After listening to her summary, he realised the Vereenas were interesting, far more interesting when compared to humans, if he were being honest.

Yet, there were also a few details he picked up from her explanation that he found strange. However, he kept them at the back of his mind, deciding to learn more about them during the exploration mission.

For now, getting his own power up was the priority.

Thankfully, he had already made that known to Crimson Sterling, and she had agreed to help him.

Unfortunately, after the meeting with the young alien and the two guardians, she had added yet another condition, to bring along other young hunters as well.

Her excuse and selling point was that she knew he was not the kind to play under others' rules, such was clear from the reports of all the hunters that had raided with him at the Deadlight District, thus sending young hunters with him was her own way of giving him the opportunity to lead.

Under such conditions, he still wanted to refuse.

He would have to be in charge of their safety.

The last time he lost people under his command, and while he tried to play it cool, those deaths had affected him deeply.

That was why he had requested solo raiding, to avoid it.

But seeing as the situation was against him, he accepted.

Crimson happily led him to the inventory she had promised earlier.

The inventory was a sight to behold, truly fitting the nature of the Hunter Association.

It was a massive hall filled with all sorts of high-grade artifacts, both ancient ones like a glowing golden sword and modern ones like a magic gun that amplified fast-range spells and reduced cast time for its user.

In this hall, every item present was exquisite, and their effects were no joke.

Thanks to Inspect, he could easily read their descriptions and learn their true powers.

"Which of them do you want?"

She asked, walking beside him with a faint smile.

"There are so many good items here. It'll take quite a while to find something I like."

Marlon replied as he moved forward, his gaze settling on a gleaming red spear that emitted dense blood energy.

It was placed inside a transparent glass box, displayed in full opulence.

[Blade of the Last Blood King (A-rank)

An ancient relic that landed on Arden during the First Cataclysm and hasn't been claimed yet, as no one possesses the talent to own it.

This relic grants the user a broad understanding of the blood element and increases their attack power by a large margin.]

Surprisingly, a brief history of the weapon was provided alongside its description.

That alone made it stand out to him, as this was the first time he had seen something like that.

"This is a strange weapon."

Crimson arrived beside him and spoke in a calm tone.

She placed her hands against the glass box as if admiring the blade.

"There is no one who has been able to claim it so far. Even my brother, who possesses the strongest blood element affinity in the entire Arden, failed as well."

She explained.

Marlon did not appear as stunned as she had expected.

She turned and observed his expression more closely.

"Do you want to try?"

She could tell from his eyes, the longing directed toward the blade.

It was cool and undeniably badass-looking, after all. Someone as young as him would naturally be drawn to it.

"Yeah… but not because I actually need it. I just want to test my luck."

Marlon shrugged.

Crimson brought out a card from her inventory without hesitation. She slid it across the top of the box, and it opened in a smooth, stylish manner.

The blade lay bare, its already strong blood energy surging even more fiercely.

Marlon reached out and wrapped his hand around its hilt.

The moment he did, the blade released a strange force that sent a throbbing pain through his nervous system, forcing him to withdraw his hand at once.

Crimson smiled wryly at the corner of her lips.

"Don't beat yourself over it. No one will ever be able to claim it in Arden."

She shrugged lightly.

She slid the card over the box again, and it sealed shut.

Marlon did not dwell on it. He was not a sword user, after all.

He quickly shifted his attention elsewhere and scanned the hall once more, his eyes landing on a jet-black gauntlet with dim, multicoloured runic veins etched across its surface.

He used Inspect on it, and his interest was immediately piqued as he stepped toward it.

[Multi-Element Gauntlet (S-rank)

A special glove that amplifies elemental attacks of any kind, affecting skill cast radius, speed, aether consumption, and attack power. Can only be wielded by those who possess all four basic elemental affinities or someone with at least two rare elemental affinities.]

As he examined it more closely, Crimson explained it to him, nearly word for word what the system had already revealed.

"You only possess one rare element. You can't use it, sadly. Though it would definitely suit your fighting style."

She said this because she was unaware of his blood affinity.

So he decided to show her.

He lifted his hand and cast a small wisp of blood magic using Blood Manipulation.

Her eyes widened, and her mouth fell open in response.

"Another rare element? Just what kind of human are you?"

Marlon shrugged. "A special one."

She paused and studied him for a few seconds before shaking her head.

Trying to understand Marlon was just as difficult as trying to understand Stormis.

It was no wonder her brother still believed he was the Originless One, a being destined to conquer the galaxy and the tyranny that voyaged through it when the time came.

She opened the glass box.

Marlon slipped his hands inside and picked up the two gauntlets.

Unlike the sword, they did not reject his touch.

That, however, was not surprising.

The gauntlets could be touched easily, but wielding them was an entirely different matter.

He held them properly and equipped them.

Once on his hands, the dim runic veins flared brightly in three distinct colours, pale green, white, and red, each representing poison, holy, and blood elements respectively.

"Holy magic…"

Her expression froze.

Marlon did not linger to explain.

Instead, his attention was drawn to something else.

An egg.

It was as large as a newborn, its surface covered in thick black scales.

It sat in a neglected corner of the hall, seemingly discarded, as it was not encased in glass like the other artifacts.

[Beast Egg (S-rank) (Unhatched, Damaged): Contains an Elemental War Eagle. Hatching is currently incomplete.]

"An Elemental War Eagle?"

Marlon was perplexed.

Only one of its kind had ever existed in Arden, and it had been tamed by one of the strongest beast tamers in history.

However, during the Lunaris visit twenty years ago, that beast tamer was killed.

Unlike other divine beasts, the Elemental War Eagle did not perish. Instead, it vanished from the public eye and was never seen again, cementing its status as one of the strongest and most unique beasts ever tamed.

Since then, no one had ever been able to sight or tame another.

And yet, here lay an egg that had been cast aside, one that seemingly housed that very same divine beast.

"You're not a beast tamer. Don't even think of taking that with you. And besides, it's damaged. Unless you're as strong as Albert Shakespeare, you won't be able to make it hatch."

Crimson arrived beside him and explained.

Albert Shakespeare was the name of the legendary beast tamer.

"Do you know what kind of beast this egg contains?" Marlon asked.

"The legendary Elemental War Eagle? Of course I know. That's precisely why it's impossible. Eggs are ranked just like artifacts. S-rank eggs require hunters with S-rank, or preferably SS-rank, beast-taming talents. A damaged S-rank egg would require more than an ordinary beast tamer, it would require someone with an EX-rank beast-taming talent, like Albert Shakespeare."

Marlon listened attentively.

Still, his interest did not waver.

"Fine. Since no one can take it, it's technically useless. There's no harm if I take it with me."

"Fine. Do whatever."

Crimson snapped, clearly tired of trying to reason with him.

The two of them continued moving through the hall for another ten minutes.

Marlon found nothing else that he personally needed.

However, he did find a few items that would suit his friends.

Blazing boots that boosted the movement speed of flame-affinity users. Perfect for Ashton who was currently lacking in that area.

And a fine pink B-rank dagger. Feminine and badass. Perfect for Lyra.

Unfortunately, there was no luck finding something for Logan.

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