"We may have the largest Underground Battle League in all of Mortalee, but this is still Mortalee. There are not many experts in Kennesaw that could match my father, and you're looking at the few who can," Brenda came over to bail her dad out and stop Bas from offending anyone. "Allow me to make introductions."
She pointed to the tall, muscular hunter in military armor and said, "This is General Kar of the Blue Ribbon Army."
"We patrol the fringes between mortal and hunter, keeping those lines divided," said General Kar as he saluted Bas, who awkwardly saluted back.
"This is Sir Walther from Brightday Academy," Brenda said while pointing to a handsome scholar with white hair.
"Oh?" Bas was surprised, as Brightday Academy was in the Hunter's Society.
"Sid is a great friend of mine and business partner," Sir Walther said while shaking Bas' hand. "We offer scholarships to outstanding hunters under the age of 20 who are at least at the sky foundation level. So how about it? Interested?"
"Sir Walther, have you no shame?" spat a dark-skinned fellow with a hooked nose. "None of us have made offers or finished discussion, yet you try and steal all the light."
He turned to Bas and said, "A pleasure to meet you, m'boy. Thank you for showing mercy."
"Are you going to offer him your hand in marriage too?" Sir Walther said snidely.
Bas was speechless and confused as the two men exchanged disses.
"This is the owner of the Kennesaw Giants sports team, Sydney Little," Brenda explained to Bas as the two men started bickering.
"Little?" Bas realized this name sounded familiar.
"That's right, he's the former Fifth Class champion's biological uncle," she said. Bas nodded as the man's words made more sense now. Brenda turned to the sexy woman from before and said, "Last but not least, we have our lady experts. This is..."
"Pardon, but I would like to introduce myself," the woman in purple sashayed her way in front of Bas.
Brenda frowned but didn't comment.
Bas, on the other hand, was intrigued.
"Hello, Bas. My name is Beverly Sapphire, of the Kennesaw Sapphire Group," Beverly said with a small curtsy as she extended her hand. "It is an honor to make your acquaintance. You're a very charming young man."
Bas threw his left hand behind his back naturally and bowed to take her palm in his right, kissing it lightly. Beverly's cheeks turned a bit pink, and the others around were astounded. Was this a teenager or a seasoned man of culture?
"The honor, pleasure, and willing captive is I, Madam Beverly," Bas smiled gently at the woman before straightening his posture.
He had an excellent impression of this lady, as she was the only true lady he'd encountered outside his mother. Even though Bas had only experienced the sickly version, the Eureka King in the late Sebastian's memories was exquisite and poised. She carried herself with dignity and grace.
Bas had long admired this type of woman in his past life. He saw shadows of this in Beverly. On top of that, she claimed to be from the most successful jeweler family in Mortalee! Rich, she was rich! Of course, this was only by mortal standards.
The most important thing was her strength. Bas could detect her life atmosphere shouldn't be older than twenty-seven years. To reach Hunt Expert before age thirty in Mortalee sounded crazy. Beverly's talent or luck must be off the charts!
Beverly was similarly impressed with Bas. These lecherous bastards around her had never been gentlemen. Even Sid only agreed to sponsor her if she dated him. When rumors of them sleeping together started to spread, he persuaded her not to dismiss them with lavish gifts.
They were too lavish for someone born in a mortal society like her to pass up.
Yet this Bas, who was half that admittedly handsome bastard's age, proved himself more refined in a fraction of the time. His speech and mannerisms were elegant and charming.
She had noticed this character flirting around during the night. When she tried to expose his perversion earlier, he deflected it completely. He wasn't moved by lust and could detect the danger in her offer.
This had already impressed her.
When she first saw Bas performing as Bazzy Dagod, she thought he was an arrogant little prick. Her opinion of him grew as he charged his way to the top. When he killed Francis Stratus, she worried he was brutal. When he defeated Sydney's nephew but spared his life, she felt this was a real man in the making.
Seeing him face to face, almost close enough for their lips to touch, and smelling his masculine fragrance, Beverly started to feel shy.
'What the hell is happening to me,' Beverly was immediately suspicious. It didn't seem like Bas was pretending or circulating any ryms.
Was she simply attracted to him?
Had it been so long since she favored someone that it felt too foreign? The more she considered this, the more sense it made.
"If possible...can I have a private word with you?" she asked Bas gently, her voice barely audible by mortal ears.
Bas raised a brow but nodded anyway. To his surprise, Beverly didn't intend to leave. She simply threw a purple disc on the ground and released a force field covering both of them. To his object shock, the scene around him and Beverly changed drastically.
They appeared to suddenly be on a small hill under the full moon in front of a rainforest.
'Illusory technology? Is this a rym tool? What class is it?' Bas was thrilled by this unique device.
"Did I startle you?" Beverly asked once the scene stabilized. Bas noted how he could sense her pouring ryms into the tool steadily. She smiled in a way that made Bas' heart beat faster, saying, "We should be able to talk privately like this."
However, after saying this, Beverly paused and fell silent.
Bas could sense Beverly's hesitation, and he stepped back, giving her space. It wasn't just his looks or charm that had caught her eye. Something about him drew people in - an aura of power and strength. This was his King's Might. Bas was both aware and ignorant of this ability.
Still, he took advantage of her silent contemplation to cast out his spiritual sense.
'So, it uses elemental and dream ryms in such a way? This is actually pretty advanced. One million years later, even mortals can have this type of technology. How amazing.' After observing for a while, he directly cast his perception outside of the barrier.
Outside the circle of purple light that was initially Bas and Beverly, the surrounding experts were stunned by her swift action.
Sid had not found the words to say since earlier, and the female expert at his left was also stunned by how her senior hunters were behaving.
General Kar rubbed his chin in amusement.
"Ah, how smart. I should have used an isolation tool as well. Even though I don't have one quite so nice..." Sir Walther commented lightly.
Brenda was the only one who felt a sense of crisis when the purple barrier blocked her view of Bas. Bas suddenly became more fond of her when he saw her clearly anxious appearance. A certain mental clarity returned to Bas as if the sun's light broke apart a cloudy sky.