The Next Day.
The headquarters of the Italian Awakener Association.
A man in a formal suit knocked on the thick tal door, which bore the na [President's Office] in bold letters.
"Co in," a strong voice called from behind the door.
The suited man opened it and entered, bowing respectfully.
"Have you found anything about the person who fought with the United Sword Guild?" the president asked, resting his face on his hand as he set aside the reports he had been reading.
"Um, we haven't. This person has been staying off the grid. It's really difficult to locate soone based solely on the description provided by the United Sword Guild. We have sent this individual's profile to all the Awakeners affiliated with us. As soon as anyone cos into contact with soone matching the description, we will be inford imdiately," the suited man replied.
The president frowned. "Co on, how hard can it be to find a single person, especially soone as strong as him? Are your guys really keeping track of all the Awakeners entering and leaving the Red zones?"
Red zones are areas overrun with gate monsters and mutated beasts.
These regions have been declared uninhabitable unless the monsters are cleared entirely.
The Awakeners' Association monitors any changes that occur within these zones.
"Yes, Association President. Without an associated registered ID, no one can enter the zones. Anyone attempting to do so without proper registration is reprimanded, and their information is added to the association's database," the suited man continued.
"As soon as this person tries to enter any red zone, we will catch them."
"Mark, this is so confusing. We've been monitoring the red zones for nearly a month now. In the two months since the Day of Awakening, if this person had entered a red zone to level up, we would have known. But we didn't. This ans he hasn't been hunting monsters in the red zones. So how did he grow so strong?"
Growing as strong as a top-level Awakener wasn't unheard of in today's world, but anyone achieving such strength would surely attract significant attention due to their talent and power.
All red zone areas are populated with Awakeners constantly entering and leaving to hunt monsters.
If soone this strong had shown up, they would have surely been noticed by other Awakeners.
Yet, none of that had happened with this individual.
"How did he grow so strong without hunting monsters?" the president muttered, his brows furrowed in thought. "We monitor high-level monsters continuously through the association. Does he know sothing that we don't?"
Clearing his throat, he turned his attention back to his assistant, Mark. "Why did you co to see ? New reports?"
"Yes. The people from the Vatican Church are here, including the Saintess and a General. They want to et you," Mark said.
"The Vatican?" The Association President raised an eyebrow. "What do they want to talk to about?"
"They said that the [Plague Silk Spider Dungeon] was cleared last night," Mark replied, repeating the information he had received from the Vatican representatives.
"Oh, so the Vatican finally made their move, huh? The Plague Silk Spiders are extrely dangerous."
"Their spit is venomous, their webs are as strong as ropes, and even those can be managed, but their numbers are overwhelming."
"Without a hunting party of high-level Awakeners, the dungeon can't be cleared. Have the Vatican's forces grown so much stronger?"
The President rubbed his chin thoughtfully before turning back to his assistant.
"Was it the Saintess who cleared the dungeon, or one of the Seven Generals?" he asked.
"They didn't say," Mark replied with a shake of his head. "They refused to answer any more questions and are demanding to et with you."
Inwardly, Mark grumbled about the Vatican's arrogant deanor.
"They always act like they have all the authority in the world. Only Jesus knows how many tis I've wished I didn't have to deal with them," he thought.
"Hmm..." The President sighed. "Bring them to the eting hall."
...
"So, the Vatican forces didn't clear the [Plague Silk Spider Dungeon]?" the president asked, looking at the tall man with brown hair dressed in a pristine white coat resembling a cardinal's robe.
A cross hung around his neck.
This man was one of the seven cardinal generals of the Vatican and the leader of [The Gentle Path Guild], a group claiming to embody one of the seven heavenly virtues, Kindness.
"No, we didn't. We are still in the process of increasing our followers. Initially, we planned to clear it by forming a group of two or three cardinal generals led by our warrior nuns in about two weeks, but it seems soone beat us to it," replied the Cardinal General of Kindness, Benedetto Marco Giuliani, in a calm tone.
"And it was cleared by a single person in a single night..."
"What? Is this a joke?"
The president initially thought the cardinal general was jesting, but he quickly dismissed the notion upon seeing the seriousness etched on his face.
"Who is this powerful awakener?" the president asked.
"I was hoping you would tell us," the cardinal replied indifferently.
Then the saintess spoke up. "we, the warrior nuns encountered this man just before he left. We couldn't identify him as we have never seen him before. He is certainly not a registered awakener, or we would have recognized soone that powerful," the saintess said, crossing her arms.
"An unregistered awakener? Could he be the sa person we've been searching for?" wondered the president of the Awakener Association, wide-eyed, a thought shared by his assistant, Mark.
"Do you have any description of this person?"
The saintess glanced at her warrior nun, recalling the scant details they managed to observe about the man.
"He had dark black hair and blue eyes. He was a fla magic user, very tall, around six feet, and he wore a hoodie. He carried a sword with a dark blade," the saintess sighed as she spoke.
"Yes, it's very possible it's the sa guy," the president said, glancing at his assistant, who nodded in agreent, confirming his suspicion.
"Do you know that while many unregistered awakeners exist, most of them are not strong enough to concern us? However, there are a few who are growing stronger and could pose a threat to both common people and even the Vatican."
The Awakener Association's job is to ensure that powerful awakeners do not abuse their power against the weaker ones.
The president explained. "We need to account for every single awakener and their position in the world rankings."
"We enforce rules and regulations on how awakeners should act, protocols to follow when clearing dungeons or monster domains. I'm sure the Vatican itself has its own sovereign rules," the president continued.
"It's crucial to maintain order among the awakeners. Without order and rules, we are nothing more than mindless beasts."
"Recently, there have been rumors circulating among Awakener Associations around the world about an unregistered organization recruiting those who abuse their power. Although no such rumors have surfaced in Italy, we are aware of two individuals growing so strong that they may rival the top awakeners in the country."
The president glanced at Mark, who handed two papers to the saintess and the Cardinal General of Kindness.
"One of these two unregistered awakeners is soone nad Carlo Donico Verdi. He is currently the highest priority for the Awakener Association."
"Why? What did he do?" the saintess asked, looking at the picture on the paper.
"Nothing, except that he has tortured and killed about three dozen awakeners. He's been on a killing spree, taking the lives of at least half a dozen awakeners in the past five days just for fun," the president of Italy's Awakener Association explained grimly.
"As for the second unregistered individual, we suspect he is the sa man you ca to about, Saintess."
"Who is this person? What is his level?" the Saintess asked, narrowing her gaze.
The president paused for a mont. "Saintess, would you believe if I told you this person's level hasn't crossed 30?"
"Ridiculous. That's impossible. When I observed his magic up close, I felt his pressure suppressing . He should at least be level 50," the saintess said, unable to believe what she was hearing.
Such an assertion was beyond absurd.
It was already difficult for the saintess to accept that a single awakener had wiped out hundreds of monsters alone in a single night.
To make matters worse, this individual was allegedly only level 30?
Nothing could be more preposterous.
"Believe it or not, just a few days ago, this unregistered awakener battled the guild master of the United Swords Guild and defeated him with a single strike. His level? It was 26," the president stated flatly.
...
After Damian cleared the [Plague Silk Spiders] that erged from the Red Gate and completely overran the Colosseum of Ro and its surrounding areas, he had the unfortunate encounter with the great warrior nun of Vatican City.
However, the leader of the warrior nuns, the Saintess, was remarkably sensible.
She wasn't like those brainless characters often seen in novels who attack soone simply for not showing respect or because they feel the person needs to be eliminated for stepping into their territory.
After considering the situation for a few seconds, the Saintess decided against doing anything rash.
She had no valid reason to attack Damian, and even though he had injured so of her warrior nuns while defending himself, she restrained herself.
Despite her desire for revenge on behalf of her comrades, she acted rationally, unlike those impulsive, hot-headed individuals.
After finishing his business in Ro, Damian left and arrived in Settecamini, where he found an abandoned ho with a cozy bed and functioning bathrooms.
As soon as he discovered the place, he went straight to bed. Only now did he wake up.
"God, I didn't realize that even though I can replenish mana by absorbing it, it still takes a toll on my body," Damian muttered, holding his head as a slight tingling pain pulsed through it.
Wiping his eyes, he looked at the mobile phone he had found in the abandoned building, and his eyes widened in shock when he saw the date.
"Damn, I slept for two whole days?"
...
[A/N: Co on, everyone! You've made it this far, so why not add my novel to your favorites? And if it's not too much trouble, please leave a review or drop so POWER STONES!]
User Comments
0 comments from readers