Chapter 85: Cute little puppies
Jaden’s expression hardened upon Maria’s strange reaction. He took a moment and thought.
’Did I say something wrong? Ugh! I don’t want any more attention than I already have... I also obtained those spell books because I helped them contain the damage by the gatebreak... Which means I am already under her attention,’ he finished his thoughts and asked.
"What’s wrong?"
Maria blinked, her expression dumbfounded as she asked
"You want to do lower-ranked missions... to increase your reputation? What’s even the point of doing so when you are going back to the academy next week? You should focus on that instead of doing something like this..."
Jaden listened to her question and nodded. They were all reasonable, meant for his good. He smiled at her and responded softly.
"I think it would be a good practice for me before joining the academy. I don’t have combat experience like others; I swing my sword on instinct and use the spells for most of it."
She agreed to his words with a nod. She had read the report about the faceless ice phantom that had blocked the nightmares from further damaging the eastern outskirts of Ambitus. He was strong, yes, but his strength wasn’t because of practice; it was simply because of his monstrous strength. He killed them—but inefficiently.
"The academy will teach you about all of that; there’s no need for you to do something like that," she added as she pointed at the devouring pups and continued. "You can keep them if you want... consider it as a reward for what you did for others."
She waved a hand, and two white threads flowed from her palm and entered the bodies of the devouring pups. A bright smile appeared on her face as she did so.
After Jamie’s return, she had asked him what had happened within the dream realm. He refused to tell her at first, but after some tough sibling love, he revealed everything in vivid detail.
She had learned about the dreadful Nightshade City, how two of the eight had died, leaving only six; Jaden being the last one to wake up; and what all of them had to do to escape the city. She also learned that Jaden had the most contribution in all of this, even though he woke up last.
Now, she was simply rewarding him for saving not only Jamie but the other four as well.
A thoughtful look appeared on Jaden’s face.
’I can’t push too hard at it... appearing desperate may lead to a bad outcome.’
He turned around with the devouring pups as he spoke. "Then I’ll gratefully accept the reward."
Maria raised an eyebrow and stepped closer to him as she asked. "You could’ve at least acted to deny it a few times."
"If I had done that, you’d just have taken them away," he rolled his eyes while responding.
She chuckled at his words and replied.
"Haha... That’s true."
The duo walked through the hallway and soon parted as they went their own ways. Jaden walked towards his room, while Maria walked towards her mother’s office.
She soon reached the wooden door leading to the office and knocked on the door in a specific rhythm. A few moments passed, and a sound was produced as the door was unlocked.
Clank...
The door creaked as it parted. However, it didn’t lead to any office; instead, it led to a staircase. She turned to face the person who had opened the door.
’Nightblade...’ she thought as she looked at the man, who wore a dark outfit covering the whole of his body, leaving only his eyes for the world to see. The eyes also held a sharp gaze that made one look away.
She stared into his eyes for a moment before nodding and slowly descending the stairs.
Nightblade looked at her with indifference before a soft voice asked him.
"Do you think she is any weaker than you?"
Nightblade nodded his head and spoke in a hoarse voice. "She is not. She is stronger than me... possibly even stronger than every one of us except you."
The hidden figure chuckled as she replied.
"Haha, I agree."
Maria finished descending the staircase and stepped inside a room whose walls were reinforced with rare metal and other hard-to-damage materials. But none of it was the centre of her attention... no, it was the strange gate before her. The door was framed in tall, sleek silver and was made up of blood flowing into a rhythmic spiral.
She stepped near the gate and touched it; the blood moved and covered her body before she disappeared from there.
***
Jaden reached his room and sat down on his bed as he caressed the devouring pups. The reason he wanted to have the devouring pups was not because they were cute...
’It may have been one of the minor reasons but not the actual one,’ he thought as he looked at the message before him.
[Two Skill-bound star beasts have been detected in your proximity.]
As far as Jaden knew about nightmares and star beasts. The star beasts used magic based on instincts, while nightmares used inherent skills. But that was not the case for these little ones... they were star beasts and could use a skill.
He didn’t know how such things were possible, but he did know that they were rare... as the system had never told him about a specific star beast or nightmare before. Till now, Jaden had only captured one nightmare while he had nine star beasts.
"Let’s capture them," He said as he put them on the bed and took out his camera, which was strangely still with him even though he didn’t get his clothes after jumping from the dream realm to the mortal realm. It acted as if it were a part of his soul.
He positioned the camera at them and clicked the shutter button. A message appeared before him.
[Capturing two B-rank Devouring Hounds.]
[Requires: 10 slots.]
[Confirm | Deny]
Jaden finished reading the message and cursed loudly.
"What the fuck?!"