"Hey! Why are you here?" Lily pointed at him, her anger still evident.
"Why are you following me?" Cyrus ignored her and questioned Helen.
"Who said we were following you?" Lily puffed her cheek.
"Lily, have some respect!" Helen admonished gently before turning to Cyrus and letting out a soft laugh. "If I told you I wasn't following you, would you believe me?"
"No. I took many detours, and we still met," Cyrus was already gripping his dagger, ready to… run.
His Etherion was still zero.
Helen fell silent for a moment before gesturing for her students to give them some space. Although Lily still wore a fierce expression, Cyrus chose to ignore her.
Then Helen retrieved a silver cube from her bag and twisted it, causing a blue dome to envelop them.
"Nobody can eavesdrop on our conversation," she said.
Cyrus was already on high alert. The only reason he remained still was that he knew escaping her grasp would be futile.
"Seeing as you're old with almost no Etherion in your body, and your rank is still Awakened, I guess your potential is weak," she stated softly.
Cyrus stared at her silently through his mask, realizing that she had a special way of accessing others… maybe from her eyes? He wasn't sure.
Helen had a petite frame, her ash-blonde pixie cut perfectly framing her diamond-shaped, smooth face. But what captivated Cyrus were her eyes—upturned, with violet irises flecked with scattered golden sparkles.
He already had a vague guess about her eyes.
"And?" Cyrus finally tore his gaze from her eyes.
Helen became solemn.
"I have an opportunity for you. A thing that could change your fate, but you should know… it's very dangerous. You might even die."
Cyrus turned silent again before asking, "Why me? There are so many people with weak potential."
"Your body is peculiar," she stated.
Cyrus thought for a second before replying, "Everybody was born peculiar, they just haven't discovered it."
"We both know that is a fat lie. Besides, your peculiarity is unique. You know, there are various physiques in this world but they function in two basic ways — attract mana or repel mana."
"I thought humans can't absorb mana," Cyrus questioned.
"Attracting and absorbing are two different things. Etherion is not too different from mana," Helen patiently explained.
"So… how does that explain why you want to enlist me? Because I don't feel anything unique about myself."
"Your body doesn't attract or repel mana; instead, it seems to destroy any mana that comes near, or perhaps it devours it... I'm not entirely certain," she explained, her brow furrowed in uncertainty.
"So?"
"Anything peculiar is special."
"Oh!" Cyrus' mouth rounded. "Unfortunately, you've got the wrong guy. I'm nothing special."
"Maybe now, but where I'm going have something that can unleash your locked potential. I still stand by what I said. You're a hidden gem," she persuaded, her tone soothing and unhurried.
"No thank you."
He didn't bother to find out what she was planning, as that might draw him in. He extinguished any budding curiosity. After all, how did she know his potential was locked? Her tone resembled that of a trader trying to impress and entice a customer.
"Can I go now?" Cyrus asked but Helen merely chuckled.
"Very vigilant, I see. You should know that there are Eminent rank beasts along this way, so you will need our help. Even the weakest student is stronger than you right now," stated Helen.
Cyrus knew that, or else he wouldn't waste time taking a break. That's why he felt uncomfortable being around them.
"Don't worry. You will get the core of any beast that we kill along the way," Helen added when she saw he was still silent.
"Fine. We can go together." Cyrus accepted her proposal.
"Great!"
Helen turned off the cube, making the blue, shimmering dome disappear, and she called the students. The five of them made their way into the depths. With Helen and Cyrus as guides, they avoided beasts.
But Cyrus noticed something. Though subtle, Helen was attempting to guide them toward a location inhabited by lone beasts. He refused to fall for it. She tried this three times, and while he couldn't pinpoint her motivation, he understood better than anyone that he should steer clear of those creatures. He would instantly tell them to change direction or he would leave alone, not minding the look Lily and her classmates were throwing him.
The reason people often die in the wild may not solely be due to the beasts they are hunting, but rather because they become trapped and surrounded by other beasts lurking nearby during the hunt.
As they reached the edge of Awakened Valley, the place Cyrus had chosen for his hunt, he turned to Helen and said hurriedly, "We will meet again if fate allows. Thank you for your help."
Cyrus dashed into the rocky terrain, where sparse, short trees dotted the landscape as if he were fleeing from a monster. His hurried movements made Helen giggle.
Lily puffed her cheek at his behavior. "After helping him, he didn't even stay for a moment. What a jerk."
"Weak," the boy said.
"Annoying," the second boy added.
"He's very vigilant, and I can't blame him. He has special eyes—or perhaps special senses; otherwise, he wouldn't have noticed that," Helen murmured to herself. "Let's go. We're behind schedule."
Cyrus walked a distance and finally stopped when he spotted a cave devoid of beasts, not far from the border. He scanned the cave with his Eyes of Void and saw that it was clean.
He quickly entered and sat down, his breathing rugged like he ran a marathon.
They never rested throughout their journey, and being out of Etherion didn't help.
'I have very little Etherion stored in my body, so I need to summon all my stuff for the hunt at once, or else I would have to wait for my body to produce Etherion.'
When humans awaken, even if they don't hunt or possess Etherion, the Power Module converts mana in the atmosphere into a minuscule amount of Etherion within their bodies. This is why all Awakened individuals have a stronger physique compared to regular humans.
Cyrus summoned all he needed from his spatial ring with a thought—a sword, his watch, three bottles of water, and a dry ration.
After downing the dry ration and drinking two bottles of water, Cyrus felt energized. So he opened his com watch that projected a holographic map in the air, and then he began looking at the map of Awakened Valley.
Awakened Valley is one of the few places teeming with Awakened beasts and few Eminent rank beasts, because of the low resources.
The holographic map is one of the few resources provided by the government, detailing the various beasts inhabiting the area. However, the characteristics of these beasts are filled in by independent Elites. So it was not always perfect. Luckily, Cyrus wasn't new to the Awakened Valley.
'Let's go with the Armored Crab—they have low agility and poor vision, but thick carapace features a few gaps and is equipped with pincers powerful enough to crush even Rank 2 armor.'
Rank 2 armor normally requires the strength of Eminent rank to break them, but the Armored crabs, despite being Awakened beasts, are capable of destroying them.
'Perfect! The other beasts have agility that will overwhelm me.'