Chapter 26: Battle of Wits!
'... Should I tell him or not?' Darek thought to himself. Making Ken owe him in any way didn't seem that appealing to him currently.
Allowing someone of unknown origins with unknown intentions to get close to you was a big cross in his books.
'Let's go with it.' Darek decided to trust his gut. He had a positive impression of Ken so far, like that of a fellow brethren.
Still, he planned to keep any relationship formed from this very controlled, especially when he didn't know enough.
"The trial is what you should really care about. It puts you in different situations and gives you a goal, and you have to use more than just strength to go through it." Darek started speaking.
Ken nodded.
Indeed, anything called a trial should be something like this. It meant that he had an opportunity to use most of his advantages; it was perfect.
"I'd rather not tell you what the first trial is all about, as that would defy the entire point, nor will I give you advice on how to get through it.... But, if you want me to tell you... the choice remains yours." Darek said this and monitored Ken's entire person, trying to study the most minute of movements.
'Let's see what you do.' Darek had intentionally put a stop to Ken's request and even allowed him a choice, as this would allow him to see more than just telling him everything.
He wasn't like some old master, putting a quiz and being disappointed if Ken chose the wrong choice.
He was just gathering more information about this new addition to his 'known individuals'.
"Anything different about this trial that I should know?" Ken asked.
'Directly skipping over it, he's not giving me the chance.' Darek almost smiled; he didn't know if he was the one leading the conversation or the one led by it.
"..." Thinking for a few seconds, Darek's mind fell back towards something that intrigued him.
"The time. There's a slight difference inside. I don't know how it works, but you don't need to worry about it." Saying this, Darek suddenly realized.
'I got... too comfortable. I gave him advice without even realizing it.' He was way too focused on other things, so it slipped.
This was a major advantage that he just gave. But it wasn't the fact that he gave it to him that hurt; it was the fact that he thought he understood Ken too much, he lowered his defense, and in turn, he lost control over the conversation.
That split second of being comfortable gave Ken enough room to play with him. If things continued like this, and he spent more time with Ken, who knew if he'd become a puppet in his hands? Ken was way too dangerous.
"I see. That helps a lot. Now about the floor part..." Before Ken could continue, Darek looked him in the eyes, with a look of slight grievance.
"It's nothing special, just fighting." With this, he made it clear that he wouldn't be giving any more information.
"Thank you, Darek. I hope we meet again; I'd like to learn more about you." Ken directly spelled before he got up. That last part made Darek grit his teeth.
But Darek didn't wave him off; he just dozed off, lost in thoughts once again.
'He played me, and I lost control over my feelings.' There were two things Darek hated more than anything.
He had been trained since his childhood to be the one having the advantage and to never allow others, especially peers, to gain one over him.
This and many other rules and principles drilled into him, in addition to him being the heir of the organization that taught this, formed something within him that didn't allow for those very same principles to be infringed.
And when they very rarely did, he tended to lose composure.
This definitely wasn't the first time that he met someone who put him in such a state, but whoever did, he put them very high on the list.
But Ken... He was far more dangerous, able to reduce him to such a state in a few seconds.
'Ken... S-rank danger. Extreme caution if ever encountered, minimal chatting if met, and the highest concentration and analysis of every move. Never make him an enemy and if possible, never befriend him.' Note after note was engraved deep into his brain as the side of his eyes focused deeply at Ken's back as if wanting to drill a hole.
Darek tended to only befriend those whom he trusted very much, which only included 3 individuals in his life so far.
And the danger had to be either minimal or beneath A-rank in his internal ranking.
He was never going to give someone who posed an unknown degree of danger to his life and could potentially control him like a puppet that much authority.
He'd rather have him as a very close enemy than a friend, as at least the former had you cautious around them.
Ken, on the other hand, had a very wide grin on his face as he moved towards the Trial gate that had a lot of disciples coming out of it at once with a leaderboard on top of it that counted the number of participants that had won, giving their names right beneath it.
[Trials/800-900]
{1st Trial Participants: 87/Successful: 19, Failed: 68}
{2nd Trial Participants: 13/Successful: 0, Failed: 13}
[<----------Trial-Results---------->]
Daniel Dannister - 1st Place - Rating: C-rank Completion - Time Taken: 17 hours 37 Minutes 55 seconds
Elisa Liza - 2nd Place - Rating: C-rank Completion - Time Taken: 17 hours 37 Minutes 56 seconds
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..
...
[<---------------------------------->]
Ken could care less about the participants coming out and their results; his mind was based on the fact that the people of this world were very much fun to play around with.
Darek, a kid barely in his twenties, was trying to size Ken out; Ken had not seen anything funnier in quite a while now.
He was very amused, and for this very reason he was going to give the kid a big surprise.
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