Chapter 57: [57] Vice Commander Of The Association
Ark was escorted into one of the many rooms in the building. From the moment he entered, he knew that it was not just any office.
The room was spacious and well organised. Although there were a few decorations here and there, overall the room was minimalistic in design.
He was directed to sit on one of the couches, and served a steaming cup of tea and cookies shortly after.
Ark ate one of the cookies, took a sip from his cup of tea, before relaxing his back and sinking into his thoughts.
’Why is he looking for me?’
The Players Association was often said to have authority similar to that of the top five guilds. Although they did not have the same financial levity that the guilds enjoyed, they had the backing of the government.
The vice commander of an organization that held that much power, was no ordinary man. He was likely ranked either Diamond or even Mythril!
And yet, he requested a meeting with him...
It was obvious that the association would be interested in what happened in the tutorial, a large number of people had died after all.
But anyone else could have handled his interview... it was definitely more.
After a few minutes of waiting in silence, the door to the office opened, and a man walked in, accompanied by two others on both sides.
The air grew still.
Ark had seen him on the news a few times, Tristan R Donavan. Whenever Ark saw him, he always seemed to have a calm, easy going presence about him.
That was how his image of the man had been formed. But now, that image has completely shattered.
At first glance, Tristan looked very unassuming. He was not particularly tall, and neither was he overly muscular. He had short blonde hair, dark eyes and a kind smile.
But everything was a facade.
Tristan stunk of death. The very air around him was so pungent, that Ark felt like throwing up.
This was not the type of aura that came from killing monsters... this feeling... This bloodlust was built upon the blood of humans.
Just how many people had he killed?
Every single move he made, every single flicker of emotion was done with murder in mind.
’The Assassin class...’ Ark had never really thought much of it in the past, but just like his view of the vice commander, that image had also vanished.
Tristan sat opposite Ark and stared at him for a few seconds, his brown eyes glowing like a furnace.
"Tell me, Ark Karras. What do you know about the Evernight?"
Ark swallowed, feeling beads of sweat run down his face. All instincts screamed at him to flee the room, but he knew it would be pointless.
There was no way he was outrunning an assassin in the level 100s.
"The Evernight?" It was a strange question to ask a player.
You could pick up a random stranger from the street and they would tell you everything about the evernight, right from the beginning of the story down to the end, with every last detail.
It was standard to teach about the Evernight in both middle school, high school and even the academy.
That was because it was the very first phenomenon that nearly caused global extinction.
After all, it was the Evernight that birthed the gate to Eden.
It happened many years ago... a long night that never seemed to end. The sun vanished out of the sky, plunging the world into a deep darkness, and then came the cold, the long winter.
Even the hottest parts of the earth froze over in the space of a few days. Millions of people all over the world died, as governments struggled to burn the earth’s resources just to abate the cold.
Most believed it was a miracle that they managed to survive...
But after a period of seven days, on a very auspicious morning, the sun returned. But the night had not vanished without leaving a mark.
Scattered around the world were glowing portals, the first gates to Eden... and standing like ancient pyramids were the towers that would wash the world with blood.
Ark gritted his teeth and stared up at the Vice Commander. "W-when I heard you wanted to meet with me, I expected many things. But this certainly wasn’t in the list."
He smirked.
"Are you just going to sit back there.... a-and ask foolish questions?" Under the intense pressure of Tristan’s aura, even speaking was a chore.
The vice commander did not move an inch, but the pressure suddenly doubled. Now it felt like Ark’s bones were being run through a meat grinder.
Yet, Ark still had that faltering smile on his face.
Click!
In an instant, he suddenly transformed into his skeletal form. The vice commander watched in awe as he properly relaxed his back on the chair and crossed his legs.
"Do you want to have a civil conversation?"
The shadows in the room swirled.
A black hand suddenly grabbed onto Tristan’s foot, tightly. Bright blue orbs, and a fearsome mask stared up at him.
Ark’s fiery eyes stared right into Tristan’s. "Or is this going to be a good old fashioned slug fest?"
[Race Effect Active. Player is immune to all forms of mental attacks]
’What just happened?’ Tristan mused.
Even before he had become the vice commander of the Player’s Association, not once had he come across a newbie that was able to shake off his intimidation.
Right from the start, Ark had been strange.
Normally, the amount of bloodlust he unleashed to him should have brought him down on his knees. When he increased it, Ark should have been convulsing on the floor...
And yet, Ark was sitting in a lax manner before him. He wasn’t even resisting the bloodlust, he was completey unaffected by it.
Is this a special skill? Or is he also closely knit with death?
A small smirk appeared on his face.
’I guess it is just as they said. This kid is beyond ordinary...’
<•••>
A few hours ago...
"These are the files of all the surviving students, Vice Commander." A man said as he placed the documents on the table.
"Thank you." Tristan nodded as he began going through the files ine after the other.
The tutorial had been a rather unfortunate event. It was up to the association to figure out the cause, as well as how to prevent it from happening in the future.
Of course, they already knew what had happened, hell mode difficulty as the bigger guilds were calling it.
But if there was a way of figuring it out beforehand, then they could prevent another incident.
The vice commander picked up one of the files that had piqued his interest and began to read through it.
Earlier, most of the students from that class had come to register, so they had pulled together their accounts of what happened.
Eveything was tied to this child...
The more Tristan read, the more confused he got. "Are you sure they are not still in shock? These reports..."
The man shook his head. "The reports they all gave has been consistent. The only person we have not interviewed is the hero Darius, and Ark himself."
Most of the survivors had been members of notable families, or families with at least one high ranking player.
They knew how important having an early start was, so they had their children come in as early as 4AM to register.
It was then the interviews were made.
Maybe they were sleepy? No, then the reports wouldn’t match...
"How is it possible for a new player, a skeleton for the matter of fact, to have such feats?"
He was also suspected to have some sort of mimicry skill, which made Tristan even more suspicious.
"What happened to the tails we put on him?
The man shook his head. "He shook them off."
Meaning they had no new information...
"Do you think he may be part of them?" The man asked in a skeptical tone.
Tristan stared at the document, at the passport of Ark at the edge. "Well, that would explain his explosive growth."
The man fidgeted as he pulled out his phone. "I should assign more people to watch him!"
Tristan raised a hand to stop him. "No need. I’ll
Interview him myself..."
<•••>
Present time...
Seeing that his intimidation had proven fruitless, Tristan dropped it, the room returning to its normally serene nature.
As a show of good will, Ark ordered Sumo to let go of his foot...
He stared down as he watched it vanish. "Interesting. Is that necromancy?"
Ark gave him a look, then folded his hands across his chest. Did he really think he would just blab out information about his skill?
"What is it you really want? And please don’t ask me that bullshit about Evernight. If you don’t know what the evernight is, you might need to retake the academy, or maybe highshool..."
Ark cleared his throat when he noticed the blank stare Tristan was giving him.
"Uhum... No offence."
Tristan signed. "None taken."
"I’ll keep it simple." He said with a leveled gaze. "Join us, Ark, join the Player’s Association..."