Cyrus remained frozen as the pincer shattered the armored layer around his neck, but the pincer abruptly retracted after inflicting a shallow cut.
Lowering his head, Cyrus saw Lily clutching the crab with her small frame as if her life depended on it. Her pearly teeth were clenched in determination. It would have been a comical sight, if not for the grotesque image of the battered creature and the blood from his throat splattered across her face.
"RUN!" Helen's scream jolted Cyrus back to reality.
He turned to see her effortlessly carrying Brian on her shoulder, sprinting toward them.
A battalion of crabs was hot on their heels, albeit at a slow pace. Still, their sheer numbers could instill fear in anyone.
Cyrus rushed to Lily, shoved the crab off her, and pulled her to her feet. He hesitated, unsure whether to stow the crab in his spatial ring, which would expose it. In the end, he decided to let go of his greed.
With a hand covering his throat, both of them ran. Lily was about to turn back to help Brandon, but Cyrus pulled her along, urging her to escape. She struggled momentarily, but Helen's voice echoed from behind, "Leave him!"
Helen, sprinting after them, reached Brandon and lifted him effortlessly as if he weighed nothing.
The two of them continued to flee into the distance, and Helen quickly caught up, with both Brandon and Brian slung over her shoulders.
Despite the chaos, no beasts dare stop them, all retreating to their den and caves. The swarm of crabs seemed like a silent order for a withdrawal.
Soon, they escaped the crabs, and Cyrus led them to his cave.
Upon entering, Helen hastily dropped Brian and Brandon, swiftly removing Brandon's upper armor. With a flick of her wrist, a bottle containing a green liquid appeared in her palm.
Uncorking it, she poured the liquid over Brandon's wound. Under Cyrus's watchful gaze, the flesh around Brandon's chest squirmed as it regenerated, sealing the wound until it was closed.
'Rich motherfuckers!'
Helen then passed it to him, making Cyrus freeze.
"It is the suture potion. Although it doesn't heal the internal wound, it heals the surface and prevents bleeding," she explained, thinking Cyrus was not collecting it because he didn't know the properties.
Of course, he knew, but the ones that could instantly seal wounds are fucking expensive!
Cyrus nodded and took the potion. Tilting his head, he poured it over his bleeding neck before handing it to Lily.
Lily did the same for her small wound. Finding a corner, Cyrus sat down, relaxed on the wall, and exhaled. What happened was dangerous. A wave of weakness washed over him as his adrenaline receded.
"Why did you offend that beast?"
Helen's voice drew his attention, and he turned to face her, uncertain of how to respond.
"I was just passing by with the students when I saw you nearly getting killed by that beast. If it hadn't been focused on you, giving me the opportunity to seriously injure it, finishing it off would have been much more difficult. Eminent beasts are no joke."
"I never thought of offending it," Cyrus said calmly. "I only planned to hunt the Awakened armored crab, but when I hunted the first… it suddenly appeared without warning. I could swear that I saw it in the distance, supervising the other crabs. It even made me wonder if it has teleportation. And how did it discover me?"
"Why are you hunting solo?" Helen suddenly changed the question, and even Lily perked her ears.
"Because… I can."
"Then why choose a pack? Packs are the most difficult and dangerous to hunt. It takes a madman to hunt one," Helen chided softly. "Maybe your confidence is because you have an overpowered skill like spatial lock, but don't go around risking your life."
Cyrus kept silent, but Lily wasn't the same.
"He has spatial lock?!" She exclaimed. "Teacher, are you sure?"
"Hmm, I'm sure." Helen nodded. "What happens fits every description of the spatial lock—freezing target with a single thought. Didn't you see how he froze it for a while above you? Maybe you were not thinking that time."
Lily was now looking at Cyrus like he was a monster.
"Is there something I'm not getting here?" Cyrus questioned, his visage uncertain, but his mask hid his wary expression.
"You might not know this, but a person appeared with a spatial freeze skill. Well, the skill became a game-changer during important moments. That made many locking skills popular. The spatial lock skill came out during that period, unfortunately, nobody could learn it, including those with spatial classes. Some said it required a Peak talent for spatial class to learn it, but none of that category has appeared," Helen patiently explained, her eyes roaming over him like a nice specimen.
It sent a shiver down Cyrus's spine, but it also clarified how Tracy had acquired it—because no one could learn it. Even the best skills become worthless when they can't be learned.
'Hell! That girl bought me that kind of skill. She has betrayed my trust, and I need to confront her. But is that really Spatial Lock? I got Chained Lock skill. There must be an issue somewhere. She must have been cheated.
As for the two, I guess they didn't see the black thread because I was too close to the crab. Or is Chained Lock another name for Spatial Lock? But I never froze it with a thought because it can dodge my chains… threads.'
But he knew this wasn't the time to dwell on that, so he quickly decided on his response to Helen.
"Unfortunately for me, I lack that kind of talent and skill. I was just born with a similar skill; otherwise, I wouldn't still be just an Awakened," Cyrus said with a disappointed sigh.
"I thought the same but they would still value you since a locking ability is still rare. If your rank was high, then you would get connected with many top figures. During the hunt for high level, many people need one moment of vulnerability of the beast to deal maximum damage," Helen explained and a hidden gleam of excitement crossed her eyes. "I always knew you were special. If you take my deal, and it becomes a success, that will be a straight trip to the top."
Lily was looking at the duo communicating strangely.
"Unfortunately, my answer is still no," Cyrus quickly shut down her offer.
"Fine."
Waving her hand, she dropped the battered dead crab on the floor, and Cyrus realized she had managed to carry it while running.
"Give me your account details; I'll buy your share of this Eminent beast," said Helen. "Don't worry, I'll pay ten times the market value."
Cyrus narrowed his eyes.
"No," he replied after a long moment of contemplation. "You can keep it."
Giving her his account details is the same as revealing his identity.
"No way! I can't take your share," she retorted, but Cyrus remained unmoved, his expression flat as he silently hoped she wouldn't use force to remove his mask.
Helen tapped her finger on her lips with her eyes closed.
After about a minute, she opened her eyes. "Let's do it this way. I'll give you my contact details, and I'll owe you the money—five million credits! Whenever you need something, just give me a call. Don't worry; I have connections for skills, potions, maps, Trial samples, and all sorts of other things. Just tell me what you need, the time, and the location. Remember, you'll cover the transportation."
A gold card appeared in her palm, and she handed it to Cyrus, who accepted it.
He glanced down at the card, where two words were boldly written in the center: "HELEN VANE."
"I need to take Brandon to the hospital, so I'll see you if fate permits."
Helen's voice made Cyrus look up to see her leaving the cave, carrying the unconscious boys.
Lily stood up and approached him. "Well, thanks for saving me."
He nodded. "At least you're better than the one who fainted at the sight of a monster."
"You can't blame him; he's scared of shrimp, but I never knew crab was on the list," she quickly defended.
"LILY!" Helen's voice echoed from outside.
Lily jumped at the sound. "Oops! Time to go."
She turned and walked away, her movements a bit stiff.
Cyrus chuckled. "Don't go around hugging monsters; they're not your friends!"
Lily blushed as she walked away.
Once she had left, Cyrus's expression turned serious.
He studied the card intently, scrutinizing every inch of it, but found nothing out of the ordinary. He suspected there might be a tracker. Even using his Eyes of Void for further examination revealed that it was nothing more than an ordinary exquisite card.
Soon, Cyrus found himself lost in thought.
'If there is a tracker, once I dump it in my spatial ring, it would be useless and disconnected from the outside world. But… if there is none, what is her plan? To get my location when I call her? No, I will go to the wild to receive the package. To organize an ambush? No, because she could have overwhelmed me before now, and pretty much now.'
His eyes lit up and his breath got caught in his throat.
'Wait… she doesn't want to expose her ugly side in front of her students…'