Despite the dizziness brought by exhaustion, once Stormis' dark powers had fully dissipated and he collapsed onto the ground, marking the success of her skill, she ran toward him without considering her own well-being.

She used a large portion of her remaining strength to run and spent another portion to scream out his name, the care of a mother strongly hinted in her voice.

Marlon was nearby.

He gave the mother and son duo some space and simply watched.

"Mom…"

Stormis muttered, his voice lacking both his usual cheerfulness and the fragmented echoes that often accompanied him, leaving only a weak tone fitting his age.

He lifted his hands weakly and gently caressed the face of his lovely mother as the dizziness slowly caught up to him.

Mrs. Victoria held his hands against her face, a relieved smile appearing as she softly asked him to sleep.

The trust and love between the two allowed Stormis to fall asleep quickly.

Only then did Marlon step closer.

"I am not sure I will be able to hold it in any longer,"

she said, before proceeding to tell Marlon the magic code required to open the magic door that led outside this pocket world.

Afterwards, she fell asleep as well.

Marlon quickly commanded one of his clones to carry her while he personally carried Stormis.

The route back to the exit proved fairly easy to find.

After about an hour of walking, they reached the door that separated both realms.

He muttered the words he had just learned, and the door slowly opened, revealing the garden beyond.

They stepped out.

There was no one around to witness the unbelievable phenomenon.

Marlon brought the two of them inside the house, which he had somewhat memorized during the few days he had spent there.

After ensuring that their conditions were stable, he left.

He left behind a few of his clones outside to guard the place, just in case there were people foolish enough to cause trouble.

In the meantime, he had important matters to take care of.

======

"Why the sudden request?"

Inside a neat office, Crimson Sterling asked in a curious tone, her gorgeous red eyes lingering on the handsome black-haired youth seated in front of her.

"I am weak."

Marlon gave a simple response.

"You are weak?"

Crimson found his answer difficult to believe.

Even hunters considered geniuses across the world required more than six months to reach C-rank, with some spending up to a full year.

Yet Marlon had achieved it in less than two months.

Not only that, his power exceeded his rank.

Although officially a C-rank, he could already take down A-rank threats.

According to reports she had heard from other hunters, he possessed the strength to easily subdue hundreds of awakeners and make them cower before him without lifting a finger.

He had even managed to defeat and subdue Lunaris and weaken the young boy with devil-like abilities.

Someone like that describing himself as weak felt unbelievable.

Unless…

Her eyes widened slightly.

"You sparred with Stormis?"

Marlon lifted his gaze to meet hers, a faint trace of confusion appearing on his face.

"So you really did spar with him?"

"Yeah. But how did you guess it? I did not even mention anything related to that."

"It is the only explanation for your sudden change in demeanor,"

she replied.

"Although I have only known you for a short while, I am aware of your ego. It is neither excessive nor arrogant. It is the kind that a peerless genius like yourself would naturally possess.

That ego can only be shaken by someone stronger and more gifted, and in this case, that person is Stormis."

Marlon listened quietly to her explanation.

Am I really that egoistic? he wondered.

As far as he knew, he believed himself to be as humble as one could reasonably be.

Nonetheless, she was correct.

Stormis was an anomaly even among geniuses.

And worst of all, he was younger.

That fact hurt more than it would have if Stormis were the same age as him.

Crimson Sterling observed his expression and smiled faintly.

For reasons she could not quite explain, she found herself liking his character even more.

The few hunters who had sparred with Stormis had all resigned shortly afterward.

Some complained that his power had been spoon-fed to him by Axel Storm.

Others grew envious, and a group of them even made the foolish attempt to take him down while Axel Storm was away. They were slaughtered, and every trace of their existence was completely erased from the system.

Among all of them, the only person who found fault in himself rather than blaming his opponent was Marlon.

"You are not weak,"

she said after the silence that filled the office.

"Stormis is simply a different breed. There are things about him that surpass imagination, and unfortunately, I do not have the authority to divulge any of them."

She continued.

"You could almost say that he is not human at all."

"Yeah, he is different," Marlon replied. "But what about my request?"

Crimson nodded.

She typed several commands into her monitor, causing a new screen to appear. It displayed detailed information regarding locations, ranks, and types of danger zones.

She scanned through the data carefully.

Then, with a simple motion, she printed four files and handed them to Marlon.

Marlon studied the contents.

There were four danger zones, all portal-type and ranked B.

According to the recorded discovery times, they had all appeared less than forty-eight hours ago.

"This is not enough,"

he complained.

"W-what? Those are four B-rank danger zones. Even a party of twenty hunters at your level would struggle to clear them within a week, and that is assuming they survive that long."

She was clearly surprised by his response.

However, Marlon did not retreat from his request.

"I can clear all of these within three days at most. I need enough work to keep me occupied for a full week."

"In three days? How many people are you bringing with you?"

"Is it necessary to bring others? I can handle everything on my own."

That response became the final blow to her composure.

"Marlon, you are young and have a bright future ahead of you. You should not be reckless. Just because you managed to clear C-rank danger zones does not mean B-rank zones will be easy."

"In case you are unaware, B-rank zones are several times more dangerous than C-rank ones. The monsters within them are outright abnormalities, and considering that they are portal-type zones, the environment itself may kill you before you even understand where you are."

She continued speaking for another few minutes, listing every reason he should not attempt it.

Instead of wavering, Marlon's resolve only hardened.

She stared at him in silence for several seconds before letting out a quiet sigh.

Trying to change his mind would be a waste of time, just like with the breakthrough trial, she thought.

Then a realization struck her.

"You went from E-rank to C-rank. What difficulty did you choose for your breakthrough trials?"

She asked.

"After my last breakthrough trial, I received a blessing that allows me to advance through the ranks without undergoing further trials."

He answered, deliberately leaving out the detail that the blessing was only effective up to SS-rank.

"A seamless growth…"

She murmured, though she did not appear as shocked as Marlon had expected.

"Is there a limit to this blessing? Perhaps a future rank that would still require a breakthrough?"

She asked again.

Marlon answered honestly.

"You possess the same blessing as Stormis."

"Oh…"

Marlon muttered softly.

No wonder she was not surprised. It also explained Stormis' unusual growth.

He chose not to pursue the topic further.

Time was something he could not afford to waste.

He pressed his request for additional danger zones more firmly and also asked for several low-to-mid-rank zones for his friends.

After continued persuasion, she finally agreed.

However, she imposed one condition. He had to accompany her to the inventory to collect suitable gear for the mission.

As the two prepared to leave the office, Anna knocked and stepped inside.

She offered Marlon a warm smile before sharing the reason for her visit.

According to her, the representative of the Vereenas Exploration Party had arrived.

Crimson turned to Marlon.

"Perfect timing. Come with me. As the leader of the Arden Team, you are the natural representative, so it would be good for the two of you to become acquainted before the mission."

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