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Chapter 298: Buying Time from a Devil

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When Gabriel entered the temple, he was greeted by a lot of noise.

Apparently, ‘aside from the items in the altar’, all of the items in the temple, as long as one can get it, can be taken it away.

“R–Siva!” Scion’s voice called out and then she rushed into his chest and laid her face in it. Ever since that kiss back in the castle, she somewhat became more open to her emotions and did not care the least on showing the world her affection.

Siva was the one who became embarrassed for her sake and patted her back before lightly pushing her off to ask her a question.

“What’s with the noise here? And why is Pitou in that exhausted state?”

Pitou, the subject, was in a corner of the temple, eyes closed and seemingly sleeping. It hasn’t been that long since the talk about between him and Gabriel but it seems that more things had happened here than the shouting exchange between them.

Just then, Volt and Thorn’s groups appeared on the two sides of the temple –beaming smiles of satisfaction broadly shining on their faces.

“So?” Siva prompted at Volt.

“No too shabby.” He gave him a thumb’s up.

“It’s a complete sweep. Let’s get out of here.”

Thorn’s suggestion baffled Siva but seeing that they have wide smiles on their faces, he could only guess that they have a plentiful harvest. This trip was not a waste.

“Let’s go.” Siva said and they proceeded to exit the temple. Kathleen had to carry the corpse (Pitou) by herself while pouting at the men.

They didn’t go towards the direction of the snowy path. Instead, they were facing the cliff on the left side of Gabriel.

Eleanor walked over, “Thank you so much for the benevolence you have bestowed on us. I will tell The Oracle of your message.”

Gabriel waved his hand to dismiss her and didn’t speak a word. The other guys also bowed and did not say a word at Gabriel.

Siva was the only one who didn’t.

Not long after, they jumped off the cliff. Siva was the last to jump after bidding Gabriel one last look of resolve. He had sent his message.

Gabriel’s face never showed any expression but it has the same look of dismissal as if saying that he had already done his part. After eyeing the group that’s freefalling one last time, he then turned his back from the cliff and entered the Temple.

………..and not eve a minute passed, he roared:

“I TOLD YOU TO —AAARRGGGHH!! SIVAAAA!!!”

*****

“Hm? Did you guys hear something like a monster roar from above?” Freefalling, Siva flipped and looked at the departing sight of the snowy peak.

Neither silhouette nor any shadow of a monster could be seen chasing them.

On his Auricle, Thorn, who also flipped to look, did a dismissive gesture and replied, “I didn’t hear any roar or anything.”

“I see.”

Their figures freefalling from that height were hid in the canvas of white snow and grey clouds.

Even though they were still far off from the city, their jump was a shortcut that reduced their travel time by a few hours.

One by one, they pulled hoverboards while those who doesn’t have one glided in the air using their flight wings as they couldn’t really fly their way off this mountain’s height… Scion included.

Siva looked at them and felt that he had one less thing to worry about.

“Now that I have these informations… all I need now is just a little bit more time. Perhaps it’s time to see AG.”

******

It was night, a few hours after their meeting with Gabriel.

Rex sat on the sofa, leaning forward, elbows on his knees in front of the metallic ball on top of a small podium in the TV-cabinet in the salas.

There was a cup of coffee in the table in front of him, half full and steaming, but Rex had long lost his mood to drink it all.

Time is running.

He didn’t say a word nor did he do anything and just sat there, staring at the ball, waiting for the person he wanted to talk to right now to make the call. He couldn’t make the call himself even if he wanted to because there was a firewall he can’t crack protecting the contact information.

Thinking about the time when he first conducted a sweep of the house, he felt himself as pathetic.

He recalled how AG seemed to be amused on his actions and it wasn’t long ago that he realized how naïve he thought he was by thinking himself to be a clever a young adult.

But…. that’s not important now.

What’s important is that he seemed to be not that much affected by it. What more, he felt that he had grown up, matured even, because of this realization. He will never underestimate AG again and he will never trust anything he will say.

“Are you waiting for New Year or Christmas?” Rex spoke, glaring at the red lens in the middle of that ball in the TV-cabinet.

He knew AG was looking at him right now. This is the only hidden camera that was obviously not hidden in the house.

Not long after he sat down, he decided to wave his hand on his right side, towards the sensors on the curtain mechanism, and the blinds unfolded from the sides to darken the living area, preventing any eyes that may seem to spy from the neighbors.

The curtains slid down and an incoming prompt for a call notification window popped on his vision.

He accepted the call.

Augustus Laniary, as usual, in his white tuxedo, in a sofa much like his own; legs crossed like a don and his cane in between his feet while his hands relaxedly pressed on the dragon head on its tip…

The man of mysterious investments, the guy who seems to have planned it all; AG sat there with his smiling countenance like the joker who seemed to know and expected everything to end up this way.

His white mask covered the nose area and above, and he wore a gentleman’s top hat, looking like a stage magician back in the early 1920’s.

[email protected] Vide Call…. the wondrous invention that opened up a new era of entertainment in the dawn of the 22nd century… compared to a talk in real person or in a flat screen touch panel of a 21st century smart phone, a [email protected] Video Call like this is at least 80% close to a real rendering of reality; making conversations and conferences in online conference rooms much more… lively.

“Mister Kingsley. Loooooong time no see….”

“…..”

AG tried to be in his usual playful but authoritative front when he threw that greeting, but he was met with a cold glare from Rex right off the bat albeit it didn’t spoil the smile plastered on his face.

“Ho? It seems that you’ve matured for some odd reason.” Although still sounding playful, AG’s tone had a tinge of amused sinister intent on it.

Despite the call being just [email protected], Rex still felt the presence of that ‘Authority’ in his voice and he frowned but never dropped his serious stance.

He couldn’t afford to show his antagonistic heart at this moment. He wasn’t strong enough; at least not just yet.

“I would like to throw in an H-Class Secret.”

“Oh? Now that’s something unexpected.” AG, this time, was honestly surprised. “To throw in one H-Class secret right off the bat…. I wonder what kind of good fortune our dear client had come across on the other side of this universe.”

He had just received his last bargaining chip when he provided that information regarding the secret on how to gain more high-ranking quests and missions; the conditions and requirements, and as well as the possible rewards of such secret and special missions.

And right now, he was going to receive something again… AG was surprised and as well as curious.

But that smile on his masked face doesn’t show any of it. He was really a good poker player.

What happened during this small three weeks that happened since their last meeting? No matter. If this H-Class Secret he was going to receive right now is of quality to him, he would be more than happy to accept it.

After all, these were all part of the plan.

“Tell me then, Mr. Kingsley, what tangible secrets are you able to provide me right now? Before you tell me, though, I want to remind you of what had happened last time you didn’t get the standard of our agreement. There is still ample time left before the time limit we’ve agreed upon. There’s really no need to rush this time. But just reminding you again, if it doesn’t satiate my taste buds, I will add another item on the list.”

AG leaned back to his sofa and pulled his dragon-head cane to rest horizontally on his lap.

“So?”

“No need to wait. I can tell you two secrets right now, if you want.”

Rex’s expression was resolute and he never pulled his eyes away from AG even a single bit of a moment.

These eyes made AG feel fascinated.

A laughter rung on the speakers and made it sound like AG was actually just in front of him.

The arrangement of the surround sound was not like it was 100 years ago.

“Ahaha, how amusing it is. Your eyes, I like it. I like that burning passion and that raging flames of hate that pushes you to move forward without looking back even by just a bit! You’re really the best investment I’ve ever put my money on.”

“Can I begin now?” Rex dismissed the disdainful yet confident tone of AG and gripped his hands tighter, leaning closer to the table in front of him.

AG saw the impatience on Rex’s countenance and his smile broke even wider as he gestured, “Go on then, entertain me.”

Rex didn’t waste time and pulled out a window on his house panel. It was a snap shot of another panel window and he flicked it towards AG.

On AG’s side of the call, he picked up the sent screenshot and saw that it was only a picture of a number….. [1613].

He looked at Rex playfully, “This is?”

“EXP Points.” Rex said and AG’s smile vanished as it was replaced by a seriousness that even he himself did not expect.

“For real? How do you see this? There has been a steady increase of new items and equipments that had [LOCKED] status and abilities on them. I have been informed by my researchers that these locked status and abilities were comparable to a Legendary MOD’s abilities or even better. Ah Mister Kingsley, you know I love surprises. You got my curiosity….. can you tell me the secret now? I promise to assess it as fair to the grade of our agreement as possible.”

It should be noted that in the entire game as of late, the publicly acclaimed strongest Magic is that of a Tier-5… which had the capability to decimate an entire Platoon-worth of forces in an instant.

And in the current game right now, only a handful of people were known to be able to use Tier-5 Magic Spells.

Every player is aware of the struggle in improving the Tier of their Talismans.

One player = 15 accessory slots

Accessory slot = One Talisman or Accessory Item

Magic Spell = a culmination of effect-phenomena birthed from the succession of successfully cast Talisman Effects.

Spell Grade = dependent on Talisman Tier; the higher the Tier, the better the result of the Spell.

Only “Talismans” can store magical effects and only a very few select Accessories store Magical Abilities on them. And to improve a Talisman, you have to combine 10 of the same Talisman-grade in order to get the next grade of the Talisman.

(example: ten Tier-1 Talisman = one Tier-2)

Of course, a spell’s strength and effectiveness increases when more higher-Tier Talismans cast their effects together.

The difficulty of getting the next grade Talisman is like hunting a mature Lapis Lazuli on your own and yet, even if you succeed in the hunt, you still end up missing 99 out of 100 materials needed so you have to repeat the hunt again and again.

Many factors affect why not many players have higher-Tier talismans and that includes rarity of the material(s), competition, difficulty of the hunt for materials, and the lack of powerful people to hunt for the materials itself.

That’s why certain Talismans with particular effects can only either be bought or traded from players or resource warehouses; as oftentimes, there will be players that scours even the deepest and most remote ends of the worlds just to get their hands on these materials… and they would still end up missing a few things even after that.

Upgrading Talismans required a lot of time, effort, and money, not to mention that it has its troubles of having to ask the permission of The Mansions for it to be enchanted in the first place.

Thus, Guilds with specific services are organized by many people for profit and personal needs, and the competition for resources was also high.

Furthermore, because of this problem, demands for MODs are even higher.

MODs don’t require cast time and only needs to cool down before their abilities are used again.

And lately, items and equipments that housed [LOCKED] abilities in them were being discovered and when a few researchers found out that these abilities were as powerful as MODs, these items became a sensational demand that even though there was no way to unlock them right now, it was a fact that something “locked” will eventually be “unlocked” in time.

But that very key itself that he’s been researching for is being presented by Rex Kingsley…..

Augustus Laniary who rarely feels agitated in any and all sorts of events is excited.

Right now, with all the problems and obstacles on his Project Genesis popping out here and there, he rarely had the time to be entertained.

Rex’s timing with this present was superb. He was really pleased by his investment in Rex Kingsley.

“I am 100% sure this is an H-Class GRADE secret and will surely satisfy your demand. But I need to make sure that you will acknowledge it.”

“The demand is there, yes. It is clear. But unless I become aware that it is indeed of quality enough to satisfy my demand, then you can have my word that I will grant one less item on your list.”

Rex frowned. This is really unfair to him. It should be said that this [secret] comes with many factors that eventually traces to him.

One such factor was betrayal of expectations by Gabriel since this information came from him.

Although Gabriel never said anything about him restricting and monopolizing this information, it is still a fact that this valuable information came from him…. and Siva’s righteous ego was screaming to him right now to not divulge the information.

To hell with it…!! My brother is more important than my ego!

He is compromising enough just by telling AG that he owns the secret to solving a power struggle that’s threatening to explode in Terroa but since he was already on the boat, he had no choice but to ride it all the way.

What if the secret to the EXP Points has a great price to pay?

Wouldn’t he get the bitter short end of the stick when that happens?

More importantly, how do you accumulate EXP?

Rex was bitterly weighing the pros and cons in this particular transaction but since he was now face to face with AG, he also has no other choice but to proceed with his plan.

“Tell me now.” Rex said, glaring at AG.

“Do you really want to know my opinion regarding this information?” AG’s reply was hinted with his own ‘intent’. Rex felt his nape numbing and that the hairs on his body rising. He could sense the building irritation on AG’s tone just now.

But Rex braced himself. “Yes. Depending on your answer, I may or may not tell you about the second item I am presenting right now.”

“Ho?” AG sounded amused, as always, but there was also a hint of authority now on his demeanor.

“So, are you going to accept it or not?”

“A strong tone! Hahaha! It seems Mister Kingsley had gained some backbone in this short time that we haven’t talked about the deal between us.”

Rex felt his heart skipped a beat. He could really feel AG’s annoyance rising. “I am treating this deal between us as a loan. And I know that you have my brother’s life on your hand. All I ask is fairness. I am working hard to be able to provide you your demands and while I know that it may seem unfair in your end, it is also not easy on my part. The people I am against are not just a few people anymore. Going after all the secrets is making me clash against the forces that had already established themselves in Terroa. My abilities are limited and since I started later than these organizations, the quest that enabled me to get all these H-Class Intels needed me to join an organization to go against them.”

AG was really smiling in amusement right now.

“So in short, you’re complaining?”

Rex felt choked. “No! I….”

“Mister Kingsley, laws are there to confine gangs and bunch of stupid buffoons inside a corral of a pretentious intellectual world called [Society], and rules are used to establish the domain only those possessing authority and strength to do so have the right to dictate. What is blue from white will be decided by me, not you. I am your employer and I have invested in you to do a simple job in a free and open environment. Is this how employees should be treating their good hearted boss? Or have you forgotten who I am?”

.

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A clear and unbridled threat….

Rex now faces his nemesis in a negotiation!!!

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