His words sounded like a cruel declaration to her ears, but she didn't take them to heart as her mind finally kickstarted back into action. She started with an unusual seriousness in her voice.
"Hm… I do need your help. I was waiting for a good moment to bring it up, but I guess this is just as good a moment as any."
Ragnar did not say anything as he just waited for her to continue. And she didn't make him wait for long as she spoke again after organising her words.
"You are right. I am sorry for assuming that we were friends, we are clearly not."
Ragnar's face formed a slight frown. Well, that was a slight disappointment. Although she had definitely not gained his recognition yet, he doubted she would ever be able to, with how easily she gave up on that notion. He heard her continue further as her next words did catch his interest.
"But we have formed a deal before. So how about another one."
Ragnar couldn't help himself as his lips curled into a slight smirk.
"What do you have to offer me?"
This was what he was really interested in since what she needed help with was of minor importance in his eyes.
She took a moment to compose herself before a fiery light appeared in her emerald eyes. She smiled, this time it was a confident and assertive one, a smile of a leader.
"How does the favour of the next head of the Sylvancrests sound? I can also teach you how to better use your essence."
This smile of hers was really contagious as Ragnar's grin also widened slightly as he said with a nod.
"Not too bad. So, what am I helping with?"
What Ragnar needed right now was to get stronger. Since he was neither capable of going against Vorlock and nor the Realm. So, gaining an Ally of her calibre might prove to be helpful. He was planning to learn that Essence thing on his own since it would eventually come as he used it more, but having someone guide him would fasten the process by quite a lot.
But after hearing his question, Aura's confident smile crumbled like a house of cards as she turned embarrassed.
"With becoming the next head of the Sylvancrests. He-he"
She ended her words with a slight chuckle to lessen the awkwardness in her words but it might have only worsened it.
For some reason, her words didn't dampen the mood for Ragnar. He had the strange notion to justify it that he can let it pass as long as she had a big ambition. It was clear that her resolve wasn't strong enough as of yet, but at least it was there.
So, he asked her with a casual smile.
"What do you want from me then?"
Aura had to take a pause after hearing his question. She had honestly expected him to straight up refuse after hearing her plea after which she would have to convince him by offering other material things. But he had agreed without any resistance. She really could not fathom how this man's mind worked.
He had the tendency to always defy her assumptions. Maybe she should stop assuming things when it comes to dealing with him.
She finally contained herself again and spoke up what she actually needed his help with. Her words carried a strong determination that also flowed out of her eyes.
"I need to overtake the Crew which is currently ranked 8th. The 'Avians'. The leader of that crew is the person I am competing with for the position. If I can overtake him, then I will have proven myself to the Faction."
Ragnar waited for her to complete before he asked what he had understood.
"So how do you overtake them? Do you need to defeat them?"
As Ragnar thought in this direction, the task appeared quite straightforward and easy. But the reality was quite different.
"No. We don't have to defeat them. The Crew rankings are not decided based on the strength of the Crew, instead, they are decided based on a point system. We need to kill Shifted Creatures as a Crew which will give us points. That is how we overtake them."
Ragnar was confused from her answer. Did it really have to be so complicated?
"How does that work?"
Aura knew what Ragnar was confused about. She went on to explain the system briefly.
It turns out, Ethlet has several more uses other than just keeping a tab on his money.
The Ethlets were able to intercept the kill messages that the Realm sends when a Mutant kills a Shifted Creature, and then it records it in the database. When someone leaves the HCR, the Ethlet is a solitary Artifact that keeps tabs of how many creatures of what Ranks and Classes a Crew has killed. Then once that crew returns to HCR, that data is synced and converted into points by their Main System.
Ragnar was not able to understand all the technical stuff she explained. So, he only got the gist of it.
He really thought that it was all way more complicated than it needed to be. So, he couldn't help but ask.
"Can't I just kill him? It would solve your problem too."
Aura was baffled by his reply. This was what he had come up with after hearing her long thesis.
"You are kidding, right?"
Ragnar just looked at her without replying. His smile had disappeared long ago during her rambling. His face looked stoic.
Aura's look turned serious as she said in a firm tone.
"You are not. Look, firstly, he is my cousin, and I don't have any real enmity with him. So, it is already out of question. And secondly, he is a Spectral, so it is a fruitless thought."
Ragnar did not continue on that line of thought since it didn't seem like she would agree even if he said he could deal with him. Instead, he asked her the important stuff.
"Then tell me, where are you in the Rankings? How far behind him are you?"
Aura calmed down seeing that he was not continuing on that path and said with a slight hint of embarrassment.
"It's in the 1000s. The Avians have slightly over 100000 points."
Ragnar furrowed his brows.
"And how much do you have?"
Aura looked even more embarrassed.
"Around 7 thousand."
Ragnar's frown deepened even further.
"How long do you have to catch up to him? Until your current head retires?"
That was the most probable option Ragnar could think of.
But Aura almost buried her head into the table before she spoke the next part.
"By the end of… this year."
Ragnar's expression did not change as he just stared at her with a deadpan gaze.
"Is… that… so?"
That meant they had a month at most.
Aura was still looking down as she didn't dare to meet his gaze when she heard him speak again. His tone seemed casual again, as if he didn't care. And why would he? It was she who will have to deal with the consequences.
"You have a plan?"
Aura looked up with the fire reignited in her eyes.
"I do."
Ragnar's lips turned slightly upwards but his expression still looked casual.
"Alright. Tell me how to join your crew?"
She couldn't help the genuine smile that appeared on her face after hearing his words. She had not lost hope despite the negligible odds. This was very important for her.
She pointed at his Ethlet that was kept on the table and spoke.
"I will send you an invite. You just have to click accept."
Then she took out her own Ethlet from her magic pouch. Her Ethlet was identical to Ragnar's. She clicked a few things in her Ethlet after which Ragnar saw a pop up appear in his own.
[Would You like To Join Aura's Crew]
Ragnar looked back up.
"That's your crew's name? You really couldn't think of anything better?"
Aura's face showed slight embarrassment but she contained it pretty quick and spoke in a calm tone.
"It was only a temporary thing, so I didn't bother to come up with a good name. I will dissolve it after this whole phase passes by."
Ragnar did not say anything further as he clicked 'Accept'.
[You have Joined Aura's Crew]
He realised that the Ethlet had a lot more to it now that he looked properly. He could see the Rankings in this as well. Along with that, he could also chat with the crew and Aura individually. But this function would only work inside the HCR. Which was still pretty good.
As he was checking out the stuff in his Ethlet, he also noticed that he was the only person in the Crew other than Aura. He asked her with confusion.
"You don't have any other members?"
Aura sighed as she looked inside her own Ethlet.
"I did have those 3. But they were… Anyways, not many people in my Faction would be willing to join me. And I don't really have much friends … in the Arcane Rank, of course. I was hoping to hire some Strong Arcanes for the task but now I don't think I have the funds left for that. I might have to ask my Uncle for some more help … again." *Sigh*