It was clear that the whole incident was done purposely.
I watched calmly as the three approached.
The one who had a taunting smirk on his face was Jamie, and he was the one who had thrown the spear.
He was my cousin, older than me by three years.
The two beside him were Eva and Blessing respectively, and they were his siblings.
Blessing was just seventeen, while Eva was of a similar age as me.
"Look who we have here," Jamie exclaimed aloud, drawing the attention of a few guards meters away as he spoke.
The two sisters giggled at his remark, seemingly taking pleasure in his antics.
I frowned slightly and decided to ignore them.
Continuing on my way, I no longer paid attention to whatever it was they were trying to do.
If it was my predecessor, he would have endured their beatings…
Which brought about the question…
'Why was he hiding his strength so much? Surely he could one-shot these people… or was there something much scarier here at the Targaryan clan? Perhaps one of them?'
I drew in a sharp breath at the thought.
Suddenly, my eyes darkened once more as my hand moved lightly and slapped the space beside me.
Bang!
The spear that was being hurled in my direction came into contact with my hand and was clamped down.
It pierced into the ground with a merciless thud.
"What are you trying to do?" I raised a question at Jamie, noticing that he wouldn't allow me to walk away anytime soon.
"I heard you've become a Cursed Warrior. Let's spar for a bit."
I stared at Jamie like he was some sort of idiot for a few seconds before replying.
"You are already a rank 3 Cursed Warrior, while I just became one. In what world does that seem like a fair spar match?"
"Uh…" Jamie was stunned speechless as he came to a realization.
"I can reduce my strength to your level."
"No." I said coldly and turned around, deciding to continue on my way.
"How about my sister? She has better control over her cursed energy. And she's just at rank 2, so reducing her strength won't be as difficult."
I stared at Jamie speechlessly. This stupid youth was truly looking for trouble.
I frowned slightly, contemplating the decision.
If I chose to continue on my way, I knew that Jamie would just keep bothering me until I relented.
'Might as well just deal with him now,' I muttered internally.
I turned to the group of guards who were standing respectfully, acting like they weren't interested in the current development.
My eyes scanned through them, noticing that most of them were using spears.
Pointing to a sword wielder, I said, "Hand me your sword."
Although it wouldn't suit me as perfectly as the sword from before, it was still manageable.
After collecting the sword, I turned to Eva and pointed at her, urging her to step forward.
"Let's be done with this swiftly."
Eva grinned, and I felt her aura decrease drastically, becoming feeble and weak like mine.
"As you wish," she said, bringing out a rope from her waist.
It was no surprise, as this was her weapon, and she was versatile and well-adept at using it.
Holding my slender sword, I narrowed my eyes.
The guards looked on in curiosity, wondering about the outcome of the match.
Meanwhile, Jamie grinned from ear to ear, waiting for me to embarrass myself.
Speechless, I couldn't wrap my head around why he enjoyed someone else's suffering or pain.
Humans were truly confusing at times. Or perhaps the curse had messed with his thinking…
Blessing, on the other hand, watched with curiosity.
I brandished my blade as my cursed energy boiled within me.
Eva shouted and tossed one end of her rope in my direction.
The rope immediately slithered like a snake, streaking through the air at a steady rhythm and whipping the air in lashes as it came hurling toward me at extreme speed.
Swish!
I swung my sword, sending out a stream of cursed energy that materialized into flames.
In barely a few seconds, I had swung my sword three times.
The streams of sword energy twisted and writhed in the flames before forming creatures like baby snakes made out of fire.
Hissssss…
The hissing of the snakes pierced through the surroundings as everyone's eyes widened in alarm.
Boom!
The first snake collided with the rope, sending it tossing in another direction. Meanwhile, the remaining baby snakes streaked through the air, hurling toward Eva.
Swish! Swish! Swish!
Eva didn't panic in the slightest.
In the Targaryan clan, everyone was taught that even at the edge of death, there was no need to show panic.
As such, Eva calmly handled the situation.
Swish~
Her rope seemed to regain life as it whipped and thrashed through the air before colliding with the first flame snake.
Bang!
It was extinguished with a bang.
However, it was already too late, as the third fire snake had reached her.
Jumping to the side, she dodged the snake, causing it to collide with the ground with a dull thud.
Bang!
"Shit," Eva exclaimed and was about to stand up when she felt something cold touch her neck.
"Admit your loss." My cold voice, like that of the devil, entered her ears.
"What?" Eva was shocked and speechless.
How was I already in front of her?
Staring into my piercing cold eyes filled with galaxies, she felt her heart melt and freeze at the same time.
'This…' Her heart was racing, mixed with dread.
'What is that gaze? Like that of a wild beast…'
Subconsciously, she released all her energy and attacked.
With the explosion of her true strength, her rope gained even more life as it made countless arcs midair.
Having expected this, I immediately caught the rope and twisted it, making quick work of it.
Before Eva could realize what was happening, I had tied her arms with the rope.
"You… what are you doing?" Eva let out a shrill scream.
"Admit your loss," I replied coldly.
Eva bit her lips and continued thrashing around, using her legs to create a disturbance.
"So stubborn huh…" I muttered and bound her legs with the rope as well.
"This…" Eva felt her body freeze up.
"What are you doing?" she shouted as she noticed me turn her around.
"Admit your loss."
The moment my voice faded, a loud slap echoed.
Everyone… no, everything froze as my hand struck her.
"Bastard!" Eva cursed and let out a shrill scream.
Everyone remained rooted to the spot, dumbfounded, and even Jamie failed to react.
No one expected me to suddenly do this.
Slap!
"Admit your loss," I stated plainly.
"Let go of me, you abhorrent evil!" Eva shouted as she felt the burning sting, her face already filled with embarrassment.
She felt like digging a hole and burying herself.
Slap!
"Not admitting?"
Slap! Slap! Slap!
At first, Eva was resistant, but as the crisp, clear sounds continued echoing through the surroundings…
She finally shut her eyes tightly and muttered, her heart pained and filled with humiliation.
"I… admit defeat."
"Huh? What's that? I couldn't hear you."
"I admit defeat! You bastard, let go of me! Monster… sob… abhorrent evil!" Surprisingly, Eva was actually crying as she cursed at me.
Slap!
I gave her a final strike and stood up.
"Good girl. You should have just said that sooner. There would have been no need for all this drama."
"You bastard! How dare you lay your filthy hands on my sister?" Jamie roared at the top of his lungs.
Suddenly, he recovered himself the moment he saw Eva silently sobbing, and a surge of indescribable anger clouded his heart, such that he could barely form any plausible thoughts.