“When will missions start again?”
Theron found himself standing in front of the old man minutes later, as though nothing at all had happened. He could feel the old man’s gaze on him, but he scanned through the missions before him as though he couldn’t tell.
There was a grace period due to the culling, but very soon Theron would be running up against his quota. He needed to complete another mission soon since he couldn’t count on Yonowai.
Though Theron was expecting an answer, he didn’t get one. Instead, the list he was looking at found a blockage before it.
His mind came out from the jade to find that a palm was over his own.
“You say you want protection?” the old man asked.
Theron’s gaze flashed. This… was not part of his plan. He was simply speaking nonsense to push the old man into a corner and force him to follow the Guild’s rules.
This turn around wasn’t expected.
His mind kicked into overdrive, shifting things around.
Unfortunately, he had known that asking for his short sword back wasn’t in the purview of the requests he could make. In addition, he didn’t want to do anything to compromise his chances of getting it back.
Right now, the short sword was probably forgotten in a corner of Raiden’s spatial device. If Theron made it clear how much he wanted it back and yet failed to retrieve it, there would be no time for regret if Raiden decided to destroy it to infuriate him further.
For now, this slow and steady approach was best. Maybe Raiden had already forgotten about the blade, and that would be for the best.
Theron’s lips parted to respond, but he found something projected into his mind before he could.
—
[3 Star Bronze Mission – Kill Thalrix Ironhart]
[Reward]
[>335,000 Bronzes]
[>Silver Resonance Breakthrough Pill]
[Details]
[>The Ironhart Clan is a Earldom Clan of Metal Mancers. Known for their exceptional defenses and unordinary ability to manipulate the earth beneath their feet, changing its form into their unique Ironhart Metal]
[>There are signs that Thalrix has awakened the Ironhart Bloodline to the Silver Tier already despite only being at the Ninth Bronze Resonance. The Bronze Tier allows Ironhart Skin to be formed. The Silver Tier not only provides an upgrade to this, but also allows Imbued Resonance to be reached]
[>Thalrix is well known for his arrogance and can be easily goaded into one-on-one combat]
—
This was all the information there was, but Theron was surprised that there was information at all. Normally, you could only see this information if the mission had been accepted—that was an ironclad rule. ℞Ν𝘖ʙЁS
Just how high was this old man’s clearance, exactly?
“Clear this mission and you will get what you want.”
“Alright,” Theron said calmly.
He already had some speculation. It seemed that this Ironhart would be attending the banquet. He didn’t believe that it was a coincidence that this mission would appear at the same time as Sigil was holding such an event.
The two connected in his mind seamlessly.
“You’re accepting a bit too fast, don’t you think? The only reason this isn’t a Four Star Mission is because it was put in yesterday.”
“It doesn’t make a difference,” Theron said.
The old man chuckled and removed his palm from Theron’s hand.
“Off you go, then.”
Theron nodded and left. At the same time, his gaze flickered down to his hand and the old man behind him looked at his own palm at the same instant.
’Peculiar… from First Resonance to Eighth in not even half a year, but I can’t sense anything special about him… An odd variant, it seems… this should be an opportunity.’
What the old man was most enamored with was Theron’s dealing with Raiden’s lightning. That Mana Control was simply out of this world. Just how long had he been storing that in his body? How much pain had he endured.
He truly didn’t plan on getting involved with this child at all. But…
There was a flash in the old man’s eyes, and his demeanor seemed to change to that of a completely different person for a moment.
… Theron had made it too difficult to refuse.
Between Raiden and Theron, just who would come out on top, exactly?
**
In a deep, dark, and damp room, Raiden sat in silence. Shrouded by black, his blue eyes seemed dim.
“You’ve suffered a loss today.”
The voice came from everywhere and nowhere, stating something quite plainly.
“… I have.” Raiden said calmly.
“What have you learned?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh?”
“I knew that this was a risk when I let him live. I did not want to do so, but I chose another path. Since this is my fate, so be it. When the opportunity next presents itself, he will die. In the meantime, I will take advantage of the positives of my decision if I must suffer the negatives as well.”
The voice didn’t reply for a long while, but then seemed to nod. A wind kicked up and there was suddenly an array of pills, bottles, and a single booklet before Raiden.
Raiden’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t bother to speak. He knew that his master was already gone.
It seems that master has begun to take him seriously as well.’
**
Theron walked out of the hotel room, allowing a prostitute to scurry away. If he was going to return to such a hotel so often, he would obviously need a cover even if he changed his face.
His mind, though, was elsewhere.
’Imbued Resonance
It was a term that he had only heard of vaguely, so rare he could only recall it being mentioned in two books he had read. But to this day, he wasn’t sure what it was.
And what did it mean for Thalrix’s bloodline to allow him to touch it?
It seems that the Thistles would have to show their use again.