[ A Low-Class Grade One Underbeast -- Rhinard (No Bloodline) -- has been successfully slain. ]
"Hmm, so the Underbeast is called a Rhinard." Saquin read through the notification.
[ Underessence has been successfully extracted.
Would you like to absorb it?
{ Yes } - { No } ]
"I rather let my wings absorb it."
[ Low-Class Grade One Core -- Wing of the wingless -- upgrade bar increased by 10% ]
[ Wings of the wingless -- Low-Class Grade One (20/100)
Description: A Core item that grants the user flight ability. ]
Saquin could feel the Core strengthen, even though he was not wearing it.
"Hmm, seems that is all." Saquin noticed that there were only two notifications this time. "It seems Cores cannot be obtained from all kills."
Saquin tore his gaze away from the golden screen as he felt someone approach him.
"Hi, I am Zeta." Casel approached with her two teammates, to which Miss Blue Armor introduced herself as soon as she got close.
She had gotten out of the collision a bit disheveled, but her injuries were minor. Her strong body also made sure those injuries were not a hindrance to her movement.
"And, I am Xavier." The snake eyed male introduced.
"Saquin." Saquin nodded at the both of them. Not willing to engage in further conversations with these noblemen, he turned around and started walking.
Zeta and Xavier exchanged looks.
'It is true, Late Arrivals always have their own unique personality.'
The same thought ran through both their heads.
Meanwhile, Saquin had his own thoughts as he restarted his journey.
Earlier.
[
Candidate Casel.
Tattoo: -
Rank: Grade Zero.
]
He had seen an information screen when Casel had popped up in front of him.
Afterwards.
[
Candidate Zeta.
Tattoo: -
Rank: Grade Zero.
]
[
Candidate Xavier.
Tattoo: -
Rank: Grade Zero.
]
'It seems Grade One is not the starting point after all.'
Saquin mulled over the matter.
'That would explain why their Cores seem weaker than mine... Excluding that dagger Casel threw.'
Then, he backtracked.
'That is not right too... They did not use Senar in their fights. I have seen the Captain and other Empowered use it, so I am quite sure they could not use it.'
He paused.
'Or was the quantity just so small I did not notice? Nah, I think there should be more to it. This Grade Zero should most likely be a pseudo grade.'
"Aren't you curious about how far from the base we are?" Casel voice brought him out his thoughts. She had walked up to his side.
"Not really." Saquin replied.
"I thought that would be the case." Casel pouted. "I know even without asking, you should be able to guess this is the last day of Arrival. People of your caliber only appear now."
Saquin turned briefly to look at her, then continued walking without giving a comment.
Casel did not seem to mind this as she continued talking.
"With your strength, you should be the strongest or at the minimum, top three of this location's Trial. So I thought you would be hurrying to the base to rally up a party."
"A party?" Saquin asked, a bit confused at the lady's talk. He could roughly understand what she was saying, but there seems to be an extra underneath her statements. He simply just lacked the context to understand what she was driving at.
"Yes, a party." Casel nodded with a smile, she did not mind Saquin's confused expression. "Sir Saquin would create a party. I can be the first to join."
Now, Saquin could completely confirm that she was definitely hinting at something.
'Ha, this is hard. Miss Margaret said I should never admit to ignorance and instead depend on manipulation to access unknown information.'
He immediately tried thinking through the conversation.
'But, I am not sure about this manipulation thing. I lack too much social knowledge to engage in a normal conversation, talk less of manipulating people into feeding me info.'
Saquin's brain went into overdrive.
'Arghh! I can't think of anything... Let's just do this.'
Saquin abruptly stopped walking.
He turned to face Casel, who had also stopped due to Saquin's sudden action.
"Miss Casel, I do not understand what you are saying. If you have something to tell me, I rather you come out and say so directly." Saquin said to Casel directly. His pitch black eyes were cold and devoid of any stray emotions.
Casel pouted as she feigned anger. "Sir Saquin should not act like you do not understand me."
Silence.
Saquin did not speak nor moved. His eyes peered down at her.
At this point, Casel noticed that she things might not have been as she had thought.
"You really do not know me?" She asked in slight confusion and shock.
"Are you someone I should know?" Saquin tilted his head.
His tone was neutral, but under his gaze, Casel could not help but feel that he was actually saying: 'Who the heck are you to deserve my attention?'
"I am Casel Heinsworth... Prime daughter of the Heinsworth family." Casel said carefully, but with also a hint of pride.
Saquin gaze still maintained the same intensity. To him, he really did not know anything about the family. So, saying knowing the name changed nothing, he was still waiting for her explanation.
To Casel, however, his gaze was saying 'so what?'.
"Erm..." Casel was now confused. She really did not understand how he would not know who she was. Except if he happens to be even more important...
As soon as she thought to that level, she paused.
She then reevaluated the earlier fight scene between him and the Underbeast.
'Wait!'
She carefully moved closer to Saquin.
"Hope you don't mind." She said as she stretched out her hand to touch his clothes. Seeing that he did not react negatively, she went ahead with her action.
Touching the fabric of the cloth, her eyes went wide. "This is not a Core." She muttered, both freaked out and fearfully.
Then her hand slid down towards his black gloves. She felt its material and the latent energy it contained. "No ambient Senar, but still this strong?"
"Ha!" A hiccup rose up in her as she held her mouth in fright and delight. "A Soul-Bound item."
She moved back and dipped into a elegant princess bow. "Casel of Heinsworth greets Your Eminence."
Both Zeta and Xavier at the back, who were observing the interaction since onset, were shell shocked. "Your Eminence?"
"Xavier greets Your Eminence."
"Zeta of Platue greets Your Eminence."
Their voices drifted to Saquin not long after Casel's.
Saquin could feel the puzzle click together in his head.
'First off, they thought I killed the Underbeast not just with my latent strength but also with the help of Grade One Cores. Which would also mean, Cores can somehow be brought from the outside, probably at a price or special condition.'
'I lean more into special conditions, as if it was at a price, Casel's background would have provided her with more than enough Cores. Seeing that she thought she could still recruit me, which was her goal all long, ability to bring Cores in do not represent background alone, but also personal strength.'
'But things changed when she discovered that I did not have a Core but a Soul-Bound. Soul-Bound should not only represent immense personal strength, as its strength scales with the user, but also immense background. To the extent that it is even excusable that I do not know or care a bit about Casel's family.'
'Interesting.'
Saquin processed all the information and arrived at his conclusion almost instantly.
To Casel and Co, he simply replied.
"Okay."
Turned back to the base direction, and kept on walking...
A single thought resounded in his head as he walked further away from the shocked trio.
'The world of Empowered is really interesting.'