Chapter 43: Human’s Despair
"Well, I’ll go ahead first to make things easier for us. My name is Noah Reed. I awakened a B-rank class that allows me to subdue monsters that are weaker than me by a whole rank. During the apocalypse, I was 19 years old. Even now, I have quite the same appearance."
"What about you?" He extended his hand forward, waiting to hear his response.
"Jake Mercer," Jake said, his voice low and heavy.
"Nice to meet you, Jake Mercer." Ethan nodded slightly, resting his head on his right hand as he placed his elbow on the armrest.
"From the reports I’ve received, I believe it’s safe for me to presume that you’ve awakened a lightning-type class, correct?" He asked, focusing on Jake’s chest.
He paused for a moment before answering, almost as if conjuring it on the spot. "...Yes, I’ve awakened a D-rank lightning-type class."
Thump...
Ethan’s eyes slightly widened as he noticed a very minute jerk in his breathing.
’Hoho? He’s still thinking about playing games...’ Jake’s courage amused him.
Even in this situation, he was daring enough to give him false information. In a sense, his thoughts were not different from Ethan’s.
While he may have been in a disadvantageous situation since the beginning, he didn’t trust "Noah Reed."
Since he had not seen him personally, Jake was still highly unsure about his identity as a human.
’What if he’s a monster who’s just pretending to be a human...?’
’If I give him precise answers, it might help him become something dangerous...’
At last, Jake made up his mind. ’If I don’t have a way of clearing my doubts, he doesn’t either.’
However, this mindset didn’t last for long. Ethan’s voice resounded through the hall once again, dripping with a cold brazenness.
"Mister Jake Mercer, I believe you seem to be mistaken." He said, twisting his words into a rather sweet yet uncanny tone.
"Hmm?" Immediately, Jake was confused. He didn’t believe his plan was found out—in fact, he was sure of it.
"Quite thankfully, as an awakened one who controls others, I happen to have a skill that allows me to differentiate the true and false." As soon as he said that, Jake’s face lost its color.
"I’ll let it go for the first time... Although..." he paused briefly before continuing. "I hope you won’t test my patience again."
Realizing that he truly had no choice left, Jake silently nodded.
Since the day he awakened his class, he had never once faced such a forced defeat. Even when he lost his fight with the white serpent, he didn’t feel as threatened as now.
"...My name is Jake Mercer, a C-rank class awakener. I’m essentially a part of a team called ’Seven Radiant Stars’ and have been protecting a human called Valeria City for nearly a decade."
’This guy...’ Hearing his words, Ethan couldn’t help but feel slightly irritated.
’Even after being pushed into a vicious corner, he chooses his words carefully to simply not reveal too much.’ He tapped his finger on the armrest continuously, his eyes losing their playful demeanor.
While Jake did reveal the details, he purposefully left out the most important parts.
What was his class?
What were the seven radiant stars?
Most importantly, where was this Valeria city?
The questions may come out as utterly pointless to ordinary people, but for Ethan, the situation was different.
Although he didn’t do it out of his own will, Jake had already entered Ethan’s base. What’s worse is that he had already seen both the blood ants and Eris.
Moreover, an awakener’s senses are much more sensitive than ordinary humans’. When Ethan awakened and later evolved, he felt this qualitative change himself.
If he were to ever retrace his steps, one day or another he’d undoubtedly find his way back. Who is to say he wouldn’t come here harboring hostility? He’s a "prideful" human after all.
"Where is Valeria City?"
"I’m unsure of our current location; it’ll be hard for me to point out the exact distance," Jake answered.
A slight frown appeared in Ethan’s brows as he clenched his jaw tightly.
’So you’re now even trying to get your hands on our location?’ he interpreted.
Eris, who was listening to this disguised banter, could also feel Ethan’s anger gradually rising.
But this time, she remained silent.
"It’s fine, just tell me roughly. Use any nearby landmarks, ones that are easy to spot." He retorted peacefully, reneging on his calm persona.
Jake understood that he couldn’t delay the response any longer; thus, he replied truthfully. "Near the city’s southern borders, there used to be a ravine filled with blood. To its south comes the territory of a D-rank territory lord."
"I see, so that place beyond the ravine was Valeria City." Ethan intentionally said that out loud, letting Jake know that he knew the place well.
"But then, why haven’t awakeners killed that territory lord yet? From my knowledge, it’s been alive for nearly a decade. For a D-rank territory lord, isn’t it taking too long?"
Ethan was genuinely confused about this. The last he remembered, while monsters were invading the earth, humans too were awakening strong powers.
In fact, in the earlier days, humans were able to easily stand toe to toe against the monsters.
So then why haven’t they been able to deal with a D-rank monster for over a decade?
Jake gritted his teeth in anger. Unknowingly, Ethan had stepped onto his weakest nerve. But hearing his words, Jake genuinely felt that maybe Ethan wasn’t lying.
"It’s..." he spoke with much difficulty, his voice wavering.
"It’s because of our population... Forty-nine years ago, when the apocalypse befell Earth, a mysterious system came forward to ensure everyone received an equal opportunity for survival against the endless strong monsters. In that moment, nearly every human received one of the strongest powers and classes—becoming the very first and the strongest generations of awakeners. However... Against the monsters who were seasoned in hunting others, humans’ battle experience fell short by a cliff."