"What do you take me for?" Rakna growled. "I'm not some gun for hire. What kind of target would you even need me to take out? You are, for all intents and purposes, a ruler of the System."
"You're being mean again," Eva said exaggeratedly and he kneaded his forehead.
"Spit it out."
The little girl rolled her eyes. "Fine. The target is someone that is both in and out of my reach."
"How so?"
"This is rhetorical, but have you heard of Plateau Zero, Big Brother?" She asked as she started tip-toeing around him. "And I don't mean the Tutorial Plateau. Shortly said, it's an extra Plateau that should not have existed. To be honest with you, there are three such Plateaus in the System. The Celestial Plateau, home of the Gods, the Eonian Plateau, home of the Immortals, and finally, the Arena Plateau, home of Crime. The last one is what we call the True Plateau Zero."
"Home of Crime?" Rakna raised an eyebrow. "What kind of place has that name?"
"Well, obviously, the home of criminals," Eva shrugged. "Plateau Zero is a flaw in the program that has been taken advantage of a thousand years ago. Now, some people use it as their own territory, separated from mine. It's become their playground. In there, the System has no influence to speak of and I can't monitor it. I can't send my Adjudicators either."
"So, what do you want me to do? Kill the one in charge of that place? Before even asking if I accept or not, how would I even be able to assassinate a veteran Host? Much less an entire organization."
"Actually, killing that guy is the secondary objective. Your target as a whole would be to dismantle the Arena. To do that, you will kill Bora Quaso, infiltrate his territory, and bring a certain item that I will give you to an offline Terminal that should be there. It will give me direct access and I will be able to bring the Plateau back under my control."
Rakna sighed. "You haven't answered the most important question. How? And why me?"
"Didn't you hear what I said, Big Brother?" Eva retorted with a tilt of her head. "The System has no influence there. In other words, there, no one has its support. They can't use skills, magic, or even items. Even their attributes are reinitialized to their base value if they're not the product of their own efforts and Nirvana Skills become somewhat limited depending on their nature."
"So, we would be put on equal ground, huh?" Rakna remarked and blankly stared at her. "And you keep answering my questions in delay. So, I'll ask you again; why me?"
Eva raised one finger. "First of all, you're not a well-known figure in the System and you wouldn't be easily compromised down there. Thankfully, the matter of the Abyss Téras wasn't made public or it would have been complicated. Though… considering how you are, that will probably become a moot point in the future. I don't know if you're an attention seeker or something but I'd be willing to bet you will become very famous in the next few months."
"…"
"So, other than that, it's because you're an expert."
"At what?"
"Slaughter." The little girl flashed a grin that didn't match her stature.
Higure and Fray looked at each other nervously before turning toward Rakna who had fallen silent at the Super AI's words.
Eva giggled. "But the main reason is the fact that the only things usable in Plateau Zero are racial traits and soul power. And you have a lot to spare, don't you? To top it all off, your 'Scavenger' skill makes it that your attributes are entirely yours and not a resource of the System."
"…what do I get from this?" Rakna ultimately responded.
"Eh? As I said, I will forgive you-"
"Stop with the bullshit," he interrupted her and Eva froze before noticing the flickering eyes of the therian as well as the faint wave of energy spreading around the volcanic star in the sky.
"Don't think that I don't know your type. You're trying to get something out of me without cost after getting the opportunity to do so," Rakna uttered coldly. "We both know that you're not mad about the Dungeon. So, stop pretending. If I do that for you, I want something in return."
Eva pouted and sat down in the field of flowers, which somehow did not become damaged in the slightest. "Fine! What do you want? Tell me."
Rakna snorted and raised two fingers. "There are two things I want."
"Really?" Eva deadpanned. "Don't you think you're pushing it?"
"First; I want a one-time claiming right for any parcel of wild terrain that I will find in the future, regardless of the Plateau," Rakna said, ignoring her rebuffs. "Second; I want you to give Host rights to Marie."
Eva's eyes widened. "W-wait a second! The first is easy but the second is a no can do. I can't mess with the database like that. It could create massive flaws that could be exploited to do things way worse than Plateau Zero."
"I don't care. Do you agree or not?"
"Can't you just ask for a Gold Item or something?"
"No."
Eva groaned and pressed her hands on her head. "Umu...! Gah! Fine, I'll do it!"
"In that case, I accept your request. Give me more information about that Arena. Also, I want the payment to be done in advance."
"You-! There's no guarantee you will succeed so why would I do that?!" The little girl grumbled. "I knew I should have asked someone else…"
"What? I wasn't your first choice?"
"No, precisely, you ARE my first choice. And now I'm hesitating whether I should go for my second one. Despite your ability," she huffed and stood up before dusting her dress. "I'll just consider this an investment," she relented and lifted her hand with her thumb and middle finger pressed against each other. She snapped them and a system window appeared.
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❮ ◈ ❯
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You have completed the Quest 'Eva's Summon'!
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Eva extends a Quest to you.
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Title: Arena's Demise
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Description: Upon reaching the 100th Plateau, you will be able to find a criminal organization under the name of Kratos. Their leader, Bora Quaso, owns Plateau Zero and holds an event within it called Arena Zero.
It is a fighting exhibit which many influential figures gamble on and use as a negotiation stage. It is also a covert operation for all sorts of criminal exchanges and traffics involving both Hosts and Locals. Many of those are a direct infringement of the System's laws.
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Objective: Enter Arena Zero as a participant, locate Bora Quaso and kill him, then find access to the Terminal for Eva to take over. The time limit will be set to three months.
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Rewards (Will be given upfront): Mae -Marie- Maria Gorgona's Host Privileges, One-Time Terrain Claim.
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Failure Penalty: Compensation for the rewards. Interest will be applied and the giver of the Quest will personally evaluate a satisfactory indemnity for the receiver to honor.
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---
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Do you accept?
Yes/No
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❮ ◈ ❯
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"…why is 'yes' grayed out?" Rakna raised an eyebrow after reading the details of the Quest.
"Because the agreement is leaning too much in your favor for now," Eva replied as if it was obvious.
Rakna eyed her with a blank expression. "You're quite business literate for a brat," he said and his soul tenants all had the urge to cough.
'Weren't you the one who said we shouldn't take her as a child?' Higure retorted internally. She did not dare to say it out loud though.
"And how come those rewards don't cut it when I'm risking my life?"
Eva puffed her cheeks and stomped the ground. "You have no idea how risky it is to modify the very existence of that lamia," she complained.
Rakna grunted and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "And what would make you happy?"
"What can you offer?" The loli smirked.
He exhaled and breathed in before opening his mouth, "How about a favor?" He suggested and she looked at him weirdly.
"Why would I need a favor from you?"
"Really? You're asking me that in this situation?" Rakna deadpanned. "Aren't you the one begging for my help right now?"
"I'm not begging!"
"Semantics. From what I'm getting, while you do have quite the power with your Adjudicators and your control of System mechanics, you're not omnipotent. To the extent that you would even be scared of a Host."
"I said I wasn't scared!"
"Sure."
"Ah! You're annoying!" Eva snapped. She was close to pulling out her hair. "And how am I supposed to be sure that you will uphold your promise?"
Rakna raised an eyebrow. "Why can't you just use a Compulsory Quest like earlier?"
"It doesn't work like that. The only reason I was allowed to give you that one was because, while you did not break any rule, you made a transgression to the Dungeon's integrity. It was temporary right accorded to me to ascertain your motive."
"By any chance… do you happen to have superiors?" Rakna asked curiously.
"Sort of. I have co-workers and superiors. Most are unknown to the masses and I don't intend to tell you about them so forget about it."
"Hm, I see," Rakna mused. "You're breaking out of character, by the way."
"Ah, shit!" She exclaimed and cleared her throat before schooling her emotions. She then let out a perfect childish smile. "So, Big Brother, is there something else you can offer?"
"No, I'll still offer the same thing," Rakna retorted and closed his eyes for a moment. The air inside his soul realm became heavier and the sound of the river's waves resounded louder.
Eva's expression suddenly froze as if she had seen something unbelievable. Higure and Fray also seemed to be shocked. The field of flowers was being swayed by the wind and several petals flew off to mix with the black ones.
"[I, Rakna Xiorra Blade, Decree Upon My Soul. I will owe a debt to the one known as Eva for as long as she honors her part of the deal.]"
As soon as these words left the therian's mouth, a spiral of white fire formed in the sky before disappearing as fast as it came, along with the irregular wind and waves of the river.
"Why…?" Eva muttered. "Why would you put your life on the line for some stranger? That lamia is just restricted to the Tenth, nothing too bad. There is no reason to go this far to help her."
"Do you know the feeling of being trapped?" Rakna uttered. "The feeling of having no reign on your life? The feeling of being at the mercy of someone else? The feeling of standing in front of freedom and have it escape your fingers? The emotion that you call despair?"
"…"
"You shouldn't be asking me why I'm willing to do this. You should be asking why she deserves that I do it," he said and waved his hand, expecting Obsidian's Smoke to appear in his hand. When nothing came, he clicked his tongue. "I can't use it in here…"
"To go as far as to use Vow of Accord and put your soul on the line…" Eva spoke up. "Do you have a hero complex, Big Brother?"
"Whatever you want to call it, brat."
The little girl harrumphed. "…you better not die or it'll be a loss for me," she said and Rakna saw the window of the Quest go out before reappearing as accepted. "There. The lamia is now a Host, you can check with her, and the claiming right in your storage. You have three months. I know that you're plenty able to get to the 100th Plateau in around one to two months from now if you try enough."
"We'll see," Rakna replied and closed the Quest. "Are we done?"
"Yep, you are free to leave, Big Brother. Just focus on the feeling you usually experience when you exit your soul realm. You'll wake up in the Pavilion."
"All right. And stop calling me Big Brother. Why do you even do that?"
Eva giggled with her hand over her mouth. "But you are my Big Brother. Why would I call you any other way?" She retorted and stuck out her tongue before disintegrating into motes of light. Rakna frowned at her declaration then sighed loudly. He exited his soul realm without a word afterward.
After a short moment of silence, Fray opened his fan with a hum. "Well, I am quite pleased to have finally met the face behind 'Eva'. She is even rowdier than I imagined."
"You don't say," Higure agreed and Fenriu yawned from the side.
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* * *
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When Rakna regained consciousness inside the Terminal Room, the lights were already back on and the door was opened. He quietly left and returned to the entrance of the corridor. When he reached the Pavilion's Hall, he immediately heard something quite unexpected.
He then noticed that everyone seemed to be rooted in place, staring at something above them. He mimicked them and was honestly startled to see a sky darkened by thunder clouds and pouring a strong rain on the glass ceiling.
"…the heck?"