Chapter 69: Seven Days Until The Auction Begins

Days before the auction starts — 7.

A full day had passed since I arrived on the second segment, and my day of relaxing was well worth it. My mana had fully recovered, and my Starlight had mostly recovered; as always, it took a lot longer to recover it, but I doubted I would need to use any meaningful amount of it for a while.

(" Did you enjoy your day off? ”)

That I did.

(" Was it worth delaying your operation by a day? ”)

Maybe not, but it is also true that my time on the third segment didn’t amount to much. So, I don’t think a moment of respite will harm my movements much.

My main goal was now to figure out a way to get to the first segment, which would be a much harder task than going from the third to the second segment. Trying a reattempt at sneaking up an elevator would most likely end in failure. There were only ten elevators between the second and first segments, and each and every one was under very heavy security. 

The side goal was also the same; keeping my eye open for any Dominous Hood movement. Though now, I wasn’t going to try that hard to find them. During my extremely unsuccessful attempts on the third segment, I wasn’t too optimistic that I would find any traces of them in the second segment. However, unlike the third segment, I could use [Star Mapping] here, but there was still the issue of not knowing what to look for. Because of that, I found the better strategy was to prepare for their appearance instead of trying to find them in the cracks. 

Dominous Hood was an organisation that could be anywhere, and sadly, anyone could be a member. So, all I could do was keep my eyes open.

As I was planning out my next steps. Jack arrived back again in the back alley where I was resting. He disappointedly muttered, “And you are still here…” He sighed very disappointedly.

I waved. “Good to see you too.”

Jack left before it got too late. When he left, I could tell he was very hopeful that I wouldn’t be here by the time he came back here, but he was too anxious and returned too soon. Maybe in an hour or even two, I would’ve been gone.

He deeply sighed at my response and looked around for a spot to sit down.

Before he did, I said to him, “So is your vocation water loner or something?”

His head snapped to look at me. “What?” He just looked offended, confused, and embarrassed. 

“I mean, you clearly have no friends–you came here probably after work, and now that it is the weekend, the first thing you did was come here–and I can feel the water energy being released from your glasses. I mean, you could pay someone to do that, but just changing the settings to blue and using normal mana would’ve worked.”

He ignored the first part and focused on the fact about his glasses. “Wait really?”

“You didn’t know?”

He broke eye contact with my mask. “...”

I pushed the conversation forward. “You didn’t read it? It’s completely online.”

“...I didn’t think it was necessary.”

I sighed. “That’s a fine way to think, but at least figure out how to use the stuff you pick up.”

He embarrassingly sat down and tried not to look at me. Jack took out his phone and began to swipe through apps to distract himself.

(" Are you going to get up now? ”)

Yes, but why have you been so pushy recently?

(" I’m just excited to watch how all the balls in play will crash into each other ”)

Sigh… How much do you know this time?

(" Not much. I don’t know where people are, or what people are doing. Remember, my influence doesn’t exert far from you ”)

You can still see things a pretty good distance away. 

(" It might seem like a good distance for you, but for me, it’s barely anything ”)

Well, if you notice anything, can you let me know?

(" Maybe, but likely ”)

Can’t you give me a solid answer?

(" Perhaps ”)

Sigh… 

With another useless chat with Espr done, it was time to leave.

I stood up and said goodbye to my one-day roommate, “Take care, Jack. Try not to get into too much trouble.”

He sighed in relief. “I should say that to you; you're a hunter after all.”

I laughed. “Another tip, people whose job involves danger are usually the most sensitive to trouble. I’ll be fine; I will be the last one to die.”

I jumped out of the hole and swung my body on the corner of a roof. The moment I jumped and began to parkour the alleys and roofs of this fine residential area, Espoiramissa said. 

(" What a rudely cowardly boy ”)

Can’t blame the kid. Not everyone looks up to hunters as a cool profession. Some just see it as a way to die faster. 

(" Correct, but not what I was referring to ”)

What?

(" People’s skills tell a lot about a person if you know what to look for anyway. And that boy has gained some interesting skills for sure, cowardly and prideful ones; he has potential but will die before anything becomes of it ”)

That's…  certainly something.

I’m not exactly sure what Espr saw to make them go on this rant. In truth, even now, I didn’t know much about Espoiramissa. I knew the basics of how they acted after spending over a year with them, but there was still a lot I didn’t know about them–not even including their abilities and influence in that statement.

Noting my reaction, Espoiramissa continued.

(" My Cel, I love watching your growth. Because you managed to catch my interest, you have potential, a ferocity, and a desire that won’t keep you done. I’ve seen people with greater potential than you, but you easily surpass them in my book. I want you to belong to me, more than you already do, that’s not a luxury I give to others. I want to see you reach your peak ”)

I don’t belong to you, the skill won’t win, you know that.

(" No Ceella, you belonged to me well before that ”)

Espoiramissa’s voice wasn’t any more ominous than it normally was, but their pure confidence still creeped me out. 

Espoiramissa didn’t talk anymore for a moment, and I kept on moving.

Then they spoke again, completely discarding the previous topic.

(" So any plans yet for reaching the top segment? ”)

I crouched on top of a building that hung below another, I saw the flat city going for over tens of thousands of kilometres. I had no interest in questioning Espr’s words or actions, so I just answered normally.

A few, but I will need to scope the area out a lot more.

(" You think you will need to take a ship to reach the first ”)

I paused for a moment before releasing a loud sigh. I needed to look around first, but climbing up didn’t seem like it would be an option this time.

I might have to.

Espoiramissa responded happily.

(" Perfect ”)