"Huu. Huu."
Kyle looked around, taking several deep breaths while holding onto his chest. He was mainly exhausted from the Gate he had just completed raiding, but more than anything, he was trying his best to hide from Seth.
’...I think I made a good excuse. It’s not like I don’t want to play his ga or anything like that. I’m just... ehm, exhausted. Yes, that’s the word. It’s definitely not because I don’t want to spend the next few hours trying to see if there’s any scary aspect about his ga.’
Kyle made a face.
He felt guilty for his thoughts, but he couldn’t be blad.
He was a little traumatized from what had happened in the past.
"Okay, let just get the reports over."
Going back to his cubicle, Kyle looked through all of his files.
The mont one finished a gate, they’d need to do so paperwork. This was sothing that most Squad Leaders had to do.
It mainly had to do with the team evaluation, giving comnts on who did well and who did poorly. Areas to improve, and so on...
Just the regular boring stuff.
But it was also the most fun part of the job.
’At least this part of the job doesn’t try to kill .’
Grabbing a pen, Kyle was just about to write when he paused. He saw a pair of green eyes staring at him.
Kyle blinked as he craned his neck a little to see Zoey staring at him.
"Zoey?"
"Heyyyy."
Kyle’s eyes narrowed.
"What’s with you?"
He felt that the way Zoey was behaving was a little odd.
"? What’s wrong with ?"
Zoey blinked innocently, trying her best to act normal, but the more Kyle saw her like this, the more suspicious he beca.
’Sothing is up. If she wants sothing, she usually takes it without asking. If she needs sothing, she usually asks without anything else. This is definitely suspicious.’
"Ehm."
Zoey coughed, trying to ease the awkwardness.
"Just spit it out. What is it you want?"
"Seth’s number."
"....."
"....."
Kyle’s and Zoey’s faces froze.
Neither of the two spoke, the surroundings growing silent.
That was until Zoey sighed.
"Alright, I’ll be honest with you. I’m still struggling to apologize to him for what happened several months back. I also can’t seem to get a hold of him since he’s always holed up in his office."
"And you’ve not thought about knocking?"
"No."
"...."
Kyle closed his eyes, feeling his head throb. In the end, he took out his phone and sent her Seth’s number.
Kyle knew and understood Zoey quite well. She was the type who would not relent once she set her mind on sothing. Since she had made up her mind to apologize to Seth, regardless of what word he was going to say, she was going to continue.
In the end, it was best for him to send her Seth’s number.
"Here."
This was also good.
Kyle wanted Seth to have more friends or people he could talk to. Because of how busy he had been, he hadn’t been able to spend much ti with Seth.
Seth was also too much of a loner.
This would at least get him talking with soone.
’Although I doubt he’ll answer his phone. He never does.’
Thinking about it, Kyle prepared to tell this information to Zoey, but by the ti he lifted his head, she was already gone.
He could only stare at the area where she’d be at a complete loss.
"She won’t start flipping out once he ignores her, right?"
Seth was probably the only person in the world who would ignore soone like Zoey.
He was...
"Well, he’s Seth."
Kyle shrugged, going back to work.
He decided not to think about it. He found himself doing it a lot lately.
It brought him peace of mind.
***
The Guild Master was efficient.
Not long after I returned to my office, a package was delivered to .
I didn’t even need to look at it to know what it was.
’...He really did send everything.’
I looked into the box and selected several fragnts to test their purity.
[79%]
They were all of very high purity.
"With this, I shouldn’t have a problem reaching the Fourth Order."
Honestly, I didn’t know how to feel about this.
This felt a lot easier than I had expected. Had it not been for the Guild Master’s help, it would’ve probably taken much longer to accumulate all of these fragnts, but with just a word, I managed to acquire all of this.
Of course, I understood that things weren’t so easy.
Nothing was free.
However, this was necessary for . I had to do this in order to survive the upcoming quest.
"Let’s start with Mirelle."
I picked up the first fragnt, its surface swirling with a faint white glow that pulsed gently against my palm. This was a crystal of the ’Warden’ affinity.
[Would you like to remove the attribute?]
▶ [Yes] ▷ [No]
A familiar sight presented itself before . The color faded from the fragnt as a white cloud ford above . The fragnt grew warm, and my head felt a little light. It was a process I was all too familiar with.
The mont the cloud appeared, a tingling shot through my arm, and Mirelle’s head popped out from the painting.
Her eyes narrowed, almost fishlike, as she leapt out of the painting and lunged toward the cloud, absorbing it in a single swift motion.
Her number on my laptop increased, and I reached for the other fragnts.
Warden: 22/40
Warden: 27/40
Warden: 34/40
I extracted the attribute from each crystal one by one, feeling my head grow lighter and more unsteady with every fragnt I completed.
’Just a little bit more.’
I still pushed myself further, trying to get through all the fragnts.
My mind felt dizzy, and I felt nauseated.
I still held on, and soon—
Warden: 40/40
Mirelle absorbed the last attribute, and a change began to occur.
Her body began to emit a faint glow, her dark hair shifting as if stirred by an invisible breeze. Her eyes deepened in color, the black growing richer, darker, until they seed endless.
Then her body began to stretch and change, her features maturing before my eyes. In monts, the little girl who looked no older than ten had transford into a teenager.
I stared at the scene speechlessly before a notification flashed across my vision.
─────
Ranked Anomalous Entity - Mirelle
[Description]
: Mirelle was once an innocent girl, but fate dealt her a cruel hand. Taken by a cult, she was turned into one of their experints and never managed to escape her grim fate, dying in the process. Now, she exists as an anomaly.
Loyalty : 71--> 78 [ 7] (....)
Skill :
[Innocent Giggle]
: With her soft, eerie giggle, Mirelle can temporarily nullify the effects of other anomalies and skills, disrupting their influence for a brief mont.
[Resentful Giggle]
: Mirelle’s laughter seeps into the minds of those nearby, awakening their buried guilt and fears.
Fragnts :
[????]
─────
"Hiss."
I drew a deep breath, looking at the new skill that she acquired.
This...
It didn’t target anomalies, but humans.
I could already picture the countless possibilities that this skill brought.
But most importantly...
"I’m hungry."
Mirelle rubbed her stomach, lifting her head to look at .
"Hey. Bring food. Be quick."
Mirelle had really turned into a teenager.
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