Chapter 146 : Chapter 146

Chapter 146. Dispute

“Oh?” Fulan felt quite puzzled by Oliver’s anger. What was going on?

Didn’t I just follow the normal procedure—pay the information fee for the Earth Drake, and then the front desk removed the listing according to the Adventurers’ Guild’s rules?

Why are you so angry?

“It seems you don’t know—I already spread the word in the adventurer circles that I would take this Earth Drake.”

Seeing Fulan’s reaction, Oliver immediately realized that she truly had not heard about his prior claim.

In fact, in the adventurer community, asking others not to take on a particular monster hunt was a very common practice.

Most teams did not have absolute confidence in reliably hunting a First-Tier magical beast.

They usually waited until their equipment or certain special items were fully prepared before attempting the hunt.

However, due to the terrible transportation conditions in this world, even obtaining the necessary materials could take months.

As a result, most teams would begin preparations far in advance. Even if they saw the monster’s listing, they would not immediately pay the fee—that would be far too expensive.

Instead, they would simply inform other teams: don’t take this one, I’ve reserved it.

That way, they could avoid paying a large sum in information fees.

This arrangement benefited everyone. After all, saving costs was a considerable advantage for any adventuring team.

But the problem now was that, judging from Fulan’s expression, she clearly did not know about this unspoken rule among adventurers.

Oliver’s anger gradually subsided somewhat. Seeing Fulan’s mage robe, he also understood why she had taken the job.

“Listen carefully…” Oliver then explained various conventions within the adventurer community, including how First-Tier monster commissions were typically handled.

“So that’s how it is…” Fulan suddenly understood, but then she continued:

“But what does that have to do with me? I registered this properly with the Adventurers’ Guild. According to the rules, this Earth Drake should be hunted by me within the next month.”

“You—!” Oliver’s anger flared up again, but he held himself back. He knew that what she said was indeed within the rules—these adventurer agreements were only informal, underground conventions.

But did she not plan to continue working within the adventurer circles in the future? To disregard these conventions so openly…

Once her name was remembered by other adventurers, it would not just affect her hunting. Even if she posted a commission in the future, as long as word spread, no one would accept her requests.

But Fulan truly did not care about these unwritten rules.

For her, after completing her role as a Demon Hunter, she likely would not continue in this “promising” adventurer profession.

At most, if she ever felt the urge, she might hunt a few magical beasts for materials for her modifications—and that would be the end of it.

She had no need to integrate into the adventurer community. The skills she possessed were already enough to support her for a lifetime. The meager profits from selling monster materials meant nothing to her.

Moreover, she had followed the official procedures of the Adventurers’ Guild. Why should she abide by the practices of their small circle…?

Oliver’s face darkened as he said to Fulan:

“But you simply cannot hunt that Earth Drake. With your current preparations, you’re just wasting a month of our time.”

He pointed at the two-meter-wide scroll carried by one of his teammates.

“This is a reinforced Vine Entanglement Scroll we bought from the Alliance at a huge cost. As a mage, you should know what this is.”

“If we didn’t have this, the moment that Earth Drake burrows underground, you would never be able to catch it.”

Fulan was indeed familiar with this item.

Unlike spell rings, magic scrolls could also allow others to cast spells.

At the apprentice level, spells were manageable—scrolls were only slightly longer than a book and still reasonably portable.

But once spells reached the formal tier, inscribing them onto scrolls became extremely difficult. Not only were high-quality materials required, but sufficient space was also necessary.

As a result, formal-tier scrolls grew larger and larger, making them far less convenient to carry compared to spell rings.

Spell rings, as long as the embedded spell gem was of sufficient quality, could store spells without requiring bulky scrolls.

However, scrolls had their advantages—they could enhance the spell within them, increasing its power, duration, and area of effect.

These enhancements were easy to achieve on large scrolls, though most scrolls could only be used once, making them rather cost-inefficient.

Vine Entanglement was a First-Tier spell from the Nature School. When cast, it caused a large number of vines to suddenly erupt from the ground, binding the target.

As a First-Tier spell, the vines were already strong enough to firmly restrain an Earth Drake—let alone when enhanced by a scroll.

Fulan could easily imagine that once the scroll was activated, the Earth Drake would be tightly bound, unable to move freely.

But…

“Please respect the rules of the Adventurers’ Guild.”

She had her own methods to deal with the Earth Drake. In fact, if these people were not present, a single cast of Blood of the Furnace would instantly kill it without damaging the materials.

But with them here, she could not use that spell—after all, it would leave her with very little Mental Power remaining.

“You—!” Oliver wanted to rush forward and beat her senseless, but his rationality restrained him, forcing him to calm down.

At that moment, another member of the team, who had been listening to the conversation, stepped forward with a changed attitude.

“Honored Mage, we’re not necessarily just passing adventurers. If we encounter a powerful magical beast, it’s only natural for us to attempt to subdue it.”

Fulan understood their meaning immediately—if she refused to cooperate, they could still attempt the hunt themselves.

As for who ultimately obtained the Earth Drake’s materials, it would depend on ability.

For a brief moment, Fulan considered eliminating this adventurer team entirely.

Although there were two First-Tier professionals among them, they stood no chance against her stats.

But she suppressed the thought, reminding herself not to kill over such a minor conflict.

She also had no intention of letting them interfere with her hunt. After thinking for a moment, she said:

“How about this—I will attempt the hunt once. If I fail, then it will be your turn. I’ll leave immediately. How does that sound?”

After hearing this, Oliver discussed it with his teammates. In the end, their opinions were surprisingly unanimous.

“Agreed. But you must carry out the hunt within seven days. That is the condition you must accept.”

A smile appeared on Fulan’s face as she replied:

“No problem!”