The 4 of us walk out of the Association market and into the narrow hallway before making it to the elevator in the lobby.
With a press of a button, the sliding doors close and we're gliding upward to see the Director. This is a spur-of-the-moment meeting, but I can't say I wasn't expecting something like this to happen.
I'm certain that the only way to farm Strengthening Fragments is to defeat Titans. The older members in the Association must be pulling some kind of newbie C-Class hazing tradition. The only other option frightens me a bit to think about... Maybe the Director himself set us up to fail...
He is the most powerful person in the entire Vice Region. I'd have to be pretty stupid to think I could pull a fast one on him.
I gulp while activating my conceal skill and watching the numbers on the elevator display screen increase quickly.
*Ding*
We make it to the top floor, and the penthouse office suite comes into view as the doors slide open.
Brutus, the tall old man, sits at his desk sifting through a pile of neatly stacked papers. His deep voice echoes as we step forward into his open room overlooking the entire city.
"Welcome back. This is the first time I'm seeing you 4 all together. Please, sit down, make yourselves comfortable."
We approach.
Maria is grinning while hopping light on her feet, Abby is keeping a straight back and a professional smile, and Arie walks over with an emotionless gaze.
I manage a combination of all 3. With quick steps, I smirk but keep my emotions in check. I'm both excited to see what new tasks we have next week, but also anxious to hear what the old man has to say about us completing this impossible quota.
There are 4 comfortable-looking chairs in front of his desk in a perfect half circle. They match the white theme of the room with black accents on their arms and undersides to go along with the darker shade of his desk.
We sit down and the Director begins.
"First of all, I'd like to congratulate all of you for making it this far. You've completed your first week as C-Class Hunters contracted with the association. I'd like to celebrate. It's not every day a team of newcomers passes my entrance test."
He grins, then looks over to one of the empty white walls while pressing a small button underneath his desk.
To my surprise, a large section of the wall slides forward in the shape of a door. The tall pale-skinned, blond-haired assistant comes out from a secret room. She's holding a circular metal tray.
I take a peek in before the wall slides closed. It looks pretty similar to this study. White walls, a wide open glass window view of the city, a large desk sitting in the center, and even a long couch near the corner with all kinds of artwork hanging on the walls over it. It looks like she's added a little flair to her office.
The Director's voice rings through the room again.
"Some of you haven't met Samantha yet, this is my lovely assistant."
Both of them lock eyes and smile as she brings over the mysterious platter.
The woman places it on the desk before us, and my anticipation crumbles. I realize it's just 6 tall glasses with fizzling sour liquid.
Letting oh an exhale I mutter under my breath.
"More alcohol..."
I didn't realize how much people really drank until I couldn't drink myself. It seems like everyone just finds any excuse to get drunk.
The old man smiles and Samantha passes out glasses. He brings his forward and we all do the same.
"To growth, adaptability, creativity, and collaboration. I have full confidence that all of your partnerships with the Association will pave the way for remarkable achievements in the future to come. Cheers."
*Clink*
Our glasses come together, then I bring the drink to my lips. My mana stores begin to slowly drop as I finish the drink due to my poison resistance burning away the alcohol before I can feel a drop. It's not much, just a little over 100MP, but it's still annoying...
The Director speaks up again.
"Now, let's get down to business. There are a few things I'd like to talk to all of you about privately, it'd be best to split up into one on one meetings. You'll be receiving two tasks this week. One that you will complete as a team, and another that is specialized for each of your training."
I raise an eyebrow and glance at the others as the old grey-haired man continues.
"I'll start with Abby, then Maria, followed by Arie, and finally Jay. If the 3 of your could wait in the other room while I conduct a private meeting with each one of you that would be wonderful. Please, follow Samantha, she will keep you company."
Arie, Maria, and I stand up as the rectangular-shaped door comes sliding out of the wall seamlessly. We wave Abby goodbye and follow the pale-skinned assistant into her study. I hear the director's words trail off in the distance as the sliding door shuts.
"Well, Abby. How's the city life treating you? Big move from where you were located with the Association prior, how's the-"
*Click*
The white door shuts.
We all enter the secret side study and walk over to the long couch in the corner. The tall woman speaks up.
"Please, make yourselves comfortable. The Director likes to ramble, this may take a while."
She grins.
Maria chuckles and Arie jumps onto the couch in a dolphin dive manner to lightly shake the brightly colored paintings that contrast the white walls above. The professional mood of the evening has definitely shifted.
The 3 of them are a bit tipsy, that usually doesn't fail to lighten the atmosphere.
After about 10 minutes of cheerful conversation and watching the sunset from the top floor, the wall slides open and Maria steps out for her meeting as Abby comes in.
The green-haired girl is grinning ear to ear holding a small white diamond-shaped crystal. It glistens with rainbow accents and isn't more than 2cm long. She places it into her item box as she comes to sit down on the couch next to Arie.
Another 10 minutes go by and Maria comes back with the same little white stone in her hands. Arie gets up to leave, and Maria takes his place on the couch.
Finally, Arie returns. He doesn't come back holding anything in particular, but a wide smirk is plastered across his face.
It's my turn.
I walk through the open wall and make my way over to the large desk in the middle of the empty room and sit down on the chair that one of my previous teammates pulled forward to sit in front of the other 3.
The old man smiles while placing both of his hands in the center of his wide-open desk.
"Good to see you again, Jay."
I sit down and respond.
"Good to see you again too, Director."
He leans forward
"Let's address the elephant in the room... It seems you have been keeping an important detail from your teammates. Am I correct?"
The old grey-haired man lifts a small black crystal from under his desk.
"I design the first week of tests for new recruits to be nearly impossible, yet the 4 of you cleared it with ease. All of your teammates seem to be in the dark on the true nature of these Fragments."
I gulp as he continues.
"Based on your expression, I'm going to guess you're not so clueless when it comes to these item drops. There's no harm in telling me, it's not like you did anything wrong. I'm just a curious old man."
The Director leisurely spins the small obsidian-colored stone on his desk. Mesmerized by its rotations, I become lost in my own thoughts, observing it for a few seconds.
I reply in a low unwavering tone.
"I'm unsure what you're talking about-"
"Don't give me that."
He slams his hand down on the table to stop the spinning gem. It breaks me from my concentration. I shake my head, blink a few times, then sit up straight as the old man brings the shiny crystal closer to my face from across the desk.
"You and I both know these Fragments only drop from Titans. I don't care how you did it, but I know you defeated at least 10 of those anomalies. Your teammates were clueless to the fact, and Arie was scared straight at the mention of a Titan. So, my guess is you went in alone."
Feeling a lump in my throat, I swallow nervously and nod as he continues speaking.
"Good, good. As I said, there's no need to be on edge today. You were just following orders, how could I punish you for doing exactly what I asked?"
He pauses and the two of us are left in a room full of silence for a moment. I take a deep breath before replying with a blank, yet serious expression across my face.
"You're right. I farmed the Titans to fill this week's quota.
Director, I am grateful for your kindness, but I don't appreciate being lied to on my very first day of work in the Association."
He nods slowly and replies.
"I like to think of it as an entrance test, not a lie... Please hand me your assignment tablet. I'd like to update the data, the tasks will be much more straightforward this week. I hope that this is more to your liking."
I hand him my shimmering silver tablet and he begins to tinker with it. I reply as my quotas are being updated.
"What do you mean by an entrance test? Entrance to what?"
He grins.
"Now you're asking the right questions. Let me explain..."
".... Alright."
"Your extraction team passed my first test. I'd like to send all of you off on a very important mission next week... To the Dark Continent. You'll need special training to prepare yourselves."
The old man hands me back my tablet and I stare down at the updated tasks.
____________________
[Jay Soju]
[Available Credits]: 4.4
[C-Class]
[Team Weekly Quota]:
[Mana Crystals][0/200,000MU]
[Reward]: 5 Credits
[Individual Weekly Quota]:
[Horn of The Behemoth][0/1]
[Reward]: 5 Credits
____________________
"Your team's weekly task has been set to a reasonable mana crystal farming goal and I've assigned each of you a special Individual task. Yours is to obtain the Horn of The Behemoth. Defeating this monster will be an important step in furthering your training to become an Elite of the Association."
My eyes dart across the silver tablet taking in all this new information. Looking up, I start to reply, but the Director continues.
"The Behemoth is found on the 20th floor of the Vice City Labyrinth. I hope you're ready for a new challenge."