Bri stares down at the crimson daggers in my hands, then brings her gaze up to my eyes.

“Your sword is an evolution-type weapon, I’m sure you’ve noticed its stat growth by now.”

I nod as she continues.

“Well, these blades have an evolution element to them as well. The only difference is, they’re a fusion-type weapon too.”

I look at Bri with a blank stare.

“A- a fusion-type weapon means… what exactly?”

“It depends. The fact that they can evolve means their fusion ability may change in the future too.”

“….”

“Try pressing both of your daggers together.”

I do as she says, bringing the two slightly glowing blades together in front of my chest.

The hum from earlier returns, and begins to grow louder the closer the two daggers get to each other. Once less than 5cm apart, I feel a strong resistance in between the weapons.

Dense pockets of air begin to flow out of the blades, immediately filling the room with violent gusts of wind.

Bri speaks up grinning ear to ear.

“Don’t worry about my office, keep going.”

I gulp, then continue doing as she says. I focus my mana into the two blades while activating my own Wind Summoning skill along with my All-Seeing Eye to track the mana in the room much easier.

*Clink*

The moment I do, the two daggers calm down and the wind comes to a standstill as both blades hit each other with a light metallic ring.

My eyes widen as I watch the two blades merge into one….

The white light around them becomes much brighter, as a heavy red dagger falls into my open palms. Bri lets out a laugh.

“Well, to be honest, I didn’t expect you to control it that well on your first try. Now, try to separate them.”

I stare at the single dagger, concentrating on the odd flow of energy inside it. While gripping its handle tight, I force a large amount of mana and wind magic into the blade again while picturing it split in two in my mind’s eye.

The blade begins to glow bright white and is followed by a flash of light and a mild gust of wind. The blade comes apart into two shining red daggers again. I nod slowly while twirling the pair around my fingers.

“Another fine piece of art you’ve made Bri, thanks.”

She smiles.

“The pleasure is all mine, I’m glad we could make a deal today. You know I’m always here to do business with you.”

I smirk and give her a firm nod.

“Good. I’ll probably be back soon-”

I turn to leave, but a question has been eating away at the back of my mind… I decide to speak up.

“Hey- uh- one last thing actually. There are Demon Cores… right. Have you ever seen or heard of a dungeon core or a labyrinth core? Or uhh- something resembling a large egg-shared crystal?”

Bri looks at me with a confused stare.

“A dungeon core?”

She thinks for a moment while placing both hands on her hips and staring up at the ceiling.

“I can’t say I have. Usually, we refer to the Demon Cores as Dungeon Cores. If you’re thinking of something else then I’m not exactly su-“

“Okay, got it. Just wondering, that’s all.”

I turn to leave for real this time, Bri is left standing there with a puzzled look on her face but speaks up as I go.

“Well, I’ll do some digging. Maybe I can find something similar to what you’re describing next time we meet. Anyways, play nice with my brother today, I’m sure in time you two will get along.”

I carefully place my new blades into my item storage and raise my right hand to wave as I walk down the spiral staircase to the lowest floor. While doing so, I switch my long sword into my item box.

The long walk into the center of town toward the Hunters Association HQ begins.

I don’t think of much on my way over, there isn’t really much to think about after all. I’ll be attending this meeting whether I like it or not.

Working for the Association wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world if it was chosen by my own free will, it’s just that comment about being their lab rat that Rodrigo brought up earlier… It still bugs me.

The sun is high in the sky, it’s almost noon.

My walk into town seems to go by very quickly. Although it took well over half an hour to get here, I’ve been daydreaming the whole way. I look straight up at the towering Hunters Association building and let out a sigh. A woman’s voice greets me as the sliding glass doors automatically open upon my arrival.

“Welcome to the Vice Region Hunter’s HQ, how can I help you today sir?”

“I’d like to pick up my C-Class license, I passed the exam yesterday. Plus, I have a meeting with-“

She cuts me off with a bright smile.

“Oh, so you’re Jay. Welcome, welcome. Please, come this way!”

I’m escorted inside without another word. The lobby is rather crowded today. There are at least 30 hunters with Association uniforms on, beside them, there are close to 20 men in suits. They’re all sharing small talk conversations, seemingly waiting for something.

Maybe it’s the event Abby was talking about last night? They could be having the rank-up celebration today, that would make sense.

The woman at the door leads me through the crowded lobby and over to the front desk where I see Rodrigo in a fresh new red suit. This one has a few black accents on the pockets and collar. The moment he see’s me, the A-Class waves.

“I’ll take him from here, thank you very much Ms.”

She bows and turns to leave the moment he opens his mouth.

“Certainly, he’s all yours, sir.”

With that, she turns to make her way back to the front doors. I open my mouth to speak, but Rodrigo is already walking toward the elevator at the back of the room.

“Come on, let’s get this over with.”

I swallow hard and follow without saying a word.

The elevator doors open moments later and we both walk inside. The red-suited man clicks the penthouse button at the top of the mana-powered selection menu and we wait for the doors to close.

Rodrigo speaks as it clicks closed.

“You know, I had a similar meeting to this when I was 18.”

“…”

“The day the Association found out I had a Respawn skill… That’s the day my contract started.”

I nod slowly, but still keep my eyes on the floor as the elevator begins to move upwards. He continues.

“I didn’t have much of a choice, I’ve been working for the Association for 11 years now.”

“…”

“Recently, things have been pretty different around here. Not in the Vice Region specifically, I usually only come back here to check on Bri… but I assumed it’s been pretty bad all over.”

I look up at him.

“What do you mean things have been different? Plus, why are you telling me all of this?”

He sighs.

“All over the country, there’s been more surges this year than I’ve ever seen in my life. They keep occurring with less time in between. Their origins seem to be the Dark Continent, but no one wants to admit it.”

I nod as he continues.

“The only reason I’m telling you this is because they’re most likely recruiting you to farm resources. Either outside the country or maybe in the city’s labyrinth, there’s no telling what exactly the higher-ups are thinking sometimes. All I know is they’ve been scouting unique combat-types more and more recently, giving high rewards to any Association members that can give them leads. That’s why I put your name on the list.”

“And….?”

“Well… It seems like I may have overreacted earlier. If my sister has grown a liking to you, then you’re an ally to me as well. My advice for this meeting is…”

“….”

“Stand out as little as possible. The less they see you as an asset, the less strict your contract will be. Don’t come off as special, and you’ll be offered the best deal. Trust me.”

I stare at the floor, taking in his advice as the doors to the elevator open and we arrive at the top floor of the Association’s tower.

The hum of mana shields fills all my senses as I’m almost blinded by the overwhelmingly white walls of the room in front of me. A deep, wise voice rings out as my eyes adjust.

I see an old man with long grey hair tied back in a man bun. His hands are clasped together with too many gold rings to count on top of the wooden desk he sits behind. Wrinkles fill the elder’s face, but he shows off his pearly whites with a professional smile.

“Welcome, welcome. Nice to see you again Rodrigo.”

As we both walk forward, the old man speaks up again.

“This must be Jay, nice to meet you.”

He closes his eyes, smiling with a closed mouth, nodding, and motioning for us to sit in the two comfortable-looking chairs in front of him.

The room around us is bare. The white walls connect with the white ceiling above, and there isn’t even a single painting or shelf to give my poor eyes a rest.

The only break from the blinding white light is the full wall of glass behind the old man at his desk. It may be an odd setup, but It really is an incredible view of the entire city.

As the two of us sit down, I activate conceal to prepare my status along with inspect and Appraisal to check out the man running this get-together.

_____________________

[Lv. 731]

Active Items:

[Ring of Eternal Protection] +150% Defense

[Ring of Eternal Protection] +150% Defense

[Ring of Eternal Protection] +150% Defense

[Ring of Eternal Protection] +150% Defense

[Ring of Eternal Protection] +150% Defense

[Ring of Eternal Protection] +150% Defense

[Scale of The Elder Dragon] +180% Magic Resistance

Active Skills:

Extreme Strength [Legendary Grade]

Extreme Speed [Legendary Grade]

Appraisal [Special Grade]

Stealth [Special Grade]

_____________________

I let out a gasp, then cover it up with a light cough as my eyes open wide to take in this old man’s stats…

He continues to smile as we seat ourselves, then starts off with an introduction.

“My name is Brutus C. Matthews. I’m the Vice Region’s Head Director for the Hunters Association. Let us begin our meeting. The main topic today is Jay’s new contract.”