The woman stopped a few steps in front of Ronan.
Blonde hair tied back, sharp blue eyes, a calm but professional air about her.
She gave a small, polite smile.
"Hello, my na is Veronica. Can I help you with anything?" she asked.
Ronan turned to her. "My na is Ronan, and yes, I'd like to exchange soul stones and so drop items from soul beasts," he answered directly.
"Then co with to the second floor," she said, gesturing with her hand.
"You're leading," Ronan replied casually.
They began walking, ascending a large staircase with tallic railings that glead under the soft lights.
Veronica occasionally glanced at Ronan, observing him.
"So, are you an Awakener? Or just a delivery service?" she asked lightly.
"I'm an Awakener. But, you know, a beginner. It's my first ti here," Ronan replied without much small talk.
Veronica gave a small nod. "I can tell. Usually, beginners co in flashier outfits to leave an impression... but you," she looked him over from head to toe, "What's with your outfit?" her tone casual, without even a hint of belittlent.
Ronan was simply wearing plain black shoes, black pants, and a black hoodie—looking very ordinary among the sea of battle suits and elegant suits.
Ronan shrugged casually. "Yeah, I want to stay low-profile."
Veronica smiled slightly, as if finding sothing interesting.
"A lot of people say that. I'm pretty good at rembering faces—and usually, the Awakeners who show up dressed understated like you?
They're the ones who make it into the top rankings within a few months."
Ronan let her words hang in the air, then said half-jokingly, "You must have sharp eyes."
"Yeah, thanks to this ability of mine," Veronica replied, smiling wider, locking eyes to Ronan.
At that mont, her pupils flared—a vivid blue glow like living sapphires.
Ronan raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised.
"That's your special ability? What, you can see how strong soone is?" he inquired, his curiosity piqued.
Veronica shook her head slightly.
"Not how strong... more like 'potential'."
She looked deep into Ronan, as if trying to read his very core.
"And in you..." her voice dropped,
"there's sothing deep. But I can't quite tell what."
Ronan felt his interest growing.
"So, what exactly do you see in ?"
Veronica's gaze slowly faded, her pupils returning to their normal blue. She gave a thin smile.
"It's hard to explain. There's sothing inside you... dark, deep... but not in a bad way, more like... complex," she said softly, before turning and continuing up the stairs.
As they walked, she added,
"My ability is still nowhere near my father's.
He can asure soone's potential... in numbers."
Ronan raised one eyebrow.
"In numbers?" he asked, intrigued.
Veronica glanced back slightly, a half-playful smile on her lips.
"Well, sothing like that.
The higher the number he sees in soone, the greater that person's potential."
Ronan stroked his chin, pondering.
With his system—which even awarded him skills from minor triggers—his number should be pretty high, right?
A faint, knowing smile crept across his lips as he climbed the last step, silently following Veronica.
---
anwhile, at the sa location on the second floor, six people were walking together. They were Lex, Juan, Ren, Khalid, Vera, and Helen.
Without their combat gear, this ti they appeared casual in everyday clothing, looking as if they had just finished having fun.
"Man, that at earlier... I swear it was a three-star soul beast. I tried cooking it once, and it was so bitter. I wonder how the chef here managed to make it taste so good," Juan said, shaking his head slightly.
"Surely they have a chef with special cooking abilities," Ren responded casually.
"Yeah, I know, but there must be a recipe, right? There's no way they just cooked it plain..."
"But still, they..."
They chatted easily, as usual. Lex, as their captain, knew his team mbers' personalities very well—after years of being together, he could read them like an old book he had morized.
"Anyway, Helen," Vera suddenly cut into the conversation, her eyes sparkling with curiosity, "Back in the forest earlier, I thought I heard you calling the captain 'uncle.' Is he... what I think he is?"
Juan, Ren, and Khalid imdiately wore the sa curious expressions.
"No," Helen smiled slightly, "Uncle Lex isn't my real uncle, but a distant relative. I've known him since I was a kid and just got used to calling him that," she answered.
They all reflexively turned to Lex.
"I won't deny it," Lex said calmly. "I used to be very close with the Celestina family."
"Used to be?" Juan asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I haven't visited much lately," Lex nodded slightly.
"Then co around, Uncle Lex. We'll be happy to welco you," Helen said, a faint smile hanging on her lips.
Lex returned the nod. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind."
With that, they continued walking together. After tonight's dinner, their plan was to browse weapons and equipnt at the House of Wisdom.
As they strolled down the spacious corridor, Helen's gaze unconsciously shifted forward. Her eyes narrowed, sharpening her vision, as she caught sight of a familiar figure in the distance.
Soone dressed in all black, a backpack slung over his shoulder, walking alongside a woman.
'Is that... him?' Helen wondered internally, a sharp sense of curiosity pricking at her like a fine needle.
But before she could be sure, the two figures vanished into the crowd, blending seamlessly with the throng of people around them.
"Uhh, I think I just saw a friend over there," Helen said quickly. "Mind if I catch up with you guys later?"
"Yeah, sure," Lex nodded without hesitation.
With that, Helen hurried in the direction the figures had gone, her steps quick and light. Curiosity burned in her chest, compelling her forward. She had to know.
That figure... She rembered clearly.
---
On the second floor of the administrative center, Ronan was walking down a lit corridor, guided by Veronica—a young woman with a teasing smile who seed to know much more than she let on.
She explained every detail about the place in a way that was thorough yet surprisingly easy to follow, which Ronan found refreshing.
"So, Ronan Raylinde..." Veronica began, her tone light but unmistakably carrying a hidden aning, "Am I right in thinking that your na matches the description of soone the Head of the KRAKEN Departnt of Research and Technology ntioned? Double R, right?"
Ronan didn't react at all. His voice remained flat as he answered, "Do you ask everyone with the initials RR that question?"
Veronica chuckled softly. "This is actually my first ti," she said, her eyes gleaming with undisguised interest.
"Alright. It's not ," Ronan said quickly and lazily. "And where exactly is the exchange center?"
Veronica's smile didn't falter in the slightest. "I get it, you don't want to talk about it. No worries, just follow , we're almost there," she said, turning around, her long coat swinging lightly with the movent.
Ronan followed silently. But his mind grew sharper and more alert.
He had been too careless, giving out his full na. And sohow, he felt Veronica could see sothing that should have remained hidden.
She had said his potential was 'dark and deep.' Ronan didn't know if that was just small talk or if Veronica had truly sensed sothing... sothing he himself had yet to fully understand.
[New General Skill Acquired: Sharp Suspicion]
[Description: Your sharp instinct to feel suspicious has started to develop. When interacting with others or facing strange situations, you are slightly more sensitive to abnormalities]
Ronan paused for a mont.
He wasn't imagining it—the system had really granted him a skill just because he felt suspicious.
Speechless, he realized sothing: the potential of his system was far greater than he had originally thought.
A thin grin slowly ford on his face.
Before, he had been too confused about what to do—rely 'going with the flow' of skill opportunities—but this notification gave him sothing far more valuable: full understanding of how his system worked.
Veronica, walking half a step ahead, imdiately caught the change in his expression.
"What's with the grin?" she asked, her tone light but her eyes full of curiosity. "Did you see sothing interesting?"
Ronan simply smiled, his gaze fixed steadily on her.
"Yeah," he said casually, "turns out, among all the things shining in this place... I just realized there's sothing way more interesting."
He let the words hang deliberately in the air.
They exchanged a look for a mont, their steps automatically slowing, the atmosphere between them warming, pulsing faintly.
Veronica chuckled softly, her voice low, almost sounding like a challenge.
"What is it? A move?" she said, as if welcoming the ga. "I thought you were more of a sniper type—taking one clean shot—rather than throwing a rock and waiting for a reaction."
Ronan shrugged lazily, his smile persisting, but there was a sharp gleam hidden behind his relaxed deanor.
"Can you bla ?" he said lightly. "From the start, there's been a guide with a smile a little too friendly to be just formal... and sohow, she's been treating like I'm more than just a passerby."
He tilted his head slightly, his gaze still locked on hers, intense but without pressure.
"If I just stayed silent... that would be rude, right?"
Veronica held back a smile, her eyes narrowing slightly, as if asuring and evaluating him, then slowly nodded—as if silently acknowledging sothing.
"Smooth," she said finally, her voice almost like a veiled complint.
"Natural," Ronan replied quickly. "If there's sothing worth noticing, why pretend not to see it?"
Veronica laughed quietly, her steps continuing, but now more relaxed, more in sync with Ronan's.
They turned at the end of the corridor, passing two guards in black uniforms, a broken-winged raven emblem emblazoned on their chest armor—giving the place a heavier, more professional atmosphere.
"Here we are," Veronica said, stopping in front of an open door with people bustling inside. Above it hovered a holographic text:
CENTER OF RESOURCE EXCHANGE
For registered awakeners only.
Ronan's expression instantly stiffened.
"Wait, registered awakeners? What does that an?" he asked quickly.
Veronica raised an eyebrow, looking slightly surprised. "Are you seriously telling you don't know? Once you awaken a special ability, your na gets automatically registered. Unless you haven't awakened a superpower yet, then you're still considered a normal person—or you register manually as a third-party agent," she explained clearly.
Ronan rubbed his chin, his expression souring. He just realized, even to exchange a soul stone, he needed official awakener status.
"Is there a problem?" Veronica asked, her tone now more serious.
"Yeah, the thing is, I awakened my superpower late. It's not rare, right?" Ronan answered, his tone flat. "So the school still has listed as unawakened."
Veronica looked genuinely surprised, her gaze digging deeper into him. "Actually... cases like yours are pretty rare," she said softly. "So, what's your plan now? Want to help?" A sly smile played at the corners of her lips.
"I'll pay you, I promise," Ronan said earnestly, looking her straight in the eyes.
Veronica nodded in satisfaction, her smile widening.
"Then you owe dinner," she said with a bold grin before turning and stepping into the room.
Ronan stood still for a mont, blinking slowly, before letting out a small smile and following Veronica inside.
For the first ti today, he felt like things were starting to get a lot more... interesting.
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