351 C351. Qualifications
Addressing the room was the childlike lord of the city, Nullen Marx Zorak. While his appearance and voice may have resembled that of a female child. He carried a certain charisma about him that instilled a sense of authority and superiority.
This combined with his monstrous presence and aura that could not be felt by mortals, prevents even the most arrogant demon out there, from looking down on him.
Nullen smiled gently as he introduced the other Magicians from the magic guild as he carefully observed Lix’s body movements as he mentioned their ranks.
Seeing as he did not react to the looming auras of the elite Rank 7 Magicians, despite the fact that he was only supposed to be Rank 2, not to mention his lack of a reaction to his overwhelming presence that had managed to garner a momentary reaction from his partner.
Nullen smiled in satisfaction as he had already confirmed what he believed made this man the subject of interest to many, including the likes of his very own mother. He had even gone as far as though expose his true strength, something he had so brilliantly hidden from his siblings for a while now.
He knew only someone at the same level as him could sense his aura without the aid of the magic artifact he normally uses to fool everyone. Still, even if this Lix was not yet at that level, even gone being aware of his missing aura would tell him all he needed to know.
Without taking a breath, he proceeded with his introductions as though nothing had happened, his momentary pause appeared to have gone unnoticed by all.
“Like yourself, these three are also members of the Magician guild which are the pride and joy of this city. While your team may have only joined the Magic institute recently and haven’t yet risen through the rankings. I hope you know that the citizens of this city consider your team one of the best. From the single achievement of becoming a VIP merchant on your first day to exploring the dangerous Farbelt Pass, stories of your adventures in the Far East had only served to intensify your popularity.”
Lix tilted his head slightly at Nullen’s words as Lilith had a look that said, such a thing was only natural which seemed to rub one of the Magicians seated across from them the wrong way.
.....
Sensing the gaze of the hooded Lix sweep across the room and landing on the three Magicians guild representative. Nullen promptly began their introduction.
“Allow me to introduce them to you, from the right to the left are Evreux of Exodus, Severus of Tensen, and Teyla of Thunder.”
Those three each had a familiar crystal badge pinned across their chest — with the demon character equivalent to the number 7 engraved on it — and each of them gave the impression of being commanding and even powerful.
At this point, their equipment was nothing more than junk to Lix, but they were still far above the gear sported by most Hunters and Magicians in this city.
However, their expensive gear completely paled in comparison to the gear of the four demons seated closest to Nullen. The quality of the material and skill behind the craftsmanship was a league apart from anything they had on.
Yet, for some reason, the simple-looking cloaks donned by the two Rank 2 Magicians seem to be on par or even better than the ones worn by the personal guards of a prince.
Of course, this minute detail did not escape the scrutiny of everyone present. A feat that seems to have silenced most of their original skepticism and reservations to the idea of inviting Rank 2 Magicians to such a gathering, if only just by a bit.
Every one of them had vastly different looks in their eyes as they observed the pair that sat before them, but they all shared one thing in common, the same thread of curiosity.
Each of them had heard the rumors going around about the mysterious Lix and his beast kin partner, Lilith, by one means or another. However, this was the first time they had ever met them in person and they were all curious to find out, just how much of those rumors were true, especially after seeing the quality of their equipment as there were some things money couldn’t buy.
One of them — the representative of Thunder, the only female demon amongst the trio from the Magic Guild, Teyla — glared icily at Lix and interrupted.
“Before that, there’s something I’d like to ask you, Lord Nullen. So pardon me as I’d rather ask this question to the Guild Leader of the Magic institute but seeing as she isn’t here, I’m left with no other option.”
Although she was addressing Nullen, her glare never deviated from Lix, something that could be considered a form of disrespect and was. However, Nullen didn’t seem to mind such trivialities as he immediately spoke before anyone could react.
“Alright, there’s no reason to be so reserved around me. Please ask away.”
Getting the confirmation she needed, Teyla didn’t waste any time speaking about what was boiling in her chest.
“Until yesterday, I’d never heard of the name Lix before. I suppose that’s not surprising given as you just said he’s only a Rank 2 Magician. Still, I do trust the Zorak family’s judgment so I believe he should have done something noteworthy, right?”
There seemed to be a little hostility and satire in her voice. However, Nullen seemed to pay it no heed and cheerfully replied:
“As I was eluding to earlier, Mr. Lix and Ms. Lilith’s feats include, escorting a party of low-ranked Hunters to safely explore the likes of the forbidden Farbelt Pass without a single death, locating a Grade 3 Gold mine in the process.”
“They located a fucking Grade 3 Gold mine? You mean you invited them here for that?”
Unlike the confused Teyla, Evreux of “Exodus” exclaimed in surprise.
“Are you referring to the rumored double mine where a supposed Green eyed devil was found? I suppose you now believe that devil is responsible for the missing Hunters and Merchants right?”
“Kekeke.... that’s correct, you’re quite well informed. I’m sure even someone like Aur had managed to comprehend the significance of that incident and instructed that the matter not be made public due to receiving that piece of troubling news. So, where did you hear that from?”
While his tone remained the same and he had his usual adorable smile on his face. His eyes told a different story as he turned his attention to Evreux.
“Forgive me, my lord. I merely overheard this somewhere, so it’s difficult for me to tell you where exactly the news came from. In addition, I do not know much of the details myself.”
The two of them looked at each other and they smiled as Evreux tried his best to avoid Nullen’s gaze. His smile was forced and a bit awkward but Nullen did not attempt to pursue the matter any further.
“Hm~ It seems to have gotten a little too exaggerated to me. For something like this, there should be a lot of people who know the truth to confirm right? Yet if I’m not mistaken, the only Hunters that accompanied him during the “illegal” exploration have conveniently gone missing. Ah forgive me, I seem to have interrupted accidentally.”
“It’s fine, Evreux. All three organizations, meaning the Merchant, Hunter, and even the Magic Guild have conducted their own investigations into this matter and it had been deemed that Mr. Lix and Ms. Lilith are not responsible for the disappearance of the Hunter party known as Unrivaled. And due to their initial involvement with the Grade 3 mine and capabilities, they have been chosen to participate in this rescue mission.”
“Just one mission? I’ll understand it if they had come face to face with the King of the Pass but come on. Surviving a trip to the Farbelt Pass and back does not warrant such blatant disregard for our ranks. There’s no proof they even came across a Devil, to begin with. It might’ve been just some minor spirit. If that’s the case then his presence here is practically a waste of our time.”
She wasn’t even pretending to be polite anymore. Teyla displayed naked aggression on her face as she was clearly displeased by Lix and Lilith’s presence. Especially since they had spent the last few days just waiting for them to show up while the likelihood of those hunters still being alive grew slimmer by the second.
She clicked her tongue in irritation and was just about the say something else when someone suddenly spoke coldly from the side.
“Hmph. Frankly speaking, I have to say that I’m not happy about these two receiving special treatment despite the disparity in our ranks. For all those who had gone through the grinds of climbing up the ranks of the three organizations, such a thing is flat-out disrespectful.”
The man who cut in was the leader of one of the top-rated parties in the Magic guild, Severus of Tensen. There was a derisive expression on his face, though Lix understood that it was not directed at himself, but at Teyla. However, Teyla did not realize this and responded to Severus with a satisfied smile.
“I’m glad someone here seems to understand the consequences of these actions.”
“Ah...”
Severus sighed tiredly as his lips grew tinner in baffled amusement.
“While I do understand where you’re coming from, I feel as though you have failed to understand the full intent of my words.”
“What do you mean by—”
“Really, that’s enough out of you, Teyla. There are people in the Guild who feel as though Mr. Lix and Ms. Lilith are already deserving of even the 8th Rank. After all, the Vice guild leader is an 8th-ranked Magician and Ms. Lilith here was able to defeat him in a duel.”
“What!?”
Teyla’s face seemed to be asking how that was possible.
As he saw it, Severus’ mocking smile grew so wide that it twisted his entire face. She had no idea that this guy could even make a devilish face like that. They had never been hostile to each other so she had no idea why he would choose such a time to play some cruel tricks on her.
“Not only that, but they had also easily defeated a Rank 5 magicians party after that duel. Although it was only the Grimers family’s moronic third son’s party. Still, that party boasts an impressive gear quality thanks to the family’s influence, and not even you could accomplish the feat in an instant.”
“—Please, any Rank 7 with the right equipment could just as easily—”
Severus sighed, in a somewhat exaggerated way.
“Indeed, you are correct. Initially, Even I felt the same as you. However, after a short discussion with the Hunter’s Guild Leader, I understood why this opportunity has been given to them.”
At that point, Severus turned to look at the cloaked Lix in front of him, a stern but cautious look in his eyes.
Whereas, Ivan — the Guild Leader of the Hunter Guild — stroked his long white beard gently with a knowing look in his eyes, whilst giving Severus a gentle nod.
“...Amongst the monster carcasses that were sold to the Hunter guild by Mr. Lix, there were the corpses of a couple of Lesser Basilisks. Those are Advance Class monsters if you’ve forgotten. I’m sure you know how many Rank 5 and 6 Magicians it requires to battle a single Magic beast much less two.”
Teyla’s face turned sour at the surprising attitude from her fellow Rank 7 Magicians and she struggled to muster a response.
“So... so what. A couple of corpses doesn’t mean—”
“Oh, there’s also the testimony of the missing Hunters that confirmed that Mr. Lix by himself was capable of driving off over a hundred Night Terrors with a single spell. So not only are they already familiar with our destination, but he’s also more capable than any Rank 7 Magician I know.”
“Indeed he is... Frankly, if it were left to me, I’d seize this opportunity to promote Mr. Lix all the way to a Duranium Ranked Magician.”
The conclusion by the Hunter Guild Leader completely dumbfounded Teyla, as well as the others in the room that were unaware of these facts. This single statement had caused the looks in their eyes to change completely.
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