บท 68: Captain and Teammate [Bonus chapter]

'One. He was extremely confident Sarah would die in the explosion. Even if she didn't, she wouldn't be able to attack.'

He glanced at the mutilated human corpse and frowned.

'So he was willing to save that Abyssal. All his injuries can be healed in a few hours. He might be trying to win the goodwill of Abyssals.' Varian's face twisted in disgust.

'Two.' Varian clutched his forehead.

'There is something important on this Abyssal. Which he must not lose. Since all Abyssals blasted themselves, that thing could've been broken. Only this guy will have it intact.'

Varian decided to first search their space rings.

In the human's space ring, he found a few star treasures: swords, spears, etc. There were also some healing vials.

'That's it?' Varian checked it once again and found one last thing. A bunch of pictures.

He retrieved them. They were all the same pictures.

They showed two women in all black. They used glasses, so he couldn't see their eyes. There was a mask covering the rest of their face. Even their hair was covered.

It was the classic Shadow Order uniform, albeit a bit...different?

Varian was somehow sure it was them.

Even more strangely, there even pictures of Enigma and Blue Flash in this very location.

'Enigma and Blue Flash…'

'What the hell is going on?'

Enigma was the famed head of Shadow Order. No one who saw her speak was alive. There were only pictures of her propagated by Shadow Order.

'Shadow Order...these scum… who betray their own race, and kill the geniuses, who will secure humanity's feature. These two at the helm of such an organization?'

'Then why did they didn't kill me?' Varian fell into confusion.

Soon, he shook his head.

'It doesn't matter now.' He reached for the Abyssal's space ring.

"Huh?"

Varian couldn't access it despite the Abyssal being dead.

Star treasures were bound to one person and could only be used by them. It could've been different, but this was the rules by the pioneers of Star Treasures.

The only way for another person to use them was to have the original owner unbind them or ... kill the original owner.

However, Star Treasures were merely inspired by Artifacts.

Artifacts were the treasures found in Ruins, the legacy of Devas.

Thus all star treasures were man-made.

Abyssals must have had a different trajectory. So they would have followed a different set of rules for their version of star treasures.

That said, Varian was stuck.

"Damn!" He injected his chi and space power. The space ring rejected them.

He even used the blood from Abyssal. It didn't respond.

"Fuck!" He cursed in a low quietly.

Varian exited the cave and kept fiddling. He couldn't open the space ring, no matter what.

'System, can you open this thing?' He finally thought of someone or thing that could.

[Host, does this system look like a thief to open other's space rings?] Its voice was still cold, but Varian felt it was annoyed.

'....' Varian sighed for a moment.

'Yeah, you look like a thief.'

[.....]

[Your great grandma was a thief!] It said and fell silent.

Varian laughed at its antics. He didn't know that System was speaking the truth.

Varian continued to try while also keeping an eye on the surroundings.

The special locations were all present in the hidden regions. So the possibility of humans finding them was low.

But magic beasts were enough to give him a headache.

"Um...V—arian." A cold but weak voice sounded, and Varian saw Sarah slowly getting up.

"Take it easy. You're the most injured." He helped her out.

She hesitated, but held his hand and walked out.

"I'm fine." She said and sat down outside the cave, beside his sitting spot.

Varian sat back in his position. He was actually nervous.

He hoped she didn't notice him using teleportation to reach behind the Abyssal before he thrust his sword into that guy's eye.

'The fewer people know it, the better. Especially Charles...'

Sarah looked at his distracted face and swallowed the words that came to her mouth.

She was used to being on the receiving end of attention everywhere she went. Now, someone was ignoring her.

But if he did this to other captains, he'd face a very hard time. Errands, cut in merit points per mission and even kicked out of the team.

'So that's why Seth wanted me to be your captain. You're lucky.'

She chuckled lightly, startling Varian.

'But we are more lucky.' she sighed in relief.

"Yes?" Varian wondered how could one laugh just after near death experiencing. He completely ignored how he and Kyle did the same.

'Did she go crazy or what… oh no, I must be careful in case she's gone crazy. I wouldn't be surprised if System calls this act of [Balance].'

Sarah noticed Varian's weird gaze and coughed slightly. She regained her calm and cool bearing.

Varian, however, was ready to run.

"Thank you." Sarah bowed.

"I did what I should. I'm sure you would've saved me if I was in danger." Varian shrugged.

"You could've escaped. I'm surprised that you didn't, despite being a level 2." Sarah slowly said.

"Ugh…" Varian's face twitched.

"Ah. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say level 2 is bad. Everyone has to go through that level at some point. It's just… why did you still stay when the fight turned unfavorable?"

Varian looked at her curious eyes and said, "I considered escaping a few times. If me dying doesn't change the outcome, I might as well not die. I have things to do in life."

Sarah looked surprised at his honesty.

"The risk I took at the end was different. My participation would make a difference. So I took my chance. So there you go. I'm not as brave as you imagine. If a level 8 comes here, I'd be the first to run, Captain." Varian rubbed his chin with a serious expression.

"Pfft. Don't you think I'll be disappointed in you? Your answer is the opposite of what every captain wants to hear." Sarah laughed.

"I'm just being honest." Varian looked at the sky and saw himself in the future. Then, he would battle Level 5s.

With this mission in the bag, the future was in his hands.

"I'm very grateful for allowing me into this mission. But the next one, I can do it alone." He smiled.

Sarah observed his smile. It was full of confidence.

"If you can't do it alone, you can call me. Even though I'm busy most of the time, I'm sure I can make some. Though I don't think you'll ask me." Sarah swiped her comm and shared her contact.

"Oof." Varian nodded and opened her contact.

His eyes widened as he looked at her full name.

"You're Evander's daughter?"