"So you're saying you want to join our guild as a temporary mber?" Reyes asked, thinking he had heard wrong. Jack had just offered to join the Mavericks Guild to hunt the Elental Beast, claiming he no longer wanted the crystal and only desired paynt in return.
However, this didn't make sense. Had Jack abandoned the crystal because he realized he couldn't obtain it alone, considering the beast was too powerful?
"Yes." Jack displayed a kind, amiable smile.
But Reyes's next words caused that smile to vanish. "No!"
"B-but," Jack stuttered.
"How can I be sure you're not from a rival faction planning to backstab us once we get the crystal?" Reyes stated, continuing to walk. The only reason they had even accepted Nox into their team was because he was clueless about the Elental Beast's existence, which wasn't the case for Jack.
"And..." Reyes paused, locking eyes with Jack. "Are you even an Awakened?"
Few people knew, but Reyes possessed a special skill that allowed him to differentiate an Awakened from a mundane. This skill manifested as flas—blue and red—located near a person's heart. The blue fla signified an ordinary person, while the red fla indicated an Awakened.
To gauge potential, Reyes often paid attention to the velocity at which these flas burned. It wasn't a useful skill in battle, hence why he rarely talked about it, but it was ideal for recruiting mbers to his guild.
This was the very reason Reyes had recruited Nox without much hesitation.
However...
Jack's fla was blue, indicating he was an ordinary human...
'But why is his fla so intense?' Reyes wondered. The flas of other mundanes only burned slightly, yet this boy's fla burned so fiercely that it seed to want to devour everything in its path.
After a brief silence, Jack responded to Reyes's question. "I'm not an Awakened...but I'm very special." He drew out the word "special" with a smirk.
"Indeed, you're special." Reyes nodded, causing the smirk to vanish from Jack's face. The boy narrowed his eyes.
"How did you know?"
"Just instincts...but advertising yourself won't change my decision. I still think you're a spy."
"Hey, brother, put in so words for ...are you just going to stand here and watch?" Reyes turned to Nox.
"He's right. You could be a spy, who knows." Nox shrugged, then continued pestering Reyes, telling him how important the money was for him. The guild master was slowly beginning to be convinced. Then, a mischievous plan ford in Reyes's mind, causing a smirk to curl up on his face. Jack didn't see this smile as he was walking behind the group.
"Okay, you're hired," Reyes stated.
"Huh?" Jack frowned. The man who had strongly refused him just monts ago had suddenly accepted? It was perplexing and suspicious.
'Did he see through my plan?' Jack thought. 'Well, whatever, phase one is complete...'
After his guards had been killed by the red-skinned girl, Jack knew his chances of getting the Elental Beast were slim. Witnessing the beast's prowess firsthand, he knew he needed to align himself with a faction as quickly as possible.
Now that the problem was solved, all he needed to do was aid them in hunting the beast. Then, when the right ti ca...he'd snatch the beast crystal and flee. His only regret was that he would have to steal the crystal from Nox.
'That won't happen,' Nox, who had clearly seen through Jack's plan, thought. He could tell that Jack was in a similar situation as him and that they both needed the crystal for their own reasons.
Though he didn't know if Reyes was aware of his true intentions, he was almost certain the guild master knew about Jack's plans.
'This raises the question, why accept him then?' Nox wondered as he looked at the guild master's unreadable expression. Just what was Reyes scheming this ti?
The Mavericks Guild arrived at the abandoned ship. Nox didn't know what Reyes was thinking, but the guild leader allocated a room to Jack while the others retreated to their respective quarters.
When he was alone, Nox shut the door to his room. His mind was full of thoughts, mostly about why his Analyze and Beast Sense skills had failed.
'The system did ntion that the only way to increase their level is to continuously use them,' Nox pondered, pacing back and forth in his room. This ant he needed to find more beasts and use his skills on them while also defeating them to increase his experience points.
Nox knew the key to defeating the Elental Beast largely depended on Beast Sense. So far, nothing seed to work against the beast. While he hadn't yet used Shadow Oblivion, it was only convenient to use that skill when he was alone with the Elental Beast. That way, he wouldn't have to worry about the crystal falling into soone else's hands.
'So the best approach is finding its weakness... At first, I thought it was fire, but that doesn't seem to be the case.' Nox recalled the ti when the fla mages used their fire against the beast, yet it had little effect.
Thus, fire was ruled out.
'Luckily, there's a way for to level these skills.' Nox brought out the dinsional key from his inventory and stared at it for a while. It had been ages since he last used the key. The first ti he used it, he had appeared in a dinsion filled with demons; the other dinsions that followed were low-level ones that didn't pose much threat, and he had made sure to avoid others.
Nox was hoping that this ti, he would appear in a high-level dinsion that didn't lack monsters. That way, he could continuously use Analyze and Beast Sense to upgrade his skills.
'Hopefully, then I'll be able to see the Elental Beast's stats and weaknesses.' Nox rubbed the key, and like before, a door materialized before him.
'Alright, let's see what awaits on the other side.'
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