两男一女的双龙挺进

"Yes." Jack displayed a kind, amiable smile.

But Reyes\'s next words caused that smile to vanish. "No!"

"B-but," Jack stuttered.

"How can I be sure you\'re not from a rival faction planning to backstab us once we get the crystal?" Reyes stated, continuing to walk. The only reason they had even accepted Nox into their team was because he was clueless about the Elemental Beast\'s existence, which wasn\'t the case for Jack.

"And..." Reyes paused, locking eyes with Jack. "Are you even an Awakened?"

Few people knew, but Reyes possessed a special skill that allowed him to differentiate an Awakened from a mundane. This skill manifested as flames—blue and red—located near a person\'s heart. The blue flame signified an ordinary person, while the red flame indicated an Awakened.

To gauge potential, Reyes often paid attention to the velocity at which these flames burned. It wasn\'t a useful skill in battle, hence why he rarely talked about it, but it was ideal for recruiting members to his guild.

This was the very reason Reyes had recruited Nox without much hesitation.

However...

Jack\'s flame was blue, indicating he was an ordinary human...

\'But why is his flame so intense?\' Reyes wondered. The flames of other mundanes only burned slightly, yet this boy\'s flame burned so fiercely that it seemed to want to devour everything in its path.

After a brief silence, Jack responded to Reyes\'s question. "I\'m not an Awakened...but I\'m very special." He drew out the word "special" with a smirk.

"Indeed, you\'re special." Reyes nodded, causing the smirk to vanish from Jack\'s face. The boy narrowed his eyes.

"How did you know?"

"Just instincts...but advertising yourself won\'t change my decision. I still think you\'re a spy."

"Hey, brother, put in some words for me...are you just going to stand here and watch?" Reyes turned to Nox.

"He\'s right. You could be a spy, who knows." Nox shrugged, then continued pestering Reyes, telling him how important the money was for him. The guild master was slowly beginning to be convinced. Then, a mischievous plan formed in Reyes\'s mind, causing a smirk to curl up on his face. Jack didn\'t see this smile as he was walking behind the group.

"Okay, you\'re hired," Reyes stated.

"Huh?" Jack frowned. The man who had strongly refused him just moments ago had suddenly accepted? It was perplexing and suspicious.

\'Did he see through my plan?\' Jack thought. \'Well, whatever, phase one is complete...\'

After his guards had been killed by the red-skinned girl, Jack knew his chances of getting the Elemental Beast were slim. Witnessing the beast\'s prowess firsthand, he knew he needed to align himself with a faction as quickly as possible.

Now that the problem was solved, all he needed to do was aid them in hunting the beast. Then, when the right time came...he\'d snatch the beast crystal and flee. His only regret was that he would have to steal the crystal from Nox.

\'That won\'t happen,\' Nox, who had clearly seen through Jack\'s plan, thought. He could tell that Jack was in a similar situation as him and that they both needed the crystal for their own reasons.

Though he didn\'t know if Reyes was aware of his true intentions, he was almost certain the guild master knew about Jack\'s plans.

\'This raises the question, why accept him then?\' Nox wondered as he looked at the guild master\'s unreadable expression. Just what was Reyes scheming this time?

The Mavericks Guild arrived at the abandoned ship. Nox didn\'t know what Reyes was thinking, but the guild leader allocated a room to Jack while the others retreated to their respective quarters.

When he was alone, Nox shut the door to his room. His mind was full of thoughts, mostly about why his Analyze and Beast Sense skills had failed.

\'The system did mention that the only way to increase their level is to continuously use them,\' Nox pondered, pacing back and forth in his room. This meant he needed to find more beasts and use his skills on them while also defeating them to increase his experience points.

Nox knew the key to defeating the Elemental Beast largely depended on Beast Sense. So far, nothing seemed to work against the beast. While he hadn\'t yet used Shadow Oblivion, it was only convenient to use that skill when he was alone with the Elemental Beast. That way, he wouldn\'t have to worry about the crystal falling into someone else\'s hands.

\'So the best approach is finding its weakness... At first, I thought it was fire, but that doesn\'t seem to be the case.\' Nox recalled the time when the flame mages used their fire against the beast, yet it had little effect.

Thus, fire was ruled out.

\'Luckily, there\'s a way for me to level these skills.\' Nox brought out the dimensional key from his inventory and stared at it for a while. It had been ages since he last used the key. The first time he used it, he had appeared in a dimension filled with demons; the other dimensions that followed were low-level ones that didn\'t pose much threat, and he had made sure to avoid others.

Nox was hoping that this time, he would appear in a high-level dimension that didn\'t lack monsters. That way, he could continuously use Analyze and Beast Sense to upgrade his skills.

\'Hopefully, then I\'ll be able to see the Elemental Beast\'s stats and weaknesses.\' Nox rubbed the key, and like before, a door materialized before him.

\'Alright, let\'s see what awaits me on the other side.\'