the wall and fainted on the spot.

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  ?The other person was startled and jumped back fiercely, avoiding triggering the counterattack of Wind's Protection. However, Loren smiled at him and activated the spell in another ring: Flame-Breaking Fist!

  ?"If you can't dodge, you're going to get scorched!!"

  ?Scorching flames ignited on Loren's left hand. Suddenly, he threw a punch at the thug fleeing backward. The flames attached to his hand instantly transformed into a giant fiery fist and crashed toward the thug. The speed of the fiery fist was incredibly fast; in the blink of an eye, it caught up with the panicked thug and swallowed him amidst his screams.

  ?However, right at this moment, the burly man who had been stepping on the girl vanished from his spot at some unknown time. His body suddenly closed in on Loren, and a fist flashing with earthy-yellow battle aura light smashed toward Loren's abdomen.

  ?"Damn mage, go to hell!!"

  ?The burly man's strike was fast and fierce. When Loren used magic to counterattack the first thug, he had realized things were bad. He started gathering power then, and directly ambushed Loren. At this moment, Loren was still maintaining the posture of using the Flame-Breaking Fist. Seeing that this strike was about to directly break his Wind's Protection and land on his abdomen, Loren, however, revealed a smile on his face.

  ?"It's over."

  ?He said in a low voice. The next moment, a look of shock appeared on the burly man's face. He found that his body couldn't move. That fist wrapped in sharp battle aura, which was just a hair's breadth away from piercing Loren, was frozen stiff in mid-air just like that.

  ?"Why is this happening!!"

  ?The burly man's entire body remained in the posture of crouching and punching, but his face could still move. With a contorted expression, he looked at Loren and shouted.

  ?"Ah, ah, ah, one look and it's obvious you're a guy with no experience. Have you never even seen binding magic?" Loren sighed at him, then waved his hand. On his index finger, a ring engraved with a thorn pattern flashed with a hint of light.

  ?"Although it's a delayed-activation 'Paralyzing Thorns,' it's more than enough to deal with a minor lackey like you who only knows how to use brute force."

  ?As Loren spoke, a fireball the size of a basketball suddenly condensed in his hand. Under the paralysis of the paralyzing toxin, the burly man couldn't even utilize the battle aura in his body. Originally, he could have used his battle aura to tank the fireball spell, but if it hit him now, it would be absolutely fatal.

  ?"Exactly when..." The burly man's face was full of terror; he hadn't even noticed how he was hit. However, Loren was currently looking at him with an evil smile, a smile that seemed devilish to him: "No, don't! You can't kill me, I'm a member of the Brotherhood. If you kill me, you will absolutely face mad pursuit and revenge from our organization! As long as you don't kill me, I can give you a lot of benefits, gold coins! Precious items! Materials! I can give you all of these!"

  ?Watching the fireball in Loren's hand draw nearer, the burly man's psychological defenses instantly collapsed. The scorching temperature of the fireball had already curled his hair, and the burly man could even smell the foul stench of his own hair being roasted by the flames.

  ?Loren looked amusedly at the bitterly begging burly man. He pulled out several more magic rings from his coat and dangled them in front of his eyes. "These really are the words trash should say when they're about to die, but do I look like someone who lacks money to you?"

  ?Under the burly man's despairing gaze, Loren increased the output of the flames once again: "So, can you die in peace now? Don't worry, the flames will cook your brains in an instant; it won't cause you too much pain."

  ?"Ahhhhh!! No!!"

  ?The burly man watched in terror as the flames in Loren's hand grew larger and larger in his eyes. The scorching sensation seemed as if it would burn even his eyeballs into charcoal.

  ?But in the end, the fireball extinguished.

  ?"Tch... I really can't bring myself to do it, huh."

  ?Loren looked at the burly man, who had fainted from fright, and couldn't help but spit fiercely. He then tossed the burly man, who had wet his pants, onto the ground.

  ?Although he had talked a big game, at the very moment the flames were about to engulf the burly man's head, Loren still held back. Having come from the modern era, Loren still couldn't quite cross the hurdle of killing someone, even if these guys were scumbags who deserved death.

  ?Killing people in a game and killing people in reality were two entirely different concepts.

  ?"Consider yourselves lucky." Loren searched the thugs and took everything they had on them. After pocketing those items, including his own gold coin card, Loren finally walked toward the demon girl who was curled up on the ground over there, looking at him with fearful eyes.

  ?"Well, little one, now it's time to talk about our business. How are you going to compensate me for stealing my gold coin card?" Loren looked at the demon girl on the ground and smiled. However, just as he finished saying this, the girl closed her eyes and simply fainted.

  ?"..."

  ?"Now that's truly a rogue's answer."

  ?Loren looked at the unconscious girl and sighed somewhat helplessly. Then, he picked up the girl from the ground and left the alleyway.

  ?As for those thugs, Loren left them to fend for themselves. If they died from severe injuries, Loren wouldn't feel any psychological burden, because he had already shown mercy.

  ?Moreover, these guys were people who deserved death anyway.

  ?As for these guys surviving and seeking revenge or something, Loren wasn't worried either. He was a student of Valoran Academy. These thugs dared to attack him in a deserted place, but they would absolutely never dare to assault him in public. Besides, if these thugs managed to survive, they would definitely flee the imperial capital immediately. As far as they were concerned, they would be thanking the heavens and earth if Loren didn't report this matter to the academy.