One time a few months ago, a foreign spirit contractor came over to the Adventurers' Guild to have a discussion with the Guild Master, at the same time that the Anomalies' Spirit Half were turning in one of their quests.
The instant said Spirit Contractor saw Kayla, the expression that appeared on their face was one of shock mixed with traces of fear.
As for their contracted spirits, they all manifested their physical bodies, revealing their peak Grandmaster level existence levels that were one foot away from reaching the Epic level.
What they did next, was to get down on one knee and bow in front of Kayla, surprising both the Spirit contractor and the grandmaster Knights guarding them.
This allowed everyone to infer that Kayla's rank among the spirits was high enough that even more powerful spirits had to respect her.
They could also tell that the Fire Spirit in the quartet, Amy, whom people had long realised was not contracted to Evan but to Pride, was also a Spirit with a rank just one step below Kayla.
Returning to the present, Evan looked at Kayla and patted her head lightly as he thought about his 'Side Quest Run' list and sighed.
"It's going to be a while before we can go there.
But do not worry, someone from there most likely going to send me a little present soon enough. Punching bags, you can call them, so you can vent on those guys."
His words had Kayla and every other listener confused but the young hero only told them not to mind it while remembering a certain Event that was going to happen soon enough, something that would let him gauge just how many Heroes the Demonic Hand was aware of.
'I should go and see Luke after this too.
The Monsters protecting that dungeon are Epic Levels, things that we cannot defeat even if the whole party goes.
They're just that many after all.
I'm going to have to get Luke's help for this, but the issue is what to give him in return for his help.'
Evan sighed as he relaxed on the chair and let the Adventurer style his hair while Kayla was 'kidnapped' by some female adventurers and dragged over to another part of the guild hall.
'I have a few decent artifacts, but I was saving them for myself, for when I become an Epic level.
And I got them from rare dungeons too…'
He contemplated it for a few moments before finally making a decision.
'This expedition would be better, after all, it'd make the people of this world have more things in their arsenal against the demons.
Having stronger allies would be very necessary, plus it's something that the Emperor had to reward me for, and if I use the same trick on a few other countries, I'd gain a certain level of influence in all of them as I would be aiding their combat power.
For that, a few Epic Level artifacts are a small price to pay, besides, they aren't the best out there. I'd give Luke about 3-5 of them.
Hopefully, I can bargain for three.'
Remembering the Vice guild master in Kasteblum who was an expert negotiator, Evan wondered if he should take a crash course from the man before going to meet with the Sword Saint.
The boy then casually dipped his hand into his inventory and pulled out a Silver Cuff bracelet, brimming with magic power that once again attracted attention to him, and then put it on the wrist of the female adventurer who just finished styling his hair.
"…What?"
It took her a moment to react as she had totally not expected Evan to just pull out an artifact that was clearly something rare and put it on her so casually.
"It has a Level and Class restriction. For Level 500 Jewel Mages only, so it's useless to me.
Might as well give it to you."
Before she could even reply to Evan's words, another adventurer appeared and grabbed Evan on the shoulder, making the boy wince lightly as the SS rank adventurer's grip was too strong.
"Dude! Control your strength."
"Hah? I thought you were sturdier than this, boy."
He 'tapped' Evan's back multiple times as he spoke, but his 'taps' had the boy nearly falling over the chair due to the difference in strength.
"I'd have you know that there's a big difference between an 'SS+' strength stat and an 'A-' durability stat!"
"Huh? You're already in A- territory? Then you should be sturdier!"
Just as the guy was about to hit Evan again, the boy activated his blink skill and reappeared a few metres away, causing him to hit empty air. However, the wind pressure from his had caused the ground the crack slightly.
For a second, Evan went silent as he watched the guild hall's auto repair rune enchantment repair the crack, before turning his gaze to the man and saying.
"Did you just try to hit me with that?!"
Considering the strength of the materials used in constructing the guild building, the fact that he could crack the tiles showed that the amount of force behind his hand was no joke.
"…I may have put a bit too much force."
"A bit?!"
The Jewel Mage to whom Evan gave the bracelet to retorted to his words, while Evan began questioning if all SS rankers were weird and strange eccentrics like him.
"Evan, I assure you, most of us are normal!"
"Most?"
"…We do have a few oddballs like this idiot over here."
"Who're you calling an Oddball?!"
"You of course! Stop trying to slap people's backs every time you see them!!"
As Evan watched the two adventurers get into an argument, he was approached by another member of their party who had been silently eating their meal at another table.
"Sup."
"Oh, good. You're a normal one."
"Pfft..."
Evan fist-bumped the other guy, the other mage of the party. Like his other party members, the man was an Epic Level SS rank adventurer, with an SS+ Energy stat.
"Leaving those two idiots. I wanted to ask if Greed returned with you?"
"Nahh…he's still in Tarse."
The covetous high demon had gone over to the Desert Country of Tarse in order to challenge a single-time dungeon with a reward that gave one the chance to acquire a Rare Earth-type skill and a corresponding title.
"I see. What brings you here then?"
"I just finished a quest and wanted to turn it in. Then I'd probably take Liz out on a date afterwards."
The instant he said the latter half of his statement, the adventurers who had 'kidnapped' Kayla showed up behind him with curious looks on their faces as they questioned him for details.
Evan turned and saw the Great Lightning Spirit who had resigned herself to being pampered and spoiled by the female adventurers who found her exceedingly cute, chuckling lightly before he replied.
"Last time I told you guys, you spilt the beans to Liz and spoilt the surprise. Not Telling."
Just when they were about to speak, a tall cooperate-dressed woman came down from the first floor and asked a question that made Kayla flinch.
"I heard Kayla was here! Where is she?!"
The lightning spirit tried to run but since she was in someone's arms, she was a second late in escaping the woman who literally jumped over to where she was and pulled her into a tight hug.
"I have a few more dresses for you to try out! You're definitely gonna love them!"
[NO! I'm not! I don't wanna wear any more dresses!!]
The nearby adventurers all laughed lightly as this was a regular occurrence, and most of them could predict what was gonna happen next.
[Master! Help!]
Seeing the pleading look in her eyes, Evan smiled wryly before snapping his fingers, taking advantage of his contract with Kayla and resummoning her to his side.
Immediately after, she dematerialized her physical body and returned to spiritual form, making her invisible to people who did not possess the required affinity.
"Tsk…Didn't work this time."
The woman clicked her tongue as she noted that the magic spell she was working on to interfere with Evan and Kayla's contract did not work as expected, while Evan began questioning if this Vice Guild master did not have other important things to attend to.
'Besides, my Contract with Kayla cannot be broken unless you use the energy of the World Law Doctrine of Severance.'
Evan thought to himself as he remembered the little patch Artemisia had recently added to his Reincarnated Hero System, making it so that any contracts he made cannot be broken by any conventional means.
Anyway, it took a few more minutes to get the Vice Guild Master out of the way, after which Evan finally went on to turn in his quest as planned.
He was informed that he had met the requirements for the A rank Adventurer promotion, even though he was not level 300 yet, his strength was well above that.
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