Wraith

"Since we've reached an agreement and accepted the deposit, it's time to be honest. Let me introduce myself first. Luo Luoji, a Guardian who has opened the 'Qi and Blood' Inner Palace and condensed its core. I chose 'Endurance' for my second Inner Palace. Though I haven't condensed its core yet, it's nearly fully opened. Within half a year, I'll be able to try taking a potion to condense my second core. My Bloodline Power has awakened—it's Skin of Steel."

After calming himself down, Luo Luoji began negotiating with the other side with his usual businesslike expression. Clearly, neither the beautiful knight who had been spacing out nor the frail Mage Apprentice was good at socializing, while Axe Man looked like an unreliable clown.

Thus, all communication between the two sides was left to Blue-haired Aide, who clearly looked down on them somewhat.

"Oh~ A late-stage One-Star Guardian, and your Bloodline Power has awakened too. Your bloodline is rather ordinary, but it's still practical.

We're all from Dream Island. You probably guessed as much already. My name is Aide, a Three-Star Professional Rank 'Guardian.' I've condensed cores in the Qi and Blood, Endurance, and Strength Inner Palaces. My bloodline hasn't awakened yet, but I carry an advanced bloodline, so awakening it is far more difficult than it was for you. I estimate I won't be able to attempt it successfully until Six Star.

That guy carrying the axe is Ye Man. He may not look reliable, but he's also a Three-Star Professional Rank 'Warrior.' He's never mentioned his bloodline, so he's probably in a similar situation to me. That fellow is Dean, a Ninth Grade Mage Apprentice. His talent is passable—barely decent, really—and he has promising prospects. He also carries all sorts of communal casting materials assigned for this mission. Given enough preparation time, his attack power should be the strongest among us.

As for this beautiful lady, she has the greatest overall strength among us. Aitiya, a Three-Star Professional Rank Special Profession 'Paladin.' She has condensed three cores in Endurance, Strength, and Perception, as well as the core of the Light Star Palace. She has also mastered Blessing and Aura. She is undoubtedly the soul of our group.

As for our academy's original assessment mission, the resident mage of Stanrosai City, Lord Roland, recently discovered abnormalities in the movement patterns of the Undead in this desert. That was why he notified his friend at Dream Island Academy, Teacher Pusang, the mentor leading this mission..."

Although Aide kept emphasizing his advanced bloodline to flaunt his superiority, his attitude this time was not overly arrogant. When he introduced Aitiya at the end, he could not hide the look of admiration that flashed through his eyes. After roughly introducing everyone, he also stressed the purpose and mission of their journey.

But on closer thought, apart from information such as the types of Inner Palaces they had opened—which could gradually be observed through battle anyway—he had merely glossed over things like skills and abilities without explaining them in detail. There was still a basic layer of wariness and distance between both sides.

After speaking, Aide generously gave the hired group enough time and space to digest the information and discuss it among themselves.

When Aide introduced Aitiya, Xuan Ye took the chance to steal several more glances at her. Beautiful women really were pleasing to the eye, but what Xuan Ye cared about most was her profession.

Paladin! She possessed the abilities of a knight while also condensing the core of the 'Light' Star Palace! It was a Special Profession that practiced Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts! Similar to the path he wanted to take in the future!

In terms of absolute strength, Special Professions might not necessarily surpass basic professions such as Warriors and Knights in direct combat, but their range was much broader and their adaptability much stronger! Their methods were diverse!

During the days he had spent traveling with them, Xuan Ye had already learned that Temple Knights and Paladins were quite similar. Both were knights who had opened the Light Star Palace.

But Temple Knights gained the power of their Star Palace through Temple blessings based on devout faith. It was like feedback from making a wish. They only condensed illusory cores, and their future progress depended on their relationship of faith with the Temple. Paladins, however, solidly condensed physical cores by themselves. The difficulty was undoubtedly much greater, but they were also far freer and did not need to be bound by a Temple. Of course, they also relied much more heavily on talent...

Looking at her silver skirt armor, the magnificent Heavy Shield on her left arm that was nearly as tall as she was and wildly disproportionate to her frame, and the two-handed Greatsword in her right hand planted upside down into the ground, Xuan Ye could not help clicking his tongue.

From the looks of it, she used that two-handed Greatsword with one hand. Her slender frame gave no hint of such strength. She truly deserved to be a knight who had chosen the Endurance Inner Palace as her first Professional Core. She could use equipment of such weight for long periods.

Other professions could probably swing it too, but they could not keep it up for long. Tsk, tsk~ And with that breastplate over her chest, it must have flattened her breasts.

Then, perhaps because Xuan Ye's gaze had become too obvious, Aitiya, who had shown no reaction until then, turned and swept her eyes over him. Those ruby-like, pure eyes made Xuan Ye's heart pound.

Eh? That icy little girl actually looked at me. Could she think I'm special? Could she be curious about me? Could she be interested in me... Damn it, the three great delusions of life. Get lost!

Shaking his head and throwing those unhealthy fantasies out of his mind, Xuan Ye truly realized the importance of getting vaccinated beforehand. If the bloody lesson from Potion Bitch had not constantly reminded him, facing a girl of this caliber would have made it far too easy to let his thoughts run wild.

"Hmph! What an impudent brat. He has no manners at all."

Seeing Xuan Ye stare so rudely at the goddess of his dreams, Aide immediately flew into a rage. The contempt he had once tried to conceal was now completely undisguised.

That lofty, disdainful attitude irritated Xuan Ye as well. But the gap in strength between them was simply too great, so he forcibly swallowed his anger. He merely snorted and stepped away, moving closer to Luo Luoji.

"Ahem~, kid, she may be pretty, but don't keep staring at her. It's very rude."

Seeing Xuan Ye's completely unconcealed gaze aimed at the other woman's chest, as well as Blue-haired Aide's warning, Luo Luoji lightly bumped him and lowered his voice. This was a rare major mission; they could not let this hotheaded kid ruin it.

"Look at how dazed she is. She was probably looking back at the scenery again. If that bastard hadn't said anything, she definitely wouldn't have noticed us."

Xuan Ye lowered his voice as well, answering indifferently. She had glanced at him, yes, but she had not shown any reaction. That blue-haired guy, on the other hand, looked like someone had stepped on his tail.

Hmph, you'd been fawning over her the whole way, and she never even acknowledged you. Yet you still acted like some flower-protecting guardian. Was no one even allowed to look at her? He had only been curious about her Paladin profession, but now he was going to look all he wanted.

Behind their backs, Xuan Ye secretly made a contemptuous face at Aide to vent his frustration. Beep~

"Even so, be more careful."

Luo Luoji seemed rather helpless toward this kid he had picked up.

"Relax. I'm only curious about Paladins. I plan to pursue a Special Profession in the future too."

Xuan Ye spoke with great certainty, making no attempt to conceal his goal or ambition.

What had just happened also made him understand that if he wanted others to respect him, he needed sufficient strength. If he had already broken through to Professional Rank, then even if the other party had objections, he would not dare express them so recklessly!

"A Special Profession? Pfft. I'd be satisfied just being selected as a Temple Guardian Knight of the Woya Temple. That damned old man actually said I damaged the Temple's image. What's wrong with men being a little stronger?"

Hearing Xuan Ye's goal, Luo Luoji seemed to have been reminded of some painful past. He muttered to himself, causing Xuan Ye to look up at the unusually burly man and strongly agree with what that old man had said.

Forcing himself to resist the urge to make a few cutting remarks, Xuan Ye quickly changed the subject to avoid continuing down that path.

"But Paladins really are impressive. That delicate, dainty beauty can actually use such heavy equipment. Beneath the appearance of a goddess lies the heart of a tough woman. Hehe, even her chest has been flattened."

By the end, Xuan Ye was clearly gloating a little. Fine, he had held back from poking Luo Luoji's wound, but he still could not resist the temptation to be sharp-tongued.

Though Reizel did not have a term like "tough woman," after Xuan Ye pieced it together, its obvious literal meaning allowed Luo Luoji to understand it quickly after a brief pause. Simple and easy to understand.

But Luo Luoji's expression soon changed. Seeing his constipated look, Xuan Ye felt somewhat puzzled. Just as his confusion began to rise—

He heard Blue-haired Aide's furious shout.

"You're courting death, brat!"

Oh no, he heard that!

Xuan Ye had not expected Blue-haired Aide to be so shameless as to focus his attention on their side and eavesdrop. Otherwise, given their low voices and the distance between them, even a Professional Rank expert should not have been able to hear them!

And this guy was actually so unable to restrain himself! They still needed Xuan Ye's group to help with the mission!

A Three-Star Professional Expert was absolutely not someone Xuan Ye could handle right now! And he was attacking from behind! There was no time to activate his Bloodline Power! Even Luo Luoji would not be able to protect him!

"Hmph! Do you no longer need our help with the mission? And what kind of damned etiquette is eavesdropping on our conversation?"

Luo Luoji displayed the bearing of a leader at this moment, preparing to forcibly intervene and protect Xuan Ye. After all, he and Blue-haired Aide were both Guardians. They both had outstanding defense but average offense. If they fought, he could still block him.

But then Luo Luoji's expression turned rather strange, and he withdrew the movement he had been about to make.

Before Xuan Ye could even turn around to defend himself, he felt a chill atop his head. At the same time, a muffled groan and the sound of something striking the ground came from behind him.

Then clumps of black hair drifted down before his eyes. Eh~, black hair. Aside from himself, only Ye Man had black hair here.

He stared blankly at the falling hair, then instinctively reached up and slowly touched the top of his head. The smooth, peculiar sensation felt silky beneath his fingers.

The entire ring around the top of his head had become completely bald, while the hair around the sides had barely changed. He now had the look of a balding middle-aged man. Uh, though combined with his young, tender face, he looked more like a Kappa...

That bastard! He actually humiliated me like this!

Still, for an enraged Three-Star Professional Expert to cause only this much harm meant he had shown restraint. Xuan Ye had not expected that he would need the man's mercy just to keep his life.

What a disgrace!

He had actually turned his back on someone hostile toward him and stronger than him!

Was this the rule of survival in Reizel's wilderness?

He had not noticed it while traveling with the larger group before, but now he realized just how terrifyingly lacking his wilderness experience was! Whether regarding the environment or other people!

He would remember this lesson! He would even thank him for showing mercy and teaching him this lesson!

If he ever fell into Xuan Ye's hands next time, Xuan Ye would certainly spare him once too!

Taking a deep breath, Xuan Ye clenched his fists. His thirst for power grew even stronger. Without strength, he could not even control his own life and death!

Xuan Ye did not want to turn around. He did not want to accept the other party's charity and humiliation. He wanted to preserve the last shred of his dignity. But at that moment, Aide's somewhat heavy and hoarse voice sounded behind him.

"A-Aitiya, junior sister, y-you accidentally hurt me. I could have handled something so trivial for you. Why did you have to personally dirty your hands..."

Realizing that things were somewhat different from what he had imagined, Xuan Ye finally turned around to see what had happened. He found Aide weakly climbing up from the sand, while the obvious trail carved into the sand where he had landed showed that he seemed to have been sent flying.

Meanwhile, the beautiful knight who had been spacing out all along was wiping the two-handed Greatsword that was completely disproportionate to her body. Several strands of black hair still clung to its blade.

Uh, so she had been the one who acted just now? And what was with Aide? Had this Young Lady sent him flying?

"You should thank her. She is a kind and compassionate young knight."

Luo Luoji patted Xuan Ye's smooth scalp and spoke with emotion. Judging from Aide's attack just now, even if Luo Luoji had blocked it, this kid's body would definitely have been severely injured. Yet that young knight had unexpectedly intervened.

She used that terrifying two-handed sword to shave a circle across Xuan Ye's head, then casually backhanded Aide away. Even though Aide was a Three-Star Guardian with astonishing defense, that strike still left him in a thoroughly miserable state.