"Yeah...you seem to be okay now. Do you really not know what happened?" asked Brenda, concern evident in her voice.
After all, the male had already made her feel things she had never felt in all 25 years. It was so risky and thrilling. She had only met him today, but she would never be able to forget him. Brenda was having trouble curbing her interest, and that very interest made her invest more attention into Bas' safety.
Worse still, her body was a little out of control around him. Although it was suspicious, Brenda felt it wasn't at the level of subtle manipulation. She had treasures to guard against that. Plus, she suddenly found Bas much more charming and seductive than when they first interacted.
Maybe she really had fallen for him...
"Uhm...can I get up now?" Bas asked innocently.
"Ah!" Brenda sat up straight, startled by the question. "Sorry...I forgot."
"Madam Evans, how is the Ranked 1st?" asked one of the Evans' loyal aides from a few yards away when he saw Brenda lean back and Bas' eyes now open.
"He is fine. Please allow the medical team to resume their posts," replied Brenda with her recovered composure.
She decided to stay away from this dangerous brat, or he would eat her up. She would even let him. She even wanted him to! She had to see him. Wait, no, it's the opposite; she definitely could not see him.
Brenda still had her morals, even though they seemed on the fritz. Regardless of how cavalier this young man spoke and how handsome he looked, he was much younger than her. She couldn't rob the cradle.
God, what had she been thinking before?
Then again, in Mortalee, sixteen was considered the start of adulthood. Mortals would even be married off at this age.
God, what was she thinking now?
"So, can I have your soul communicator's rune?" Bas asked, not forgetting to capitalize off of his accidental progress.
"Mn," Brenda replied absent-mindedly as she put her info in Bas' communicator.
After Brenda and Bas exchanged contact runes on their soul communicators, Bas rose to his feet and dusted himself off. He initially wondered why Sable could have a mecha-hand but not a soul communicator. But he just discovered from Brenda that the mecha-hand is also a soul communicator.
So why did Sable's contact come in digits, not a personal rune?
Curious, he briefly explained what happened to Brenda, who fell quiet with a frown. This little bastard was off playing with some girl earlier. Where exactly did that Valentine girl get off flirting with her Bazzy? She even gave him her direct line. What a little slut.
"It's called a direct line. Once you plug these digits into your terminal, you can connect directly to her internal chip at any time," Brenda remarked with a light scoff, clearly jealous.
Clear to anyone but Bas, that is.
After all, he left out the more essential things. Bas ignored her reaction as he had his considerations, asking, "So what's this about me being Ranked 1st? Since when am I the number one contender?"
"Since I crippled the former champ, the title was vacant," Brenda replied, almost forgetting that anyone other than this young man was in the room. "The Ranked 2nd challenged Ranked 1st and slaughtered him in battle. Thus, the previous Rank 3rd is now Rank 1st, and the previous Rank 2nd is now the champion."
"Slaughtered mid-battle? So easily?" Bas felt that this was different from what he thought would happen when watching earlier. "Wait! That guy you crippled was the champion?!"
"Apparently, he's been holding back a Primary Bronze graded hunter skill that packs quite a punch. He landed in right when the opponent was unprepared. It was over in an instant after that." replied Brenda.
"Is that so? Then I'll challenge the champion next. Will you arrange it for me?" asked Bas in excitement. This new champion sounded a bit formidable. He successfully trained a Primary Bronze hunter skill. Bas knew the difficulty of doing so was relatively high for a mortal.
"It would be my pleasure," Brenda smiled sweetly, making Bas' heart jump. "You will have thirty minutes to prepare."
"Don't need," Bas left these words as he spun his Truth Record and backflipped into the air from the bleachers, landing directly in the center of the stage.
Brenda was a little stunned at his confidence and athleticism. They were at least 40 yards from the cage, but Bazzy stuck the landing perfectly.
Bas looked at the crowd once and considered something for a moment.
Mongrel Fresco found out his identity so quickly that it was embarrassing. This cheap mask couldn't fool soul power. In that case, was there any point in wearing a mask? Going by an alias? After all, no one else he faced had been hiding their identity to this extent. Even those who could hide their atmosphere with the silver token didn't bother to hide their faces. If they weren't afraid, why was he? Were they much stronger than himself?
Why was he hiding? To protect his family?
His family was already under attack, and he hadn't even known it! Without strength, how could he protect them? Without resources, how could he acquire power? Bas suddenly felt he had been going about things the wrong way. What he needed was a sponsor. Well, wasn't he currently being observed by potential sponsors?
Besides, he was a King. Why should he hide? How could it satisfy the pride in his blood? The might hidden deep in his soul? A subtle yet majestic atmosphere leaked from Bas as he lowered his mask completely and revealed his handsome face to the stunned crowd. Many gasps and sighs of admiration filled the sewers.
"So he's finally willing to reveal himself?"
"THIS...this is the new masked guy?"
"Oh my...he has a certain air about him..."
"I LOVE YOU BAZZY!"
"He must be challenging for the belt..."
"No way he's that dumb."
"Wait, that's... that's..."
There were a few in the crowd who were able to sense past the mask Bas had been wearing before. They recognized the boy on stage. However, before anyone could identify him, Bas spoke on his own.
"My name is Bas King, and I'm here to challenge the Champion of the Underground! Get your ass in the ring!"
The crowd was stunned. Bas King? So this was more than a face reveal?
"This boy..." Brenda was finding that Bazzy Dagod was her favorite young hunter. He had a certain style that she couldn't deny. And what he just revealed only made her interest multiply, "Bas King, huh? So he was a little prince of the Night? Did they have a Prince Bas?"
Only scions of the Night Dynasty in the Hunter's Society held the surname King. For this Bazzy to boldly declare himself both god and King, Brenda felt his arrogance matched the profile indeed.