Chapter 179: Negotiating with Elyndra

Kaelen moved towards her and only stopped inches apart, before grabbing her shoulder and leaning in for her ear.

Elyndra shuddered involuntarily and tried to pull away, but Kaelen’s grip was firm.

"W-What are you doing? You do know there’s an audience watching right now," she said in alarm.

"Exactly," Kaelen replied calmly, his voice down to a whisper. "Everyone is watching and listening, which is why I have to talk to you like this to prevent them from eavesdropping on our conversation. Now, if you don’t mind, let’s pretend like I’m being a creep, but I need you to listen carefully." He said and wrapped his arms around her shoulder and brought his lips closer to her ear.

Elyndra’s lips parted several times to speak, but no words came out. She froze on the spot as her eyes darted all over.

From an outsider’s perspective, Kaelen was simply taking advantage of the woman over her obsession with dead bodies.

Kaelen didn’t mind what anyone would think, as what he was about to say would decide his next move from here on out.

"Now, if I understand correctly, immortality should be the ability for a lifeform to survive under any circumstances. Be it a blade to the chest, under the heat of a blazing fire, or a cursed bloodline. So I’d like to know how this correlates with having an understanding of the origin of existence, or having visions of the beginning and the end, when you’re simply evolving your body to surpass the chains of mortality.

"I’ve been thinking, and if you ask me, I believe the side effects you mentioned of the Immortality Pill all come down to an ingredient or something that may or may not belong in the mix to protect just anyone from becoming immortal, rendering the pill dangerous and useless.

"As the greatest alchemy apprentice, I expect someone of your caliber to be able to figure out that much and, if possible, find an alternative ingredient to fix the potion and dispel the ideology that comes with the side effects. That is all I want from you, and in return, you get to play with the lycan behind me, and I can help you fill your bag with all the garbage you can only dream of. How about that?"

Kaelen wasn’t certain how the broadcast system worked, but as long as there were no hidden mics on him, he could only hope no one could eavesdrop with how low his tone was and how minimal he kept his lip movement to make it look like he wasn’t even talking.

As soon as he finished speaking, Elyndra seemed to have regained function of her motor skills and fiercely squirmed her way out of his hug and pushed him back.

Kaelen was caught off guard when his feet left the ground and he flew several feet backwards before hitting the ground just beside the lycan’s incapacitated body, slowly healing up.

"Y-You should give me a heads-up before doing something like that. All that wasn’t necessary, knowing we’re both young and healthy," Elyndra said in annoyance with her face tinged red.

Kaelen felt his mind go blank for a second. "What’s that even supposed to mean?"

"You can leave now. I’ll think about it," she dismissed him.

"That’s not how this will work." Kaelen frowned.

"There’s so many problems with what you want. So go now and let me think this through, okay?" She said in annoyance. "It’s not like you’re losing anything by leaving the final boss to me, when we all worked together to take it down."

That was true, but still...

"What’s your name again?" she suddenly asked as she navigated through her system panel.

"Huh?"

"What’s your name? There’s no one by the name Kaelen Croft here. And there’s so many Kaelens’."

Kaelen’s lips twitched. How many times would she get his last name wrong?

Was her memory as bad as her eyesight?

"It’s Kaelen Cross. Cross. Y’know, like a cross. A diagonal X. The plus sign—"

"Okay—okay, I get it. Geez," she hurriedly replied.

[You have received a friend request from Elyndra Silver]

Accept.

It was only now Kaelen felt it was safe enough to trust she wouldn’t ditch him.

He picked himself up and dusted his clothes. "It’s nice doing business with you," he said as he slipped his hands inside his pockets and began heading towards the exit.

"Whatever," she replied as she walked past him and moved towards the lycan.

When Kaelen arrived before the pillar of light which held a portal inside, he paused to look behind his back.

"I think I finally understand why you wear oversized clothes." As soon as those words left his lips, Elyndra choked on her saliva.

"W-What?" she stuttered with wide eyes, but when she turned, he had already disappeared into the portal.

[Congratulations! You have cleared the First Floor in Hell’s Mode difficulty]

[You have received the Tower Starter Pack (1)]

[10,000 Reward Multiplier Triggered...]

[Quality or Quantity?]

[Calculating contributions for defeating the hidden boss...%]

[You have received a gift from the Herald Executioner: Eye of Truth]

[10,000 Reward Multiplier Triggered...]

[Quality or Quantity?]

[You have received a 3-Day Visa Period]

[You will now be randomly assigned to a lobby]

Seeing the series of notifications, especially the ones that triggered his reward system, Kaelen was excited but wasn’t in a rush to decide. The option was obvious for him, but there were still a few things to consider when it came to the Starter Pack.

A blinding white light suddenly filled his vision soon after the notifications, forcing him to shield his eyes as the light slowly settled, and sounds slowly returned.

The first thing that reached his ears was the sound of birds chirping excitedly, then came the wind, which carried the faint scent of freshness and something sweet.

These sensory details confused him, as he was half expecting to be thrown into a depressing dungeon for a lobby. But the moment he opened his eyes to look around, his eyes immediately sharpened by what surrounded him.

At the same time, a [something] popped out of thin air behind him to welcome its newest candidates, while the other candidates slowly stepped out of the corner to stare at him with varying expressions.

"Welcome to my lobby, Candidate Kaelen Cross."

The Herald’s tiny voice barely registered in his head, and he stared at an object lying in the open, which filled his mind with questions.

Why the hell is there a dead body in the lobby?