Chapitre 22: Chapter 22: Odd Jobs

"You're… back already? You… had enough money to live comfortably for like a year. Did you spend all of it on cultivation pills?"

"I suppose you could say that, Ms. Receptionist."

"I… guess that makes sense. Did you grow stronger, though?"

"T—"

"Wait, no. Sorry! That's not any of my business! Is… is there something I can do for you, Mr. Lucian?"

Lucian was wrong, the supplies he received from Ferguson did not last him weeks at all — with him not having to do any work, the time he had spent doing experiments and trials increased almost exponentially due to the momentum.

Money that could allow them to feed a small family for a year… was only 4 days' worth of experiments for him. Sadly, he was not making any progress at all — the most successful was still his very first trial, T1A.

"Are… you okay?"

"Yes," Lucian snapped out of his stupor as he saw the receptionist leaning toward him over the counter, "I would like a new job, Ms. Receptionist. Preferably with the same prerequisites as last time. High—"

"High-paying looting job, but requires almost no time at all," the receptionist raised her finger and continued Lucian's words for him with a smile on her face.

"Yes."

"Hmhm," the receptionist nodded a couple of times, "I don't even need to check…

…All of them are taken, Mr. Lucian."

"All of them?"

"Yes," the receptionist then let out a small sigh, "Everyone wants that kind of job, no matter how dangerous. You were just quite lucky last time."

"What about my previous employer? They told me they would personally request my assistance again," Lucian looked to the side as he felt uncomfortable with the way the receptionist was looking at him.

"I'm afraid no personal requests for you as of this moment," the receptionist slightly pouted, seemingly more disappointed than Lucian, "You can take hunting jobs… but they usually last an entire day."

"What about jobs to kill monsters that emerge in the city, Ms. Receptionist?" Lucian placed his hand on his chin, "I know those take only a few hours."

"W…well, you're not eligible for that since you're only of the Spirit Infant level," the receptionist awkwardly chuckled while scratching her cheek, "Well, since your Combat Proficiency is rated as S, I can petition for you to become a support. It's not as high-paying, but still higher than most jobs…

…but it's also one of the most dangerous jobs someone of your level can take since some cultivators would use you as bait."

"Do I need to do anything to be petitioned?" Lucian asked without any hesitation.

"Didn't you hear what I just said…? You might be used as bait!" The receptionist once again pouted as she placed her hands on her waist while looking Rhys in the eyes, "Supports have a higher mortality rate than the actual people who fight, Mr. Lucian."

"..." Lucian looked to the side for a few seconds. Twice now, he had easily killed cultivators who were supposedly of higher level than him, and monsters he was told he could not defeat — he may lack common sense, but he realized the past few days that he was stronger than the normal cultivator. The only thing he doesn't know was… how stronger he actually was.

"I would try my best not to die, Ms. Receptionist," Lucian nodded, "I will run in the first sign of danger and prioritize myself."

"That… ugh," the receptionist could really only shake her head as she grabbed some of the papers to her left; her face, once again pouting with a hint of anger. But of course, Lucian does not notice it at all,

"Then I'll petition you, you don't need to do anything else but to just wait for their call and respond."

"Thank you, Ms. Receptionist."

"You…" The receptionist's eyes slightly twitched from Lucian's nonchalance, but after a few seconds, she just let out a sigh and forced a smile,

"…Please, Mr. Lucian. I hope to see you again soon."

***

"Couldn't they have at least sent someone on the late stage of Spirit Infant!?"

It did not really take Lucian to be called; not even 3 hours after he left the association. Fortunately, he was already done tending to Malenia and Maeve's needs.

And almost immediately as he arrived on site, the group who was tasked to hunt the monster looked down and even scowled upon seeing him.

Lucian, however, only glanced at them for a few seconds before looking around the site.

It was a familiar site to him; street devoid of people, only death and carnage around them. Cars were either flipped or completely flattened, the walls of the buildings cracked.

The only difference is that there was no monster carcass to be looted yet.

"Oi, wake up."

Lucian then turned his attention back to the cultivators, not even blinking as one of them started snapping his fingers right on his face,

"Are you retarded? Why aren't you talking?"

"Because you were not talking to me, Mr. Hunter," Lucian answered while looking to the side, "It would be weird if I spoke without talking to anyone."

"What the—"

"Pft."

The other cultivators all started chuckling at the man who was snapping his fingers at Lucian.

"Leave the guy be, Nate. We're lucky they sent us a support in the first place," another man stepped forward and approached Lucian, "Look, you know what your job is, right?"

"Yes," Lucian nodded, "Follow you around and provide support."

"And follow our orders if needed," Nate clicked his tongue while shaking his head, "Although I doubt you'd even be able to provide any support — you look like a skeleton. I feel like you'll crumble with just a single touch."

"Nate, stop antagonizing the fucking support. Let's just go — the Muscle Frog was last spotted by Rick's group."

"Rick…? What the fuck are they doing here!? Let's go! Go!"

And without even waiting for anyone, Nate just suddenly ran away; even jumping on top of the shorter buildings before leaping from roof to roof. He then glanced back, clicking his tongue again as he realized no one was even following behind him.

"Damn it, where are they…? We can't let Rick's group get ahead of us!" Nate raised his voice in frustration. He was about to stop leaping and running, but then heard a small clanging whispering beside him… like a set of knives.

He slowly turned his head to the side…

…only to see Lucian beside him.

"What… the fuck?"