"It’s really you! Raid! The Blacksmith! Amazing! When Peyton told you’d be coming, I thought she was joking but you’re really here!" Exclaid the receptionist, Hazel in excitent.
"Uh... Fan?"
"Of course!"
"In just two days?"
"What does any of that matter when you’re the first Warrior to solo clear a Dungeon of a Rank higher than your own?"
"Good point."
She then stood up from her chair and took out her phone.
"On that note. Do you mind taking a few selfies with ? I really don’t wanna miss this chance."
I’d be lying if I said I was a photogenic person but I felt the what-the-hey urge to humor her.
"Sure, what-the-hey."
See?
Anyway. "But on the condition that you tell where to go to see Peyton." I added.
"Deal." She said, smiling in agreent.
I then crossed over to her side of the table and she started taking her photos. Like I said, I’m not exactly a photogenic person, so while she was doing tongue-outs, duck-faces, peace-signs, finger-hearts and so forth, I was doing thumbs-ups, thumbs-ups, and even more thumbs-ups. We finished up with over ten selfies.
"Satisfied?" I asked.
"Yeah, these are aweso, thank you. Now, I shouldn’t keep you here any longer than I have or else Peyton might have my head."
"That’s a little extre, don’t you think?..." But then I rembered. This is Peyton we’re talking about.
"On second thought. Yeah, she’d definitely do that."
"Right? That woman honestly scares more than so Warriors and monsters."
"But she is a Warrior though. Does she not know that? Well, that’s a Spy Class for ya. Not even her colleagues know about her true occupation."
"Anyway, she told that I’m supposed to lead you to the Manager’s Office, so you’re gonna wanna go down the central corridor you see before you. Over at the end of the path is the main elevator, use it to go up to the thirteenth floor. After that, you’ll find the Manager’s Office at the end of the middle pathway." She explained.
"Got it, thanks. Have a good one then."
"You too. Thanks again for the selfies!"
I made my way down the central corridor. Following her directions perfectly, I entered the elevator as soon as I arrived. They called it an elevator but in actuality it looked nothing like one. There were no walls and no elevator doors.
All there was, was a flat cylinder surface with a black teleportation magic circle placed on it. As soon as I stepped on it, a holographic square appeared in front of , it was the control panel.
"Maybe they still call it an elevator because even though it’s more of a teleportation device, it still operates like any other normal elevator. I’m guessing it has a limit to how many people it can teleport as well. And it might also not allow two people from different floors to use it at the sa ti."
The control panel had a large number of buttons, twenty of which represented the building’s floors. I pressed the one written ’Floor 13: Association Managent’, as the elevator started to move afterwards. In an instant, I had arrived.
"Guess that’s teleportation for ya."
"Hey there kinkster. What took you so long?"
I didn’t need to look to know who that was.
"That insufferable nickna, again."
"Yeah sorry. I couldn’t stop even if I wanted to at this point so you’re gonna have to get used to it. Anyway, co with , the old man’s waiting for you."
"’Old man?’, can she afford to say that about her own boss."
She started dragging over, taking my hand and pulling straight to the Manager’s Office down at the end of the middle pathway. The door had a small rectangular board etched on it, written ’Manager’s Office’.
Peyton then entered enthusiastically. "Heyyo! Mission successfully complete and I’ve acquired the target! You are all permitted to praise now!"
"Yeah, I highly doubt she’d be allowed this much casual exertion unless she had a special relationship with the Manager."
"Seriously? You call this a success? What part of ’’must be done without the F-Rank’s knowledge’’ did you not understand?"
Peyton’s excitent was almost imdiately shut down. The one responsible, a silver haired beauty, her eyes thin with a beautiful velvet color. They looked almost distant, as if staring straight into a void. She wore the sa working tuxedo Peyton wore and had a fancy old-school classic analog watch on her left wrist. She was slightly taller than Peyton though. And had other features that were bigger than Peyton’s which will not be ntioned. Her natag read ’lissa’.
"Hey, it’s not my fault!" Peyton defended herself. "He had a Skill that allowed him to sense !"
"There’s no way that’s true." lissa had a hard ti believing it. Understandably so.
"Uh...actually, I do have an A-Rank Skill." So I saw fit help Peyton out, it didn’t make sense to that she’d be blad for sothing that wasn’t entirely in her control.
"See?" Said Peyton. "Oh, and don’t forget to tell them about how you tricked into thinking you died too." She added.
"Don’t you forget who’s helping you out here."
"Okay, I’ll be quiet."
"Good."
"She’s so-"
"Excuse , Mr. Raid."
"Oh, just Raid thanks."
"Alright then, Raid. Look don’t get wrong, we’re aware of your...oddly unexplainable capabilities, but I hope you understand if we may have a tough ti believing that you, an F-Rank, the only F-Rank in the world at that have an A-Rank Skill." Said lissa.
"Of course I do. So I’ll prove it." I then activated the Soul-Piercing Eyes Skill and Treasure Hunt Skill. I controlled the radar it emitted to only cover the entire building as the waves perated throughout the room and outside. Only one person sensed it and gave out a slight reaction in response. The rest however, didn’t feel a thing. I then spoke.
"Including Miss lissa-"
"Just lissa, thanks."
"... Okay." I said in a chuckle then continued. "Including lissa and Peyton, there’s exactly nine-hundred and seventeen A-Ranks in this building right now, and only one S-Rank. You." I said as I pointed towards the only person who sensed my Skills and the only one my Skills couldn’t sense.
"That’s impossible." Said lissa, her eyes, though sowhat unnoticeable, a tad widened in surprise. Peyton just grinned ear to ear while nodding her head. She must’ve already gathered that Treasure Hunt had reached A-Rank.
"Hm." A soft chuckle escaped his lips. ’’Live long enough, I guess." Then he finally spoke. The only one of us all who was seated. The Manager. Chadwick Sukala.
There he sat, on his comfortable chair at the far end of the room. A large table in front of him, with a single cup of coffee on top of it. Unlike Peyton and lissa, his suit was white and only his tie was black. On his right chest was a fancy natag with his full na in small writing and the word ’MANAGER’’ in bigger writing and all uppercases above it. He looked a lot like old man-Gam, which finally confird for that they were brothers. But unlike old man-Gam, whose expressions could be used in s, he radiated the aura of a leader.
"So you’re the Raid kid I’ve heard so much about? Your reputation doesn’t do you justice, that’s for sure."
"Thank you sir. Although you’ll have to forgive . I really can’t say I know much about you since old man-Gam didn’t tell much other than the fact that you had a car he once sto-I an borrowed from you."
"Oh, so you do know who I am? I was sure he didn’t tell you anything at all. I don’t know if it’s because he’s scatterbrained or just a jerk but that older brother of mine is a real piece of work."
"Tell about it." We shared a laugh while lissa and Peyton kept quiet with slightly confused looks on their faces.
"Hold on." It had taken a while but I realized sothing that didn’t add up right.
"Wait. Did you say that old man-Gam is your older brother? Isn’t it the other way around?" I asked.
"Oh. Yeah, I can see why you’d think that. I do look a tad older than him. See... As soon as we Awakened as Warriors, that sneaky bastard actually circulated a large portion of his Mana to increase the already incredible longevity that becoming a Warrior grants us. All so that he could "LoOk GoOd FoR tHe LaDiEs" he said." He taunted, using finger quotes, looking sowhat exhausted and annoyed at the sa ti. I was under the impression that younger brothers are the ones who should be giving their older brothers a hard ti.
"I an, I’m an orphan on top of being an only child so I wouldn’t know much about that kinda stuff, that’s discounting the kids at the orphanage of course, but their relationship does kinda seem backwards."
Part of theorized that the stress that old man-Gam gave Chadwick contributed in his aging sohow. Not to say he was weak, he had a very large build. I was sure he’d tear to pieces if we had a go at it but the grey hair and beard he had honestly made feel a little sorry for him.
"Yep, that sounds like sothing he’d do." High level Mages and other similar Classes proficient in Mana manipulation have always had the ability to use Mana to go beyond passed simply healing and preserving life to the point of prolonging it. It’s why so Warriors have a much higher longevity rate than others even though the longevity we gain when we Awaken is more or less the sa.
"Knowing old man-Gam’s personality, Awakening as a Great Mage must’ve been the height of his life. Of course he’d milk it for all it’s worth."
"Tell about it. But enough about that idiot, let’s talk about why you’re here... Aaand how to move forward, of course."
"Okay. Then, can I take a seat?" I asked.
"Of course. Make yourself at ho. This is your uncle’s office, after all. Peyton, lissa, you too. Get comfortable." He said harboring an honest smile.
In front of his table was a slightly smaller one with a large five person couch on its left and another one on its right. I sat comfortably on one of them and felt a calming sensation envelop .
"I sense Mana. The couch is Enchanted!" I thought. "Amazing. To think there’s soone crazy enough to even think of this, putting a Spell on a couch just to make it more comfortable."
Peyton and lissa sat on the other couch opposite to . It seed like they were used to it since they didn’t react the sa way I did as they sat.
So we then started talking about why I was there... Aaand how to move forward, of course.
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