Almost all of the snacks and ice cream had been eaten, however, the beer was so plentiful that even after all this ti there were still a few full cans left on the table.
"So..." Orel muttered as he opened his fifth can of beer. "You want to et Wilfred? You seem to have a good reason for that and you don't want to tell the details. It's none of my business, though."
Risha's eyes ran from Adam to Orel. Though she was nowhere near her older brother's level, she held a fairly high position at the Red Bears and knew a lot about a lot of things. However, just like at the Upper Ring, a K3-Phantom was a strong person at the Lower Ring.
"Adam..." Orel's voice grew lower. "You speak of Wilfred as if you've already encountered him. But, that's very strange, considering you're from the Upper Ring. Do you even realize what Wilfred's status is?"
The uncertainty was evident in Adam.
"Hmm... I'm not sure. I had a card from him, but due to the rush and so events upstairs I completely forgot about it, I think it might help get in touch with the Black Swan mbers faster."
"Hah, don't think about it too much," Orel waved his hand. "It doesn't matter if you have permission/invitation, even if it's from Wilfred himself, it doesn't make a big deal."
"What?"
Orel smirked, taking a sip. "Their mbers won't let so K3-Phantom from the Upper Ring through to their head."
Silvana decided to drink the first can of beer and choked on it.
"Cgha!" her surprised eyes went to Orel. "What? Wilfred is the head of one of the Four Beasts? Doesn't that an he's... That he's a Second Rank Phantom?!"
In response, Orel nodded deeply.
"Yeah, the situation is the sa as c the Twelve Branches. Every head of a great family is the Second Rank Phantom, in our case it's the head of the Four Beasts. Hah, otherwise, even a K4-Phantom like might have a chance of taking the highest position."
Adam frowned, looking at him disapprovingly. "Damn, you talk as if anyone can beco a K4-Phantom. If you want a good life, even a K0-Level is enough, and a K3-Level allows you to take a high position even in one of the great families.
"K4-Level? Pffft, one more step and you'll beco one of the strongest people in the entire Citadel!"
With curiosity, Risha looked at Orel. She was sure that she would reach K4-Level at so point, so she wanted to know if she or her brother had the potential to beco one of the strongest.
"Brother... Is it true?"
Orel tapped on the table while shaking his head.
"Yeah... You could say it is. In the entire Citadel, among the tens of millions of people and thousands of Phantoms, the Second Rank ones aren't that many. If it weren't for the Twelve Branches possessing particularly powerful bloodlines, there would be even less."
"But..."
His voice grew colder without interruption.
"I have no confidence that I will ever be able to reach the Second Circle. It may seem like I don't believe in myself, but I'm just a realist. The K4-Phantoms are ten tis bigger than the Second Rank ones. There are obvious reasons for that."
Orel leaned forward, his eyes deepening, as if rembering all the way that he passed to reach his K4-Level.
"The difference between the Second Rank Phantoms and the K4-Level is much greater than that between an ordinary human and a K0 Phantom. It's like you're moving to another evolution stage, becoming a completely different being, though that's not far from the truth."
After a heavy sigh, Orel stared at Adam, who clearly like him intended to one day attain this power.
"Adam, I saw two of the Second Rank Phantoms fighting against each other, at full strength, wanting to kill each other. It's monstrous, leaving only devastation, pain, and death in their wake."
"And..." he smiled bitterly, folding his arms. "I'm talking about the Second Rank Phantoms level as the heads of great families, not Damien and a few others..."
Risha gulped. Unlike her brother, she hadn't been lucky enough to capture a fight of such magnitude, but she could feel it in his voice.
"I see... I'd like to see a fight like that," Adam nodded deeply.
Orel chuckled nervously. "Trust , you don't. If you're a K3-Phantom and you're within five kiloters, you're dead. Sooner or later one of their attacks will hit you and that will be the end of it for you. They won't even notice it, continuing their attempts to kill each other."
Oddly enough, Adam didn't bring up the fight against Damien, Silvana did instead.
'Damn... That sounds too scary,' she pondered with great grimace. 'The Second Rank Phantoms. We've only encountered a few of them...'
However, Silvana was curious to know what not the Second Rank Phantoms, but their Operators were capable of. It was quite possible that she would soday take a place in their ranks.
'Beth and Julia... I don't know of any other Operators of that caliber. Hmm, especially Beth... Considering how powerful her Phantom is, what is she capable of then? How can she help soone as strong as Damien?'
Suddenly, the atmosphere beca heavy, pressing down on everyone in the room as if disaster was ready to descend upon them.
Uncertainly, everyone turned in Adam's direction, his face was dark and his gaze deep with eyes that lost their blue color and beca abysses.
Clap.
Orel clapped his hands together, bringing Adam out of his trance.
"Hey boy, what the hell are you thinking about? Just a little more and Risha and Silvana's legs would shake, they were barely breathing at this point."
"Oh..." Adam flinched. "Sorry, I was just rembering sothing..."
Then, Adam scratched the back of his head awkwardly.
But, it was a lie. He wasn't thinking about the Second Rank Phantoms, he was thinking about sothing more important.
'Damien, Erik, Kogen, and the others... If they are so strong, who are they fighting against? What kind of monsters can stand up to them? Where are they based? And, more importantly...'
Adam inwardly looked up.
'What is the Queen's purpose?'
"Adam!" Orel pounded his fists on the table. "Are you listening to ?"
"Yes! Sure..."
"Good. Anyway..." Orel smirked. "Are you ready to listen to my proposal?"
"Hmm?"
"I may have a way to help you, but you'll have to head down there to do it!"
"Hm? Head down?' Adam tilted his head.
'Didn't we already go down at the Lower Ring?'
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