Chapter 273: Only the Main Boss will speak!

After completing his first dungeon, especially with so few people accompanying him, Lucian’s name immediately began spreading throughout the Association.

The people who had previously thought of him as nothing more than a rookie—or perhaps some maniac who had attacked a man and nearly killed him...

They were starting to get curious. Whispers began spreading, and words about him soon started going around.

And of course, not just about him... but also the mysterious woman accompanying him, who kept her face hidden beneath a pitch-black mask, making her even more mysterious.

At the same time, another piece of information began spreading throughout the Association, which was that... Lucian was apparently the new leader of the old party Lone Wolves... now known as Anonymous.

Some wondered if Lucian was some mysterious person who had been leading the Lone Wolves behind the scenes.

After all, Shawn had been the one publicly recognised as the leader, yet now... Shawn and the other members were following Lucian around like obedient, scared dogs.

Though most people dismissed the idea, thinking that there was something else going on.

Nobody really knew... but most Awakened didn’t particularly feel bothered.

If anything, they even felt a bit gleeful whenever Lucian scolded one of them or made the entire group of men tremble in fear, which was quite satisfying.

And Lucian’s growing reputation didn’t just stop there.

Right after completing their second dungeon, his group was surprisingly given another dungeon the following day... almost as if someone had reserved it specifically for them.

The Director, who had been keeping an eye on Lucian’s movements, had already heard about the young lad’s latest accomplishments.

Although Cedric was somewhat pleased by the lad’s successful completion of the dungeon... he was also rather annoyed—no, very annoyed.

The boy was causing far too much ruckus.

First, he had grabbed a man by the throat in the middle of the Association, nearly killing him, and now... he had somehow taken rein over the same party that the Boss had been a part of.

And perhaps because of these two points, Lucian wasn’t completely seen in the most pleasant light.

Many still taunted him, refusing to believe his accomplishments, some even calling it a fluke, though most of these opinions... came from men.

The women were much more prone to getting lost in a daze whenever Lucian entered the building, their eyes following him as if he were their eye candy.

Regardless...

As for Lucian and Selene, both of them went into their next dungeon, and after a few hours of accepting their second dungeon mission...

They returned.

"It’s done."

Almost everyone lost their minds when they heard that, while Lily happily wrote it down before asking him about his previous dungeon.

After the Association sent a team to properly inspect and confirm whether all the monsters were cleared... the team had to immediately run back out through the portal.

The entire inner section of the dungeon had practically become an ocean of flames, the heat inside becoming unbearable.

They might’ve even died of suffocation, or perhaps even burned to ashes if they hadn’t escaped quickly.

And eventually—

Twenty-four hours later, the dungeon portal disappeared, which alone was enough to confirm Lucian’s claim... which also brought many questions about what had happened inside.

Lucian scratched his cheek, and briefly glancing towards Selene, who was staring at him blankly through her mask, he quickly looked away.

"I just used my Fire Affinity... perhaps I caused all of that...?"

He lied with a completely straight face, and Lily...

She nodded, seeing his innocent expression.

"I see. It’s good that you weren’t there for a long time."

"..."

"..."

Neither Lucian nor Selene said anything, and just like that—

Another dungeon raid completed.

...

Over three days had passed since Lucian had obtained his Awakener’s ID, and in those three days...

He had already made a name for himself, especially the name Anonymous, which had somehow become famous within their area.

A very ironic thing, especially for a party with a name like that.

Leaving that aside, the monster cores Lucian had been collecting were gradually being used for Seraphina’s growth, who had steadily begun absorbing them.

However, Lucian repeatedly warned her not to overdo it, as her body needed time to adjust to the increased mana flowing inside her.

He hadn’t known that before, but after training under his Master, he had learned that a person’s body couldn’t simply hold unlimited amounts of mana within a short period of time.

Because if that were the case, then wealthy people would have simply purchased mountains of monster cores and turned themselves into A-Rankers within a few days.

No—that wasn’t how awakening worked.

Mana needed time to be properly absorbed and integrated into the body.

As for how much time it took... it depended heavily on the person’s talent.

Even the amount of mana someone could absorb from a monster core depended on their talent.

For example—

A person with an A-Rank talent might only be capable of absorbing up to 50 percent of the mana contained within a core.

Meanwhile, someone with an SSS-Rank talent could absorb up to 90 percent—perhaps less, perhaps more.

Leaving that aside for now...

Let’s get back to our protagonist, Lucian, who was currently in an unknown place.

"I didn’t expect you to have another safehouse aside from that one," Lucian muttered with amusement as he strolled around the new, unfamiliar room.

He was currently inside another abandoned-looking area, a place where dungeons had been cleared some time ago, leaving behind a mostly barren stretch of land.

And hidden within that abandoned area was a safehouse... where Lucian was standing right now.

It looked a bit similar to the warehouse that had already been sealed by the Association—while this one still stood without anyone’s notice.

The Boss nodded sullenly.

"Hm...?"

Lucian frowned, noticing that dull, almost resigned expression.

"Aren’t you grateful that I came here?"

Shawn’s entire body stiffened.

"N-N-No..! No! Boss, it’s not that!" His voice became increasingly desperate.

"I’m happy for you being here! Very, very!"

Despite his absolute flattery, which made the other men present look at the Boss with widened eyes, Lucian’s lips twisted in disgust.

The Boss slowly lowered his head.

"W-What is happening...?"

One of the men quietly muttered.

"D-Don’t know, but Bo—"

"Can’t you all shut your asses up?!"

The Boss—Shawn suddenly screamed, causing the men to suddenly flinch.

"Only the Main Boss will speak!"

His rough, heavy voice echoed throughout the safehouse.