Chapter 696 - Bear Rose

Leonel pushed the broken doors aside, walking into the familiar dilapidated bar with a smile on his face. 

When the white belted senior saw Leonel, he froze. He had only planned to give a casual look over to see who had come. But, what he hadn't expected was for this demon to suddenly appear again. 

"Hey!" Leonel grinned, sitting at the bar. "Long time no see!"

The freshmen bar was quite full at the moment. Usually, most would be out on missions right now with the new rules that had been implemented. However, with the sudden danger of the Oryx now being common knowledge, few freshmen still dared to venture out. 

Without a thing to do, and with even the most common of training centers now requiring merit points to operate, the freshmen only really had three options: risk their lives, go sleep in their dorms, or hang out here. 

It was unsurprising, then, that most chose to come here. 

By now, news of Leonel had spread amongst the freshmen and though many couldn't pick him out by his looks, there were still a good few that could. As such, it was no surprise, then, that his appearance caught no small amount of attention. 

The bartender shivered under Leonel's gaze but did his best to regain his composure. Seeing how innocent Leonel looked now and comparing him to the monster he had seen before, it was really like night and day. He really had no idea who the true Leonel was. 

"What's your name?" Leonel asked politely. 

"My… I'm called Mernik."

Leonel nodded. "Mernik, I'm about to do something that will probably cause you a lot of trouble. But, in return, I'm willing to extend you protection should you need it. In addition, if you don't mind, I wouldn't have a problem if you continued to work here."

Mernik gulped down hard, his pupils trembling. At that moment, he had a hard time maintaining eye contact with Leonel. 

"This… What do you want to do…"

Leonel sighed, he really did feel a bit bad. But, he also needed this place. 

"This store, I need it. I'm officially issuing a challenge. Your boss can come here to defend this place, or I'll take it for myself."

"Ah…"

Mernik really wanted to shed tears at this moment. 

Why would a white belt come be a bartender at this place filled with freshmen? The answer was obvious, it was him who was tasked with maintaining order and rebuffing these challenges. 

The owner of this store only casually used it to make some passive income, but it was still a store that had been passed down through several generations of their family. It might be shabby, but enough ants could even kill an elephant. The freshmen didn't spend a lot in this place, but there were so many freshmen and so few places for them to gather that this place made quite a sum even though it wasn't comparable to the best bars and restaurants Valiant City had to offer. 

Mernik, thanks to his position, was able to greatly benefit from this. But, with these benefits came harsh requirements as well. 

With his strength, Mernik was actually above average amongst white belts. But, when compared to Leonel, he felt like a frog at the bottom of a well, and that was over a month ago. 

The current Leonel felt even sharper and more powerful despite the fact he wasn't enraged like he had been last time. 

"I… I… Alright…"

Mernik didn't even raise his hand to battle. His palm flipped over, revealing a plaque. With a pained look on his face, he erased a Force mark and handed it over to Leonel.

Leonel raised his brows, grabbing onto the plaque. After a quick sweep of his senses, he realized it was an ownership plaque that seemed to have the unique ability of reading one's Force signature. 

'Interesting concept.'

Leonel nodded and chose to use his Star Forse to leave behind a mark, using the unique pulses of his Three Star Constitution that had yet to display its true might. 

In that moment, a hidden formation beneath the store rumbled. 

DONG! DONG!

A pillar of light shot into the air, forming a beautiful pink-red emblem. 

The light form a budding rose with two horns crossed in the back. It was quite an elegant emblem and even seemed someone feminine. Or, rather it would if not for the roaring black bear that took up its background. 

Leonel raised his brows. "So much fanfare for such a small shop?"

Mernik's lip twitched. Did this person not do any research before he chose to take this action? Were all strong people like this? Acting first then thinking later?

This shop might look run down, but that was a testament to its age, not its quality. The past few owners of this shop just couldn't bother to take care of it. But, even then, it took hundreds of years for its state to become like this. 

This spot was one of the oldest in Valiant City and also happened to have been in the hands of a senior whose family had one of the longest tenures in shop ownership as well. 

Due to this, the Union this shop was under wasn't a small one either. In fact, this Union was under the jurisdiction of one of Valiant Heart Mountain's three most powerful factions: The Bear Rose Faction. 

In terms of most powerful factions on Valiant Heart, there were three. One was Raylion's Hero Faction, practically taking the entirety of Hero Peak as its stomping grounds. The second was the Severed Heart Faction which was headed by one of the few geniuses outside of Hero Peak that could stand amongst Aphestus and Raylion. And the third… Was the Bear Rose Faction, formed by the preeminent genius of Honor Peak. 

It was the existence of Severed Heart and Bear Rose that made many think that Raylion was levying a challenge toward either Honor or Brave Peak when he called for his meeting. 

But at this moment, Leonel had just done something that hadn't occurred in over a century. 

He dared to snatch a store under the protection of a Union and had kicked a bees nest. 

In the skies above, the emblem of the Bear Rose Faction crumbled into motes of light, leaving nothing but a pillar of white.