Hearing Alice’s blatant provocation, the corner of Cedric’s mouth twitched slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.
He chuckled, his gaze falling upon her before he spoke:
"Haha, do you really think you’re stronger than ? Your fire and my tal are of equal rank, so there’s no way you can easily lt it."
Fire could indeed lt tal—that was a fact. However, the key factors were the tal’s resistance and the temperature of the flas.
At that mont, Alice did sothing entirely unexpected. She suddenly pushed Nora forward, causing him to stumble a step ahead.
Nora, still confused by the situation, then heard Alice’s voice from behind him:
"Go on, defeat him for ."
The mont those words reached his ears, his mind went blank. He saw no possible scenario in which he could erge victorious against Cedric.
Cedric, too, displayed a similarly bewildered expression behind his mask. He turned to Alice, his voice laced with disbelief:
"Hey, are you ssing with ? Who is this guy? You do realize that there aren’t many people on my level, right?"
He felt as though he was being seriously underestimated. Based on his understanding of the world, very few could stand on equal footing with him.
Yet Alice paid him no mind and instead addressed Nora once more:
"Are you scared?"
At this, Nora imdiately retorted,
"Scared? Of what? Of course not! I just don’t understand what’s going on here. But if you believe I can do it, then I’ll give it my all."
With that, he no longer looked at Alice. Instead, he turned to face Cedric and introduced himself:
"You. My na is Nora."
Cedric, now fully focused on him, narrowed his eyes.
"Quite confident, aren’t you? Have you at least reached Hero Rank E?"
"No."
Cedric frowned in confusion.
"Not even Rank E? Then what makes you so confident you can fight ? Don’t tell you’re so kind of freak, a second Rank D?"
Nora shook his head honestly.
"Not that either. I’m a new mber of the Hero Association—currently a Rank F hero."
For a mont, Cedric was at a loss for words. Either he had misheard or his ears were deceiving him.
Upon realizing that what he had just heard was indeed the truth, Cedric burst into laughter, his voice carrying a carefree ease.
"Hahaha! You’re just Rank F—what could you possibly use to fight ?"
"Because I trust that Alice wouldn’t send to die so easily," Nora replied without hesitation.
Cedric scratched his chin, his eyes narrowing as he looked at Alice with growing suspicion.
"This weakling isn’t your boyfriend, is he? Why are you so protective of him?"
Instead of a single response, both Alice and Nora imdiately spoke in unison:
"We don’t have that kind of relationship."
At that mont, the onlookers—who had been quietly observing—suddenly erupted into lively discussion.
"I’ll bet a bag of popcorn that they’re both lying."
"Have so confidence! I’ll bet two bags that they’re lying. Anyone betting against ?"
"Why are you all so distrustful? I’ll bet three bags that they’re telling the truth!"
...
Hearing the murmurs around them, both Alice and Nora—though their faces remained hidden—clearly darkened with embarrassnt.
anwhile, Cedric seed to be thoroughly enjoying himself. He clutched his stomach as he laughed heartily.
"Hahaha! You two are truly amusing. Who would believe that? Certainly not ! But now I’m even more curious—just how strong is soone Alice acknowledges?"
Without another word, he moved like a gust of wind, closing the distance between himself and Nora in an instant.
Towering over him, Cedric peered down with an overbearing presence, his voice brimming with dominance.
"Kid, are you ready to experience the beatdown that society has prepared for you?"
Nora blinked in confusion, his mind struggling to process what he had just heard.
"What the hell...? ’The beatdown from society’? This bastard is the one about to hit ! Why is he dragging society into this?"
Of course, he had no intention of voicing these thoughts out loud. Instead, he took a deep breath and responded with unwavering determination.
"Co at . I may lose, but I won’t cower before your strength."
Though Cedric couldn’t see Nora’s face, he could clearly see the resolve in his eyes. And because of that, his respect for the newcor only grew stronger.
At that mont, the intensity radiating from Cedric’s body lessened slightly as he asked,
"What’s your elent?"
"I don’t have one," Nora replied without hesitation.
Hearing this, Cedric’s surprise only deepened. Alice’s words earlier had carried a weight of recognition, making this revelation seem all the more unusual.
After a brief mont of consideration, he flashed a grin at Nora and said,
"Haha, then let see what’s so special about you."
The mont he finished speaking, he launched a powerful hook aid directly at Nora’s abdon. His fist, packed with raw strength, tore through the air as it closed in.
Nora’s pupils shrank as he processed the attack. He instinctively threw himself backward with all his might, hoping to minimize the damage as much as possible.
Bang!
Despite his best efforts, the gap in speed was too vast. The punch connected, sending him flying two ters back before he stumbled a few more steps due to sheer montum.
Even Cedric was taken aback by Nora’s swift reaction. He chuckled in amusent.
"Not bad. You’ve got a natural combat instinct. It’s rare for a rookie to make such quick judgnts."
Without giving Nora a chance to recover, Cedric lunged forward again, his massive fist raised high, waiting for the perfect mont to land a decisive blow.
Nora’s expression turned serious, his eyes locked onto Cedric’s every movent.
As Cedric closed in, his fist suddenly shot forward, aiming straight for Nora’s chest.
Whoosh!
Like a streak of lightning, Nora twisted his body with flawless precision, narrowly dodging the strike. Without wasting a second, he retaliated.
Clenching his right fist tightly, he pivoted his hips and threw a powerful hook straight into Cedric’s side.
Bang!
"Cough... cough."
The impact made Cedric lose his footing montarily, and he let out a few light coughs.
Though Nora’s punch wasn’t enough to cause any serious damage, the pain was undeniable.
Cedric looked at him as though he had just discovered sothing truly fascinating. Then, with a relaxed chuckle, he said,
"Hahaha, now this is interesting. I didn’t expect you to land a counterattack despite our speed difference. Honestly, that punch of yours wasn’t bad—it actually hurt a little. I might even end up with a minor bruise."
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