Zarek stared at the Hub from behind the foliage for a long while. There were several complicated thoughts running through his mind, and even more instincts telling him he had to go, while even heavier logic was telling him he was an absolute fool.
He had seen the landscape for hundreds of miles, and this was the only Hub located anywhere around here. That much he was fairly sure of.
If he had been on Earth, in a radius like that, he should have easily been able to find a dozen. Hubs were rare, but not this rare.
This told Zarek that one of two things was going on. Either this was just the natural situation of this planet, or this was part of the grace period.
His intuition was telling him that it was the latter.
The reason he was so sure was because of those sealed beasts and Turned he had seen. Those monstrosities, each one more powerful than the last, were placed in strategic locations and well separated by strength. There were bosses amongst them, and weaker minions.
If Zarek was correct, the weaker would be released first eventually, followed by the mid-tier ones, and then those on the highest levels.
Once that happened, the first locations they would come to would be precisely these Hubs. At that point, these things would be nearly impossible to get a hold of—not unless you had the confidence to defeat one of those A Class behemoths and what were certainly their B-Class-at-worst minions.
The only convenient time to get one of these Hubs was right now, while they were still sealed away, while there was still silence.
If Zarek had to take his guess another step forward, then he would even say that one such Hub was precisely where the boy-man was headed right this moment. Maybe the fact that he had such information was why he was being targeted by so many people.
So the question was… why all those meandering routes? Why curve around and take such unnecessarily long routes if the threats were under lock and key for the time being?
Proximity.
There was a very good chance that if they accidentally got too close to those trapped beasts, their Matrices would shatter and they would be released. If he retraced at least some of the boy-man's steps, and then cross-referenced it with what he had seen from above, it did map out with avoiding some of those behemoths he had seen.
But the boy-man didn't seem to be headed here.
Once again, this meant one of two things…
Either he didn't know about this Hub, or…
He knew about it and felt that it wasn't a Hub he could benefit from easily, making this even more dangerous.
Why should the boy-man risk himself at the hands of a Challenge Hub if there was a far more convenient Hub out there to use? Maybe it would even be a rare Golden Hub.
By comparison, this was the only one Zarek had.
Zarek looked down at the bracelet on his wrist.
'Babe, it's a Perfect Challenge Hub. I didn't even know a thing like this existed. And it's just sitting there, taunting me.'
Zarek spoke to himself as though he was communicating with Priya. In truth, he hadn't been paying attention to how things were going on her side on purpose.
He didn't want to because he knew there was nothing he could do to help. Not the slightest thing.
But "speaking" to her now almost seemed to give him a sense of calm.
There was no other choice to make.
Seeing a Challenge Hub with all nine segments lit up was something he had never even heard of appearing on Earth before. But challenging an A Class Challenge Hub, even at the weakest Warrior level, was like trying to lay his head in the groove of a guillotine.
No, not just that.
It was probably also akin to cutting the rope that held the blade too.
However, when Zarek made a decision, he didn't hesitate afterward. Decisiveness and confidence in his sense of self were large parts of his strength.
'Everything has to be decided within ten moves. If I can't win that quickly, I'm dead.'
Zarek stopped in front of the Challenge Hub, his eyes growing calmer and calmer until a slow blaze lit his amber eyes.
He took deep breaths, his hand raising up.
Taking a back seat wasn't his style. He had chosen to follow the boy-man because it was the smartest choice to make. But he also had a six-month promise to keep.
If he passively followed the boy-man around everywhere, the amount of information he could gain would be limited and come in slow trickles, along with deductions he could never be 100% certain of.
This solo venture outside had taught him more than following the boy-man all day had. But it was also because he had followed the latter in the first place that he could draw the conclusions he had.
Did he feel like shit that he was about to waste a Perfect Challenge Hub by choosing the Warrior Class? A little bit.
But he refused to pick a higher Class than that. It was already suicidal, but he didn't want to also be a suicidal fool.
'Show me what you've got, Ashborn. Just me and you.'
The blaze in Zarek's eyes reached a fever pitch as he slammed out a palm.
There was no hesitation in his eyes, and not the slightest hint of fear. His heartbeat had slowed to a rhythmic cadence, his blood boiling akin to the oil of its engine.
However, just as his hand was about to slam down, a strong gust of wind came from nowhere, knocking his arm to the side with momentum he couldn't resist.
From slamming onto the Warrior Slot, Zarek's palm landed on Eclipse.
The two were polar opposites, and yet they were right next to each other, completing an ironic cycle on the cyclical Hub.
Zarek didn't need to look to know that it was the boy-man who had done it.
As for why, Zarek's mind, so calm and churning like a well-oiled engine, landed on the only possibility.
He was right. The boy-man likely knew this Hub was here, but avoided it because there was no guaranteed victory. It wasn't worth the risk, and he had better prospects.
As for why he would do this…
How rare was a Perfect Challenge Hub? How many had ever seen an Eclipse Threat in their life?
How could he miss such a chance at the expense of someone else's life?