The Discarded Son's Skill Market

"Do you want to go hunt a Rank D beast with the most skilled man at the Academy of the Awakened?" he asked with a chuckle.

Those words were still echoing in Alice’s mind... somehow, she felt encouraged.

The tension in the air was almost palpable. Zaid, wearing his Gio mask, gripped his two curved daggers tightly, while Alice stood beside him, her scepter glowing with contained energy after she’d recovered from the electric shock.

A few meters away, the crash of snapping branches and a deep, guttural roar heralded the arrival of imminent danger.

The Forged Iron Mutant Gorilla emerged from the dark underbrush, its bloodshot eyes immediately locking onto its true target: Zaid.

The beast, though dangerously close to its limit and with barely a fraction of its initial vitality remaining, was still a deadly, deadly beast driven by the frenzy of madness its ability bestowed upon it.

Alice frowned. "I’ll say it again—I don’t understand why you want to fight that. It’s a Rank D beast, Zaid. We’re not weak among Rank Fs, but against a Rank D, we’re in serious danger."

Zaid smiled. "I have a little surprise... you’ll understand it soon enough." He seemed confident. Alice felt she had nothing to worry about because he had everything under control... even though she didn’t understand what gave her that feeling.

The battle began with a burst of speed. Zaid vanished into a blue blur, using [Dagger Mastery] to dodge a brutal swipe from the gorilla that shattered the rocks behind him.

With millimeter-precise movements and thanks to his powerful S-Rank sense, he made small cuts at the monster’s joints to throw it off balance, while Alice unleashed bursts of energy from the rear, striking directly at the weak spot that the confusion potion and previous battles had exposed.

The gorilla roared, swinging its enormous arms in a radius of mass destruction. The shockwave from its blows sent up clouds of dust and dirt that partially blinded them.

Just then, a small shadow flitted past Zaid’s back and vanished into the dust...

Zaid’s mind raced, calculating the exact timing and type of attack he needed to end this fight quickly; the atmosphere shifted abruptly.

A suffocating, heavy pressure swept through the forest, freezing both of them in their tracks.

It didn’t come from the gorilla.

Suddenly, the dust settled, and various shadows appeared on the ground, some standing atop trees.

"It seems the little one didn’t manage to escape despite using alchemy tactics," a deep voice laughed from among the crowd of shadows.

From the surrounding shadows, a dozen armed figures began to materialize. They wore dark robes and had something distinctive red on their arms... Zaid hadn’t seen them before, but just one glance was enough for him to realize they were subordinates of that Red Lord.

They covered every possible escape route, so Zaid and Alice frowned before standing back-to-back.

The gorilla, disoriented by the new presences and such intense murderous intent, roared and charged blindly at Zaid...

Then an explosion occurred as a result of Zaid’s hand movement. The dust swirled until it became so thick that it even interfered with the senses of those around them.

Zaid stepped between the gorilla’s legs and knocked it to the ground. At the same time, before Alice’s astonished eyes, Valia appeared from behind in her kitten form like a shadow and leaped onto the gorilla, delivering a powerful blow.

The system message appeared immediately, but Zaid paid it no attention whatsoever. He grabbed a startled Alice and pulled her away from there.

Right where she had been standing just a moment earlier, a dagger plunged into the ground.

’What terrifying accuracy.’

If he hadn’t moved her out of the way, that dagger would have split her head in half. Fortunately, he acted quickly.

He didn’t waste another second wondering whether the gorilla had breathed his last or not. He cursed under his breath when he realized they were surrounded, but immediately began to flee.

Fortunately, he had an enormous reserve of energy within him, and thanks to Valia, it was even greater. He relied on his senses to escape; he couldn’t get into a fight with these guys right now.

However, the weapons followed them closely, forcing them to dodge those attacks over and over again.

The man who appeared to be the leader looked at the dust cloud and then at the two kids running away. "Isn’t that bastard monkey coming out?"

They didn’t want to get into trouble with such a troublesome beast, so they planned to wait for it to calm down before killing it.

"Keep an eye on that guy. Then join us." The leader called out to several of his allies, and they ran after Zaid and Alice.

"Whether alive, dead, whole, or in pieces, bring them back. That girl is very important to our plans, and that bastard is just courting death." The man ordered, also instructing the young men to stay behind and watch the gorilla’s exit.

His subordinates nodded...

They were powerful, but even though Zaid and Alice tried to flee while launching counterattacks to shake off their enemies, they ended up failing spectacularly when faced with their enemies’ overwhelming offensive force.

They were barely Rank F. Although they managed to flee a little farther, they ended up trapped, back-to-back, once again, surrounded and alone.

"Do you think you could escape? Heh, it seems the lower Ranks these days overestimate themselves far too much," the boss sneered, glancing at the masked man.

"You’re an interesting one. You seem like a Rank F, but you’re clearly not. You could be Rank E, but my instincts tell me you’re not... I wouldn’t even know if you’re a Rank D. How about we talk in private? We could reach a consensus. You look like a mercenary, don’t you? To the highest bidder." The boss flashed a mischievous little smile and pulled out a debit card from one of the country’s most prestigious banks.

"I don’t know how much money this girl paid you to protect her, but here are a few million dollars. Don’t you want to talk?"

Seemingly unperturbed, Zaid scanned his surroundings intently. He spotted the weakest ones at a glance. None of them were students; they were all strong Rank Ds—and that boss...

"Maybe a Rank C. Too powerful."

It didn’t surprise him that they looked like nothing more than little mice fleeing from a massive predator. Although his Rank S senses led his opponent to believe he was a powerful Rank C or something along those lines, the reality was that his rank was still F.

At best, with his good skills, he could fight like a Rank E—just like Alice in her Beast Mode—but he still only had the strength of a Rank F. He was far too far behind these Rank D behemoths, let alone the Rank C ones.

He knew he was in a tight spot.

However, he glanced through the trees and smiled. He turned his gaze back to the leader of these guys and his debit card.

"It might not be worth that much money," Zaid said.

"Don’t be fooled... hiring a Rank D or C mercenary costs a lot of money for jobs like this. Besides, if I want to hire you, it’s not to be a mercenary, but to join us. I’ll pay you well."

"And who are you guys?"

"Hey." The man shrugged, laughing. "You don’t say that in public, you know?"

"I’m not the only one who comes here to protect the young lady, you know? There might be some people in the dark waiting for my signal."

The man frowned and glanced around...

With that, Zaid knew he had the upper hand. They were desperate.

He didn’t know why... Maybe the Red Lord isn’t here?

Zaid smiled slightly, but quickly wiped the smile away.

The man clenched his fists slightly. He knew what this guy was saying wasn’t a lie. That gorilla died way too quickly. Someone else must have interfered.

Unless it was confirmed that the masked man was Rank C... that would be even more dangerous.

He cleared his throat. "I think they’ll listen to your orders, right? You’re the strongest."

"Well, in a way, yes." Zaid shrugged. It was true. In a way, he was stronger than everyone present. Although that "way" was limited to "Sense" or "Perception," which was good, but nothing that could rival these guys.

However, the leader nodded.

"Let’s negotiate," said the leader.

’He wants to buy time,’ Zaid guessed.

Indeed, the Red Lord wasn’t around.

’If I negotiate, I run the risk of that guy showing up... and then I’ll die. If I don’t negotiate, I’ll have to fight all of them and I’ll die too. Shit, I really have no way out.’

Although he tried to find a way out of here, nothing came to mind. After all, that nonsense about him having allies is a lie.

Should he try to buy another Talent?

’There isn’t one that can get me out of here...’

’As a last resort, I’d have to try to save my own skin, but that would mean letting Alice die...’

’Master, you can negotiate.’ Just then, Valia’s voice echoed in his mind once more. ’I can help you. I’m an expert.’

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