Stacking My Abilities

Jeff took a look at the map again. His view instantly changed. The map looked like it's a 3D animation now! 

The river looked like it's flowing. The hills and the mountains looked like they were extruding out of the map. 

Focussing his gaze at a boxed section, various stats instantly popped up into Jeff's view:

[ Collection Section: 8403 ]

[ Estimated Yield: 21 000 ]

[ Overall Fruit Quality: Low ]

[ Estimated Median Price: 41.02 / Moonshine Fruit ]

[ Spots Capacity: 100 ]

[ Current Number of Spots Available: 100 ]

[ Fare Price: 300 Blings ]

[ Arrival Time: 3 hours ]

[ Risk Level: Low ( + Expend For Details ) ]

...

...

Jeff quickly browsed through the sections. By the looks of it, the section's color corresponded with the section's fruit quality. The rare few dark greens were the best. About a tenth were forest green. These were high quality zones. 

Lawn green (Above Average)... Mint green (Moderate)... Grey (Low Quality / Low Quantity)... As the color faded, the quality declined. Naturally, the worse the quality, the more of them on the map. In fact, about half of the sections on this map were grey. 

Looking at the hundreds of sections, Jeff felt some difficulty in making a decision. 

'If I go with dark green, I'd be able to make the most profit. However, there might be some competition between big guilds. Do I want to get involved? Is it worth it?'

'Or should I choose the closest forest-green? It'll be a fast trip.' 

'Moreover... How do I select my section?' Jeff looked at the four workers. 'Do I talk to those guys?'

'Nah. I've got time. It's not like the section matters that much.' Jeff took in a deep breath and enjoyed the sunshine. 'I'll just copy what these guys do.'

About a minute or two passed... 

Jeff waited for someone to take action. However, these elite adventurers only chatted and bargained with each other. It looked like these guys weren't in a hurry either. Nevertheless... Looking at their expressions, these guys weren't exactly friendly towards each other either. 

Sensing something, Jeff looked in one direction. The cloaked girl walked out of the sparse crowd. Clearly, she'd made a decision. Focusing her gaze onto one spot, she headed for the map. 

"Oi, where did this newbie come from?" A lion-man warrior bellowed. 

"Any human want to show this human girl the rules?" A dwarf axmen grumpily looked around. 

The cloaked girl looked back at the crowd with knitted brows. "I've made my choice. Why should I wait for you?" 

Without further hesitations, the girl continued to move towards the map. 

"Are you looking down on us? Who do you think you are to choose first?"

"The big guilds haven't even chosen yet. Do you think you have better standings than the major guilds?"

Leaving a trail behind, someone shot out of the crowd. In a blink, that guy had stopped before the cloaked girl's path. 

Taking a closer look, it's towering warrior wearing sleeveless armor, exposing his muscular arms. Without doubt, this guy's arms were thicker than Jeff's legs. Looking down at the cloaked girl with an intense glare, this guy looked like a predator looking down at its prey. 

The cloaked girl was only as tall as this guy's chest. In the face of this giant warrior, the cloaked girl looked like a child in comparison. 

"Red Warden. Guildmaster of the Crimson Force Guild." The dude put on a wild smile. 

Seeing this guy's appearance, the crowd quickly quieted down. 

"He'd be interested in this matter? Who'd have thought." Someone looked at the cloaked girl with a playful smile. 

"How unlucky of that newbie. I bet she'd be hospitalized for 3 months if she doesn't die." Someone murmured. 

"Tsk. Facing a peak-tier warrior on her first day. How unfortunate."

"You want to have a fight here?" The cloaked girl withdrew her wooden wand. "Inside of the adventurer's hall?"

"A fight? A fight?!" Red Warden heartily laughed. 

"Look at her. This newbie thinks she can put up a fight." Red Warden looked around. "Ahahaha!"

Some of the crowd laughed along. Others faked a laugh as well. 

"Let me help you remember the rules around here." Wearing a crazed face, Red Warden thrusted forward a palm strike.

It's fast! 

Before anyone could react, the hit had already landed! 

Like a ragdoll, the girl shot back into the crowd. Yet, looking closely, this girl had been enveloped by an amber colored bubble. 

Looking at the approaching girl, Jeff sighed. Without doubt, he'd been targeted as well. There's plenty of space among the groups of adventurers. What's the odd of this girl heading in his direction by accident? 

'Looks like these adventurers aren't so friendly to newbies after all...' Jeff sighed in his mind. 

'Warrior's physique!'

'Living Fortress!' 

At Jeff's command, the two abilities were instantly toggled on. A dim golden light blinked on Jeff's body twice. 

Yet, standing under the sunlight, it's impossible to see those light effects. 

Extending out a hand, Jeff caught the approaching girl by her back. 

The moment Jeff's hand made contact with this flying girl, Jeff felt an immense force travelling down his hand into his body. 

However, with 'living fortress' toggled on, Jeff was not going anywhere. This warrior's strength was not bad. 

But that's all. Not bad. No more than that. 

It's like doing an one-handed bench press. The girl came to a gradual halt by Jeff's side. Like a film of light, the amber colored bubble flowed back into the girl's pendant. 

Jeff looked around. The playful smiles on these elite adventurers froze. Clearly, these guys were expecting Jeff to be sent flying out as well. 

This reminded Jeff of bowling for some reason. The girl was the bowling ball. And Jeff was the pin. Except, Jeff, the bowling pin, table flipped and refused to play along. So instead, the pin caught the hurling ball. 

Even after being caught, the girl still looked shocked. Clearly, she didn't expect to be actually attacked. The girl looked at Jeff. Then she looked at Red Warden. She looked clueless of what to do. 

"You- You've got to be kidding." Someone gulped. 

"Who is this guy?"

"Never seen him around before!" 

Sure. Red Warden wasn't serious. Yet, that was still an attack from a peak-tier warrior! 

At least, most people couldn't have caught that girl without breaking a sweat. Especially wearing that set of useless equipment. 

The mid-tiers here turned their gazes from Jeff. Some looked at the ground. At this moment, they knew clearly that they couldn't mess with Jeff. 

The late-tiers and the few peak-tiers looked at Jeff with a serious expression now. 

Newbie or not. Got equipment or not. This level of strength demanded respect. 

Staring at Jeff, Red Warden's careless smile faded away. "Good. Looks like you have the right to be here boy. Move out of my way now."

"Are you telling me of what to do." Jeff looked at Red Warden dead in the eyes. Standing a little taller, Jeff's face fell cold. 

In a blink, Jeff's aura changed. Before, to everyone here, Jeff looked like another free-willed newbie adventurer. Now, Jeff looked like a confident and dominant fighter. A fighter who'd never lost a battle! Proud and invincible!