After Vale gave Mias a little more background knowledge on what was going on and what he'd expect from them, as well as the nature of his dungeon, they exited into the actual Dungeon, and Vale began to show the new Champion around.

The moment Mias' boots crashed into the stone, all the workers stopped for a moment to inspect the new addition to the Legion. Each had a chill split down their spine the moment they laid eyes on their cold, onyx eyes.

Salome, naked and relaxing in the chair, stretched with her arms high above her head.

"That took a little."

Then, she craned her head back, and the moment she spotted Mias, her jaw dropped. In a calm, even tone, the succubus continued:

"Vale… how and why are you calling upon the most problematic people in all of Kaldora?"

Vale stopped and looked over at the short Mias, who ignored the insult…

'I guess no normal person would be of the Demon Class.'

'And someone of the Demon Class would probably be well known… I just hope they don't want to kill each other.'

Vale internally sighed, then said:

"You know I summoned you too, right?"

Salome's eyes narrowed as she hid her body behind the back of the chair and swiftly redressed.

"Case in point."

Mias lightly smirked with amusement plastered all over their face, then asked:

"Do you happen to know where Carver is?"

Salome finished dressing, then started to approach Vale and Mias as she said:

"Dead and gone. What about him?"

Mias shrugged in return with an aloof expression on their face.

"Nothing, just vain curiosity…"

Vale cast an awkward glance at Mias, but he didn't care all too much as long as the two weren't trying to gut each other like Salome and Ximena, or Salome and Awilix, or sometimes Salome and Larry…

'Is Salome the problematic one after all?'

"I don't know what kind of past you two have… but please, let's not try to kill our own anymore. Alright, Salome? I'm thankful you haven't succeeded yet, but let's keep it that way."

Salome shrugged.

"Of course, I don't hate this one nearly as much as the little owl…"

Mias' dark eyes drifted across the cave as wisps of their hair drifted back and forth like smoke.

"The Ice Witch is here?"

Salome sighed.

"Sadly"

Mias looked slightly taken aback as they asked:

"And you two… haven't killed each other?"

"I know, right?! Vale here is a miracle worker who can control decades of hate with his dick! Speaking of that…"

Mias cut the succubus off.

"We did no such thing…"

Then, Mias craned their head toward Vale and added:

"I don't care for the details, but making those two play nice is thoroughly impressive."

Vale sighed.

"I wouldn't say nice. More so… they tolerate one another? In any case, Salome, please brief Mias on all you know about the village. In accordance with his wishes, I will use him to scout the land and gather information. Also, show him around the dungeon."

Salome laughed.

"That is what the bastard does best… I would know. Come, Reaper of Knowledge, I have many tidbits that would interest you. We can talk while we walk."

Mias smiled as they walked toward Salome:

"And I, you. Let's make friends in this new world."

Salome laughed as Mias walked next to her.

"I may think with my lower half sometimes, but I'm not that stupid. I know the death disguised behind your pretty face."

Mias just smiled as he caught up next to Salome, standing a whole head shorter than her. He then replied without seeming offended.

"Smart girl. I see your survival wasn't a fluke after all."

As the two exited the core room, Vale summoned his new Champion's status page.

♥︎♥︎♥︎

Name: [Mias]

Title: [Reaper of Knowledge]

Aspect: [Miasmic Body]

Class: [Demon]

Core Rank: [Nascent] - (0/600)

Loyalty: [50/100]

Traits: [Vendetta] [Ashen Haze] [Nevermore]

♥︎♥︎♥︎

His new Champion… was deadly and sinister.

First, the Aspect.

[Miasmic Body] - [Your existence is fleeting but ever-present as the wind. You are tethered to the world, but also bound to nowhere. A body made of smoke left behind by the fires from the sins of two. Walk this world forever in repentance — forever in a search for a reason never to be made known.]

That made… no sense.

But, from what Vale knew and Mias had told him, Mias' body was made up of materialized and condensed smoke that he could control at will with the help of one of his Traits.

As for his Traits.

[Vendetta] - [Mark a target and chase them to the ends of the universe. Your reward for your persistence shall be the blood you crave. But only one Vendetta may exist at a time. Mark another, and you'll have marked yourself.]

Thankfully, this one was straightforward and easy for Vale to understand…

Mias could mark someone and track them indefinitely; however, they could only swap the target upon the target's death.

'And that poor bastard Carver is marked…'

[Ashen Haze] - [You are their heir of ash. The smolders left behind by a ruined and hated world. Show those who destroyed your home why they should fear the smoke — show the world what smoke signals.]

'Wow…'

'What cringy ass being came up with these descriptions?!'

Vale had already gotten the power explained to him, but if he hadn't, this description would surely not have helped at all.

In fact, this ability was fairly simple. It allowed Mias to control smoke, both mundane smoke and their own body. It seemed pretty straightforward and maybe even weak, but with just a little bit of rumination, Vale knew how deadly such an ability could be.

If Mias so decided, he could transform his body entirely into intangible smoke to dodge any attack as well as travel.

Combining that with his next ability made him the perfect spy…

[Nevermore] - [Once love beheld lost in fire. In the shadows, creep where light awakes. Silence breeds death under the guise of ruin. Hide in death's wake. The tide of calamity once trounced by fate. Die alone. Alone is safe.

Withdraw. Do not love. Do not speak. Do not be seen. If you exist alone, you cannot destroy or be destroyed.

Live, die, nevermore.]

"Yup…"

What dumbass wrote that?! It made little sense at all!

Once again, Vale would have been lost without Mias himself explaining the ability. One that, despite all the roundabout words, had a pretty simple function. Not that the function wasn't fantastic and terrifying.

That being Mias's ability to completely hide his presence at will.

At any moment, Mias could activate it, and Vale would have a tough time spotting him even if he were standing right in his line of sight. And the ability only got more potent the more Aether Mias got.

At some point, Mias would become undetectable without intense concentration.

While at first his abilities may seem weak for someone of Demon Class, they were terrible and insidious — much more terrifying than even Ximena's when all was considered.

After all… Mias didn't really have a weakness other than someone who could attack the soul or Aether directly.

Someone like Salome.

'I wonder if that's why nobody got along with her…'

Salome was simply too terrible a threat for them even to consider her as an ally. However, Vale was going to force them to play nice whether they wanted to or not.

Vale sighed as he summoned the store, and as he feared, saw the prince of the next Champion had ballooned to 80 Satisfaction…

This wouldn't have been too much of a problem, but Mias had already told Vale of his dissatisfaction and unwillingness to participate in any such activities. So the new guy couldn't even help raise more…

***

The rest of the day finished with surprising ease.

Thankfully, Ximena didn't seem to like Mias, but she had no particular reason to hate the guy as she did with Salome.

As for everyone else, all of the workers seemed to be scared to death of the short-stack. Mias's Nevermore ability was unsettling for the little guys because they mainly sensed the world through Aether… and Mias's Aether was being passively hidden. A feat that would only get worse if he activated the ability for real.

In any case, Mias was starting to settle in with the group quite nicely. In fact, the scholar had been learning as much as he could, talking with everyone, and taking a genuine interest in their past. He'd even had lengthy discussions with the warriors and tried talking to the little imps.

While talking with him, his genuine interest in conversation did make him quite likable…

But there was also the opposite effect, where the guy wouldn't leave his target alone, intent on squeezing every last drop of knowledge from their minds. Most just put up with it. The only person who didn't take kindly to Mias was Awilix, who would hiss whenever he got close because he annoyed her.

Other than talking with the others, Mias spent most of his time outside exploring the canyon and preparing to scale the walls.

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