The top dogs of Berrystone walked down the broken streets. In their small circles, people loudly chattered with each other.

This might attract mist monsters? Heyheyhey... The mist monsters should be concerned about this trap then.

The Anas family was still proud and uninviting.

Sure. They had just lost to Jeff. But they still demonstrated an overwhelming battle prowess.

Nobody took the Anas family lightly anymore. The jealous and calculative gazes were gone now. There was only acknowledgement and reverence left.

Before that battle, who'd believe that an A-rank could pose a threat to an SS-rank? But now, nobody knew anymore.

Who knew what artifacts the Anas could pull out of their as- arsenal.

Maybe this battle was in the Anas family's calculations as well. Maybe they wanted a show of force from the very start. Maybe not.

At least Jeff took these guys seriously now.

'True. I won that fight without much effort.' Jeff casually walked by himself.

'But that's only because these guys were mere S-ranks. Those artifacts were only charged up with S-rank mana.'

'They couldn't bring out even 0.001% of those swords' potential.' Jeff squinted in thought.

'I've reached sage tier now. But I can only bring out 2 - 3% of the potential in my staff.'

'To bring out 100% of my staff's powers... Maybe sage-late tier is required.'

'Those last attacks... It's almost like they are on a whole new level... I still don't have a clue on how those attacks worked...'

'If these guys were SSS-rank...' Jeff felt a sense for urgency again. 'They could certainly bring out some effects successfully.'

Normally, even if it's hundreds SSS-ranks, Jeff wouldn't even bat an eye. But if it's 4 SSS-ranks with those set of swords? Oh boy...

If it's another sage-tier wielding those swords... Jeff might actually face a lethal threat.

'Still not strong enough huh...' Jeff sighed in his mind.

'Looks like I've got to stack my abilities more...' Jeff's expression turned serious.

"Tsup bro. Got a moment?" Daylor Anas caught up to Jeff's side.

Beside Daylor, there was a girl in her 20s.

She was in a chiffon dress that faded from black to purple. Wearing a haughty look, she examined Jeff up and down. Nodding a little, she appeared... satisfied with what she saw. Just satisfied, as in a borderline pass.

This girl looked like she'd been pampered her entire life.

In a moment, the three fell behind the main group.

"Alright Jeff. We'll take one step back in the deal. You can take one of my sister, or cousin, as your mistress."

The girl looked at Daylor in disbelief.

Jeff knitted his brows. "I thought we were over on this topic."

Jeff was expecting a bargain on his black sword, not an arranged marriage...

The girl looked at Jeff with a questioning stare. She looked at Jeff as if Jeff was insane or something.

"Well. You know. Magical families tend to care about bloodlines. Erhm. I'll take one more step back. Marry one of your child into our family, and we'll open our storage to you. How about it. I know you probably don't need much external aid anymore. But there's people around you who needs it right?"

"Bro..." Jeff stared at Daylor. "This is North America. It's the 21st century already. We don't do arranged marriage anymore. At least, like, 99% of us don't."

"Alright. Don't stop your child from marrying into our family."

"Alright...?" Jeff slowly nodded. "I'm cool with this."

"Deal?" Daylor extended a hand.

"Deal." Jeff shook this dude's hand.

"Seriously." The girl looked at Jeff.

"Unbelievable." She looked offended for some reason.

"Are you mocking us? You should know who we are, and you still chose a lowly nobody. Over us?" The girl shook her head in disdain at Jeff.

"Sorry. And you are?"

"Karline Anas. Daughter of Tyler Anas."

"Ok?" Jeff raised a brow. This girl looked nothing like her brother. "And your position is?"

"An ancient nobility."

"Oookay... I was asking for what you do. Like your role in your family. But Ok..."

"What?" The girl looked even more confused.

"Like, what are you in charge of? Like, what's your responsibility." Jeff asked. He wanted to know if this girl was in charge of anything. Was she important in his dealings with the Anas family?

"What?" The girl looked at Jeff like Jeff was an alien.

"So do you do anything in your day?"

"Why would I need to do anything?"

"Uh Huh..." Jeff slowly nodded.

Turning to Daylor... The dude gave Jeff the same expression. "Why would Karline need a position?"

'Alright. This conversation is not going anywhere.' Jeff cleared his throat. "Good. I'm glad that we could reach an agreement. I'll catch you guys later." Jeff picked up the pace.

In a blink, Jeff had quickly disappeared into the fog.

"Such ignorance and stupidity..." The girl mumbled.

"Well. He is a strange man." Daylor nodded in agreement.

...

A moment later...

In the sanctuary, city hall, 4th floor conference room...

The strongest beings in this city sat around a large round table.

In the SS-rank: Magni, Atlas, Gardener, Telepathy, Oracle.

From the sanctuary: Liam, Jeff.

From the Anas family: Tyler Anas.

There were only 8 people in this room. But everyone here were big figures in this city.

The keyholder was missing for some reason. Seeing this, the three SS-rank guests put on displeased looks.

"I apologize." Liam caught those guys' change of expressions. "But our keyholder is getting old. He is currently in medical care at the moment."

Those three guests nodded at Liam in understanding. Their expressions softened.

"Very well. Now that everyone is here." Tyler Anas stood up. "I will explain why I initiated this meeting."

People looked at Liam. Liam nodded in affirmation. "I believe Mr. Anas will give everyone here a reasonable explanation."

Tyler Anas took in a deep breath. "We wouldn't normally get wild mages involved in this. It's rather embarrassing to be honest."

"But the situation is getting out of our control. And we need your help."

"The servants of the void are plotting something big. If they succeed, we may lose Berrystone city."

"Really?" Atlas leaned back against his chair. "The sanctuary had just cleaned out a den recently."

Tyler Anas' face fell. This family head took a cold glance at Atlas. "Do not question our expertise in this matter. We have dealt with the void for 12,500 years now."

"Detect and eliminate the servants of void. Close void rifts. That is our primary purpose of existence."

"Their activity in Berrystone have ramped up. I believe..." Tyler Anas' expression became serious. "They are going all-in."

"Now before that," Tyler Anas turned to Jeff. "We will need to confine the Void Key first."

"Alright. What do you have to offer?" Jeff asked.

"What do you want?"

"What do you guys have?"

Tyler: ...

Jeff: ...

"Any 10 items from our storage." Tyler offered.

This family head easily guessed Jeff's next question. Without stopping, Tyler added:

"Tablets that generate personal training guides. Able to smoothly bring an E-rank to SSS-rank without glass ceilings. Though, the training may be a few years, or a couple of decades."

"Potions that extends people's lifespan by 10 years. 5 maximum usage per person."

"Protective artifacts that can block out S-rank attacks for 99 minutes straight."

"All the items are about this level. How about it."

"Deal." Jeff nodded.

There wasn't much research value left in the void key anyways. Jeff's staff covered the same functions, and did a better job.

Also, Jeff had absorbed most of the key's void energy already. To Jeff, honestly, the key was just a piece of garbage now.

Jeff extended a hand above the round table.

A black sword popped into thin air.

Clung!

It dropped onto the table.

Seeing this, Tyler Anas froze up for an instance. Wearing a frozen smile, this dude stopped breathing for a moment.