Silas, Ice and Luke walked for minutes until the herds of people began to thin. Soon, all that was left was the three of them on the walkway— miles away from the testing building.
"Ice. That's a nice name." Silas started the conversation, skimming thorough his system screens with his gaze while he did so. He started a stream, just in case something happened.
During the time, there anonymous viewers joined, and one of them left. He turned from left to right, seeing the number of buildings reduce the further down the road they walked.
"My mother loved the winter." Ice said, clasping her hands behind her back. After a few seconds she blinked, then stopped walking, turning around to face the others, "We're here."
Luke stood with his hands folded across his chest, while Silas looked around. After he'd spent some time observing the area, Silas questioned, "What did you bring us here to say?"
"I could only reach the D-Rank during the test." Ice explained, wearing a serious frown on her face, "Since I didn't reach C-Rank, I'll be cut off from the clan unless I bring an ally."
"Why do you need an ally?" Silas asked, his gaze darting from left to right, before they returned to Ice whose eyes brightened up. Seeing the light in her eyes, it made him curious.
"To take control of the clan, what else?" She chuckled, then burst out into a loud laugh, "Once I steal the Arctic Core from the heroes association, he will not be able to stop me."
"An arctic core with the heroes association?" Silas muttered to himself, wondering if it was worth his time. He turned to Luke, "Is that something I have any use for at this stage?"
"It only enhances ice-based skills, my lord. Unless you've learned one of those, it will be completely useless for you." Luke replied honestly, shaking his head, "We can't accept that."
"I thought as much." Silas scoffed, turning to stare at Ice. He stepped forward, groaning in disappointment as he glared in her eyes, "Did you think we would work for you for free?"
"Don't take it like that, Haha." Ice laughed nervously, wiping sweat off her brows with a trembling finger. She cleared her throat, "I'll pay 170, 000 Geo with a 50% down payment."
"Oh, how much is that worth?" Silas turned to Luke, who blinked twice before quickly jumping out of his daze— wide eyed. Seeing that reaction, Silas nodded in understanding.
At this moment, he was poor. Despite his power level, he was basically a newborn in this world. He had no connections, no belongings, no knowledge except for the streaming.
All Silas had now was the empty stream, some gacha coins for gambling and a stick in his inventory. After putting minutes of thought into it, Silas finally decided on what to do.
'I was also waiting to trigger the choice system, but I guess only specific events trigger that.' Silas clicked his tongue, seeing Ice's expression brighten up, "Okay, we'll handle this."
"You'll do no such thing," a loud voice echoed from an alley by the side, and footsteps of heavy boots on the stone pavement followed, until a masked man stood before the calm trio.
——
——
"A-Type?"
Sitting in a massive couch her legs crossed, and a cup of wine in her hand was a young beautiful woman with bright red hair, wearing a provocative purple dress, her gaze lifeless.
She stared out through the massive windows with her dead grey eyes, watching the city unfold beneath her, the metropolis' commotion growing as it reached the rush hour, "I see,"
She turned to the side where a couple of screens were placed, each of them constantly updated with data while she held the phone up to her ear as she took a sip from the cup.
"That was the only A-Type that has appeared in six months." She stood to her feet in a graceful manner, her dress flowing across the glossy tiles, "Try to scout him before them."
She hung up the phone, then sighed. She turned around, raising the cup to her lips to take another sip, "I guess we can't let them poach more strong talents, can we, Matilda?"
Standing by the door with half of her red locks flowing down half of her face, cupping her chest with one hand and pressing the other back against the wall, her eyes glittering.
"Lilia, you should put more trust into your subordinates." Matilda grinned, heaving an icy breath, then raising her head to glare into Lilia's grey eyes, "We will make sure of this."
Lilia scoffed, sweeping her gaze across the room and back to the monitors, "Even with all the heroes we've managed to recruit over the years, we have only seven above B-Type."
The war between the factions of 'good' and 'evil' had endured for years, ever since the first fragment appeared and humanity awakened. At the higher ranks, every man mattered.
"What about your core? I heard that the New Cult have been trying to get their hands on it." Lilia added, turning away from Matilda, her fingers trembling, "Very bold of them."
——
——
Silas frowned, staring the man up and down. He turned to Ice, reading her expressions, then lifted his hand to hold his face, shaking his head in disappointment, "Are you a hero?"
After reading the confusion on Ice's face after seeing that man, that was the conclusion Silas arrived at. The masked man, dressed in a black overcoat with his black mask, nodded.
In the next instant, Silas vanished from his position, appearing in front of the man with a cold gleam in his eyes. The man stared back with the black glasses in his mask for vision.
"You have three seconds to back off," Silas replied, his tone menacing. The masked man only shook his head, then snapped his finger, and Silas who noticed this, tensed his muscles.
His pupils darted to his right, where a massive hammer had formed out of thin air. Silas spun around, his arm — up to his elbow — turning completely metallic and caught it midair.
"This is going to be troublesome," Silas complained, folding the hammer in his fist like a piece of paper, then his eyes snapped to his right, seeing the sharp blades flying at his face.