Dragging the terrified waiter into a corner, the owner hissed, "Give me the rundown of every room. Now."

The waiter nodded frantically, keeping his voice low. "The Mayor’s eldest son is in Gold Room 1, the Greenway Family patriarch is in Gold Room 2, in Gold Room 3 is—"

"Are you brain-dead?!" The owner smacked the waiter across the head. "Did I ask about the Gold rooms?! Those are untouchable VIPs! Tell me about the Silver rooms!"

"Y-Yes sir!" The waiter wiped the sweat from his brow. "Silver Room 1 has a middle-aged man, looks like a Level 30 Warrior. Silver Room 2 is... and in Morning Room 4, there are just two teenagers. I heard them asking about the auction."

The owner’s eyes narrowed. They were all decently strong, but this was Dellas. Local politics trumped everything. Two random rich kids couldn’t hold a candle to the Radcliffe Family.

"Go kick the teenagers out of Morning Room 4. Tell them to eat at the slop house down the street. Tell them their meal is on the house, I don’t care. Just get them out."

The waiter hesitated. "But sir, they just tipped me—"

"But nothing! Move it! Or do you want me to fire your ass? There are a hundred people begging to wait tables at the Ghostern!"

"I’m going! I’m going!"

The waiter scurried to Morning Room 4 and slid the door open. Rubbing his hands like a nervous fly, he bowed deeply. "Two sirs, I am so sorry, but... could you possibly give this room to the guests outside? All the food you’ve eaten will be completely on the house!"

Caleb was mid-bite into a massive steamed fish. He slowly lowered his chopsticks and gave the waiter a look of pure, unadulterated disgust. "Are we not guests? And ’on the house’? Hahaha! What a joke. Igris, these idiots think we can’t pay our bill."

Igris sneered, leaning back in his chair. "There are a thousand restaurants in Dellas. Tell that guy outside to go find another one."

"The owner said to ask you—" The waiter clamped his mouth shut, realizing he had just thrown his boss under the bus.

"The owner?" Igris’s eyebrows twitched. A dangerous, sharp light flashed through his dual-colored eyes.

The waiter practically shit himself. He couldn’t say another word. In his mind, he was cursing Lionel’s ancestors back to the stone age. *’Why did this psycho have to show up now?! Making my life a living hell... I quit! No, wait, the paycheck is too good! Argh!’*

Back in the hallway, Lionel was losing his patience. "Is it ready yet?!" he barked.

"Just a moment! Let me check!"

The owner rushed into Morning Room 4, ready to play the bad cop. "Two sirs, I am incredibly sorry, but this room was actually booked in advance. You’ll have to relocate to another restaurant."

*SLAM!*

Caleb slammed his massive fists onto the table, making the dishes rattle and jump. "Are you bullying us because we’re not from around here?! I’m sitting right here today! I want to see which bastard has the balls to make us leave!"

The owner’s face twitched. "Sir, you really need to leave right now. The man outside is not someone you want to mess with."

"Who? Bring him in! Let’s see this god of Dellas!"

"Please, just leave!"

The owner gave up on diplomacy. He knew he was going to offend someone today regardless.

"I’d like to see you try!" Caleb roared, standing up to his full, intimidating height.

Right then, the door slid open. Lionel and the beautiful girl strolled in, having run out of patience. If the trash wouldn’t take itself out, he’d have to drag it out.

Lionel’s eyes swept over Igris and Caleb. Instantly, his mana sense caught their levels.

*Level 3 and Level 6?*

Lionel’s lips curled into a mocking sneer. "You two, please. It’s time for you to leave. Don’t make me slap you around. Save yourselves the humiliation."

Igris didn’t move. He observed Lionel the way a scientist observes a bug, noting the weak stance and the arrogance. "I don’t think you have the qualifications to say those words to me."

Lionel laughed out loud. "Brave? Or just stupid? Dellas isn’t your backwater village. You could be the king of your hometown, but here? You’re nothing but a bug. Don’t blame me when you get crushed."

"Oh? Lionel?" Igris stood up slowly, his dual-colored eyes locking onto the young master with a chilling smirk. "I’ve never heard that name in my life. I’d love to see exactly how you plan on disciplining us."

The tension in the room spiked to lethal levels.

The beautiful girl shook her head internally. *This guy is way too arrogant. He obviously hasn’t been put in his place before. If he keeps pushing Lionel, he’s going to end up in a coffin.*

The owner, sensing that a fight was about to break out and his restaurant was about to be demolished, panicked. He stepped toward Igris, pleading. "Sir! Young Master Lionel is one of the Top Eight Youngsters of Dellas! The Radcliffe Family practically owns this district! He is absolutely not someone you can afford to offend! Just listen to me and leave, or you’re going to get hurt! It’s not worth your life!"

Caleb burst into a mocking, gut-busting laugh.

Lionel’s mana flared, his aura pressing outward as his voice dropped to a freezing snarl. "What the hell is so funny?"

"Comparing your pathetic background to Igris’s? You’re clueless!" Caleb wheezed, wiping a tear from his eye. "I wouldn’t even dare compare my family to his, let alone your scrub-tier Radcliffe Family!"

The owner’s soul practically left his body. He stumbled forward, sweating profusely. "W-Where are you from, sirs? Please, tell me!"

Caleb puffed out his chest, his voice booming like a war drum. "Listen closely, you blind idiots! My friend here might not look like a tech-nerd, but he’s a certified mutant genius! We are both students of Marlin Academy! Your Radcliffe Family is dogshit compared to our academy’s backing!"

*Top geniuses of Marlin Academy.*

The owner felt like the ground had swallowed him whole. He had made a catastrophic blunder. These weren’t just rich kids—they were apex predators backed by the most terrifying academy on the continent. The Ghostern Restaurant couldn’t afford to offend them even in their wildest nightmares, and he had just tried to throw them out into the street like stray dogs.

The owner clamped his mouth shut, his jaw working uselessly as he trembled in silence.

Lionel, however, was unimpressed. He scoffed loudly. "Heh. Marlin Academy? Big deal. Anyone with half a brain cell and a sliver of talent joins a Player Academy these days. It’s nothing special." His eyes lingered mockingly on Igris’s frail frame. "You might be a ’genius’ on paper, but with that pathetic cultivation level, you’re nothing without the academy’s skirts to hide behind."

Caleb sneered right back. "And you’re not hiding behind the Radcliffe Family’s skirts? Without your family’s money and resources, you wouldn’t even crack the top eighty youngsters of Dellas, let alone the top eight!"

"You... you’re courting death!" A murderous intent flashed through Lionel’s eyes.

Igris slowly stepped forward, smoothly shifting Caleb behind him. His dual-colored eyes locked onto Lionel, utterly indifferent. "There’s no point in talking too much. Let’s settle this with one punch. Whoever steps back—even a single inch—gets the hell out of Morning Room 4. How about that?"

"For real?"

Lionel was momentarily stunned, but a wicked grin quickly spread across his face. He had been backed into a corner; his pride wouldn’t let him retreat, but he also didn’t want to look like the aggressor bullying the weak.

But now? His opponent was acting even more arrogant than him! A Level 6 Player wanted to trade fists with a Level 12 Super Soldier? It was a joke! Lionel thought Igris was looking down on him. He might not be from the top three academies, but he was still a powerhouse. Why would he fear a Level 6?

"Of course!" Igris said calmly. This was the perfect live test to see how his current stats measured up. As for the possibility of losing? The thought never even grazed his mind.

Lionel turned to the owner and the beautiful girl. "Good! You two will be my witnesses. I’m afraid someone is going to be eating their own teeth in a moment."

The owner offered a strained, sympathetic smile to Igris but said nothing.

"Agreed," the girl, Serena, nodded. She looked at Igris with open disdain, writing him off as an overconfident corpse.

"Cut the crap. Let’s go!" Caleb barked.

Caleb, the owner, and Serena scrambled to the corners, clearing the center of the room.

"Today, I’ll show you true power!" Lionel roared. His aura exploded, a violent tempest of energy bursting from his body and shooting toward the ceiling. The sheer pressure made the air hum. The outcome seemed written in stone.

"Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!"

Seeing Lionel make such a grandstanding display, Igris just smiled softly.

"Heh. Can’t even release your energy properly. The gap between us isn’t just a level or two it’s massive. A already have my class and at your Level, you’re not a Godscion so you can’t possess a class." Lionel taunted, completely relaxed.