Chapter 26: What is Your Gift?
Outside the office, Jason and Liam stood in the corridor with coffees from the nearby vending machine in their hands. They made an odd pair, with Liam wearing a full suit and Jason dressed casually in cargo pants and a t-shirt. But there was nobody in the hospital who would dare to cross that corridor at that moment. Just the presence of the two men was enough to make you shiver in fear.
Guards were standing at the end of the hall to block anyone from getting closer, and Liam decided to hurry the conversation up so they wouldn't stop the doctors from performing their duties.
Liam took a drink before speaking up.
"So, you were dragged into the Gate along with three others."
Jason nodded, and Liam continued.
"And what happened to these three?"
"They didn't make it. The monsters got to them before I awakened."
"I see. That is quite unfortunate."
Liam took another drink and Jason finished half his coffee. Liam was good at reading the expressions of others, and from what he could see, Jason was irritated at his inability to help the others and, at the same time, he didn't feel responsible for their deaths. Almost like it had been their own fault that they died.
Liam decided to disregard the three who died. There were so many deaths inside of Gates these days that it didn't even register to Liam or anyone else in the world, for that matter. The people who died after being pulled into Gates were just unlucky, that was the simple truth.
Liam finally decided to broach the actual reason why he came here. Even though everyone in the world was hailing Jason for his power, there was one question that they all still wanted answered:
What was his Gift?
Jason's Gift could make or break people's interest in him, and it would determine how much guilds were willing to pay just to have him join them.
The reason for this was simple. The frontline fighters were the most likely to grow stronger, and faster.
The five superhuman types were different, and each one of them was capable in its own right, but that didn't mean they were equal. The superhuman-type that was most sought out were the Brawlers, followed by the Emitters. These two superhuman types possessed the ability to stand on the frontline and face off against enemies in the Gate.
This meant that they would kill more enemies, and that would also allow them to grow faster than the others.
The Supporters were mainly rear-line fighters and they hardly saw any action—especially if they weren't as strong as A or B Rank. And the Healers were even worse off.
In order for a healer to grow stronger, they would need to go into the Gate with one of the other classes and have them bring the monsters to near-death before the healer would then finish them off to gain a boost in their abilities. This meant that the healer took the longest to get used to fighting in the Gate, and they would stay weak for the longest.
The only class that didn't fall into any category was the Special because it could be good or bad depending on what it turned out to be.
But Liam wasn't worried about Jason having any issues regardless of what category he fell into. Jason was an A Rank, so even if he was a healer or supporter, he would have more than enough strength to fight against the monsters and grow stronger over time.
But it would be best if Jason was a Brawler or Emmiter.
Liam spoke up calmly.
"Can you explain to me exactly what Gift you awakened? I know you're an A Rank, I could feel it from your mana the moment I saw you, but I'm curious to know what Gift you have."
Jason folded his hands across his chest and took a drink from his cup before his eyes turned blood red.
[Predator's Gaze] has been activated!
Doon!
Liam felt an indescribable amount of shock pass through him at that moment as he took a step away from Jason. His mana threatened to lash out from his body as his heart rate picked up speed and the guards standing at the end of the corridor quickly began to bring out their guns in fear! But Liam put his hand out and told them to stop.
"Stop! Okay, Mr. Jason. That's enough. Please turn it off."
Jason turned off the [Predator's Gaze] and Liam felt his heart rate calming down again. That was the first time in a long time that Liam would feel any form of fear. He had always been a calm person and he believed he was logical enough to withstand any sort of mental manipulation.
But once Liam saw those red eyes, it felt like all the adrenaline inside of him pushed him to run! Those weren't the eyes of a human. It was like staring into the eyes of a Magical Beast.
'So he had an ocular ability. He's a special type.'
Jason finally finished off his coffee and tossed the empty cup in the trash a few feet away. Jason waited until Liam had gotten himself back before he spoke up.
"Are you okay?"
Liam nodded.
"Yes, thank you. It was just... surprising. What was that? Is that your Gift?"
"Yes. It's an ability that gives me night vision, farsight, and the ability to inflict fear in weaker opponents."
Jason explained all this with ease, and Liam fixed his jacket quietly before clearing his throat. Jason's words told Liam that Jason was trying to say he was stronger than Liam, and Liam was not the sort of person to rise to such bait, so he simply ignored it.
An ability like this wasn't completely foreign to Liam. There were many superhumans who developed ocular-type abilities, but those superhumans usually developed the ocular ability along with another Emitter-type ability, like the B Rank leader of the Dark Knights who had the ability to pinpoint far objects up to a kilometer away and then snipe them with his Earth Arrow.
Liam asked Jason if this was all.
"Do you not have any other ability other than this? How did you fight the monsters inside the Gate?"
Jason shook his head.
"No, I don't have any other. I used a dagger that I had with me when I went into the Gate, but other than that, I just used my fists."
Liam accepted his answer easily enough. An A Rank could beat a Red Gate if they were smart about it, even if they didn't have any weapons, so it wasn't hard for Liam to believe him.
'With abilities like that, he'll be a difficult person to handle in any nighttime Gate. Maybe he'll work towards becoming an assassin-type superhuman. Or he'll learn how to use a long-range weapon and become a sniper?'
Jason watched as Liam mulled over everything quickly, and he hoped that Liam would buy it. Jason had already decided that he wasn't going to reveal his actual abilities to anyone since he didn't yet know who he could trust. So for the foreseeable future, he was going to use the skills he received from his subordinates as his actual Gifts.
Jason turned as he heard Liam speak up again.
"And what about the drops? Did you leave them behind?"
Liam knew that this was a common occurrence for many newbies. They wouldn't know that they were meant to take the Magic Crystals out from the monsters and they would leave them behind and lose them when the Gate closes. Liam wouldn't be surprised if Jason made the same mistake.
But Liam's brow rose when Jason reached into his pocket and brought out a Magic Crystal. It was large, and it glowed with too much power for it to belong to a mob monster. It was the Boss' Magic Crystal! That meant that Jason took the drops!
"Did the boss drop anything else? There's a small chance that one of his parts detached and became a magical artefact—"
Before Liam could even finish talking, Jason already brought out the large dagger-like tooth, and Liam chuckled. This was impressive.