“The System, or Systems, date back to before the discovery of the Aether Planet by the earthlings. Going back even further into the past, there were three ‘Holy’ Artifacts known as the Three Divine Scriptures. One of them is the Paths of Extinction System.”

“It’s an Artifact?”

“Yes, of the highest grade. Throughout history, there have been only 6 8th-grade Artifacts, and the Paths of Extinction System is one of them. Two more are also systems, one is the moon you see at night. I don’t know what the last one is, however.”

Although he was morbidly curious about how the moon could be an artifact, Zeke perked his ears and listened.

“Anyway, it was said that the Three Divine Scriptures originated from the Creator God. Think of him as the one true celestial entity behind existence itself. That’s what the records I have read claimed, at least. The Paths of Extinction appeared only a handful of times… five to be exact. However, with each appearance, there is a cataclysm that follows. The Age of Eternal Night is an example.”

“Does it have to do with the Goddess of Night?” Asked Zeke as he remembered the woman in a regal black dress back in the Extinction Order.

“Precisely! With the use of the System, she ascended to godhood. She disappeared shortly right before the Age of Eternal Night. I’m not entirely sure, but I think she was the 3rd-user. Edward Heart was the 4th.”

“What do you know about him?”

“Well, he started out as a soldier and quickly climbed the ranks. He was an undefeatable fighter that built his own empire through strength alone. He was especially cynical towards the System and wanted to uncover the truth. I also know he unlocked all 32 Main Paths and tried to max them all out. His demise was mainly due to resisting the System, which limited his capabilities and tried to ‘erase’ him. Of course, since he killed himself, I dare say it succeeded. History-wise, that is all I know.”

From the look on the man’s face, Zeke had a hunch that Frederic still hadn't told him everything. Nevertheless, he didn’t press any further.

“Instead of rambling about the paths, I’ll give you this. It’s a copy and has detailed information about certain Paths and their subsequent upgrades. There are also some plausible methods that can assist you in either unlocking or upgrading said paths.”

“You seem to be in a hurry?”

“Look around, Zeke. The whole street is infested with Special Agents. As much as I want to hang out with you more, it isn’t the time. We shouldn’t be seen together. My enemies, or rather, pursuers, are so lovingly clingy that they won’t care about attacking me in public. Normally, I wouldn’t care, but with your tribulation and the Grand Mission, there’s bound to be nasty repercussions. Speaking of which, expect the next tribulation to arrive at Lv15.”

Frederic clapped his hands and stood. He started gathering his belongings and tidying up the room.

“Anything else?”

“From the paths I have available, which one do you think I need?”

“Need? Hmm… The Blood Heart Path is obsolete since Talking Sin is inside of you. Besides the Fighter Path, you should max the ones already unlocked.”

----------------------------------------

“Zeke did what?”

Katrina faced the exhausted Edward, who had been busy with the chaos unravelling in the Department of Defense, and apologetically bowed.

“I should have been more careful. I’m sorry, sir.”

Edward fell back on his chair, appearing slightly delirious. The Ambassador’s death turned the whole nation upside down and everyone, especially him, were being overworked to death.

As the Head of the Secret Intelligence Team, Edward was in charge of closely monitoring the spaceships of the earthlings and ensuring no spies infiltrate the Headquarters.

“Sir… I think it had to do with the System. He seemed pretty desperate.”

“I know, there’s no need to explain. We will keep this between ourselves.”

“Of course, sir.”

“I know you’ve been ‘officially’ dismissed, but I require your help now more than ever.”

Edward handed her a document while continuing, “A very special mission. You will only be accompanied by Jan. If this works, I might even be promoted.”

“Yes, sir. I will not disappoint you.”

Katrina barely glanced at the document, seemingly not caring about the risks. She saluted and left thereafter. Her job had initially been to protect Zeke, but Edward didn’t order her to return to his brother’s side, which clearly showed how important the mission was.

----------------------------------------

Zeke was teleported several streets away from the hotel. However, instead of returning to Erys, he headed to Sulong’s office to relax a bit.

The past couple of days had been hectic and unimaginably tiring. He needed a brief respite to collect himself and check on his friend. After all, he had yet to contact them after they stole the shipment from the Ivory Oak Order.

Unexpectedly, however, Zeke stumbled upon a strange sight the moment he entered the re-decorated workplace.

The fragrant aroma of tea lingered in the air, the place was swept clean, the furniture was sparkling new, and the walls had been changed.

The place definitely looked more presentable and welcoming. There was even a logo saying ‘Lightning Flame Merc Group’.

Jack and Sulong were wearing black-suits, the former was sitting behind his new desk and flipping through stacks of paper whereas the latter was sitting across from a woman.

What surprised Zeke the most was that Sulong’s face was slightly red as he smiled fawningly at the guest. When he spotted Zeke, he signaled him with eyes to be respectful and follow along.

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...

The woman was unfamiliar to Zeke, but her fancy attire and her elegant demeanor made her assume she was their first client.

“Madam Rodrey, it’s always a pleasure to meet you.”

Sulong was speaking with extreme politeness as he fawned over the beauty.

Even Zeke was momentarily stunned by her seductiveness as she crossed her legs.

He averted his eyes from her exposed thighs and went to Jack.

The lanky Jack leaned closer to Zeke and whispered,

“She’s madam Bella Rodrey, the owner and manager of the brothel opposite this building, but rumor is…” Jack gulped some saliva and lowered her voice even more, “She has several secret identities, like being a lobbyist and a weapon dealer in the underworld.”

Zeke could remember Sulong talking about her, but as she wasn’t an enemy, he didn’t think much of it back then.

A soft feminine chuckle echoed within the relatively silent office as Bella glanced at Zeke, who only nodded back in greeting.

“Isn't it time you introduce your new friend?”

“A-ah! Right right!”

Sulong dragged the perplexed Zeke in front of her the woman and said,

“This is Zeke. He’s a bit of a stuck-up.”

“Excuse me?” Zeke shoved the thick arm of the man and glared at him.

“Shhh! Don’t ruin this for me.” mumbled Sulong as he widened his smile and served another cup of tea to Bella.

“Quite young for this line of work, don’t you think?”

In response, Zeke shrugged and retorted, “As long as I get the job done, does it matter?”

“Hehehehe indeed.”

Bella extended her hands and skimmed through the contract before signing.

“There. It’s official now.”

She stood up while maintaining her gaze on the flushing Sulong, “I’m trusting you with this, Sulong. If I see positive results, then not only will you be paid generously, but I’ll vouch for your newly-founded merc group. That way, it won’t be difficult to secure more clients.”

After that, she winked and departed, leaving only the fragrant scent of her perfume behind.

“Yes! Yes! Hahahaha!”

Like excited kids, Sulong and Jack jumped around with clenched fists and hearty laughs.

Meanwhile, Zeke sat on the couch and sighed. Once the two were done celebrating, Jack resumed doing the paperwork while Sulong provided a much-needed exposition about what was happening.

“So, that person was Bella Rodrey. Apart from being a hottie, she used to be a lobbyist and is quite close with the current acting general, aka, General Zhang. Also, she’s an arms-dealer, which is why she’s come to visit us today. We will be guarding a warehouse and ensuring the exchange proceeds safely.”

“I get that you were talking about work, but…” Zeke pointed at the banal name of their organisation, clearly disliking the sound of ‘Lightning Flame Merc Group.’

“It was Jack’s idea. He claims it’s sool.”

“I didn’t claim… I know it’s cool. Zeke uses lightning and you use Fire. It’s perfect!”

Zeke sighed again and changed the topic,

“Alright, moving on. Where’s the girl?”

“Oh, in my room. She hasn’t woken up yet.”

Zeke was taken to Sulong’s messy room which lacked ventilation and reeked of cigarettes.

On the old bed, there was a shivering figure wearing a tattered white piece of cloth that covered her petite body. The girl had unusually long light-brown hair and a bronze-colored skin.

The moment the two entered the room, the young girl sat up and, while letting out a frightened squeal, jumped to the closest corner.

Sulong, who was equally surprised, raised his hands to reassure her while taking slow steps. Unfortunately, his huge build and thug-like face scared the girl even more as she curled like a foetus.

She was shaking intensely, so Zeke pulled Sulong to the back.

“You’re scaring her, man.”

“...”

The bald man had a dejected expression as he distanced himself and hunched his body to seem non-threatening.

As for Zeke, he knelt down and softly talked to the girl,

“We’re not going to hurt you. It’s okay.”

“...”

She was momentarily unresponsive as her eyes peeked.

“It’s going to be okay. Don’t be afraid.”

Zeke half-turned his head and waved his hand at Sulong, “Go bring some food and water.”

“Ugh… I’m not your lackey!” Sulong hissed but ended up leaving obediently.

“See? He’s gone now. My name is Zeke… what about you?”

“...”

Still, the girl, who couldn’t have been older than 5 or 6, didn’t leave the corner.

Zeke sat on the nearby bed and enjoyed the silence along with her, opting to her calm down by herself rather than being forceful.

He wasn’t particularly good with children, but this girl was special. She was considered a ‘shipment’, and there was a high probability that she was being experimented on, hence her unnatural reaction and fear-stricken face.

Ten minutes later, Sulong returned with plastic bags in both hands.

However, Zeke cursed him with a low voice and kicked out of his own room.

“You must be hungry, right?”

Zeke gently put the food and water close to the girl and backed away. He had a tender smile on his young face as he appeased her with subtle motions.

“That’s all for you. It’s okay… don’t be afraid.”

Eventually, the girl’s shaking subsided and she tentatively stretched her hands toward the food.

After biting on the hamburger, her expression drastically changed and her eating-speed accelerated. She gobbled up the food excitedly, getting cheese and mayonnaise all over her mouth.

“Was it good?”

Once she was done, she shifted back her attention to the youth. In fact, she even nodded her head when he asked, which relieved him.

‘We’re making progress.’

“I promise that the bad people won’t get to you here, okay?”

Zeke stood up and was about to leave but the girl quickly jumped to her feet and opened her mouth. Unfortunately, she couldn’t utter any words and ended up packinking and hyperventilating.

As her body wobbled left and right and was about to fall, Zeke caught her and put her on the bed.

‘We need a doctor or a physician…’

Zeke knew nothing about the medical field and couldn’t treat her. He held her small hand until her condition became better.

She looked at him with teary-eyes before falling unconscious.

…

“You two will take care of her while I’m not here.”

“We were already planning on doing that.” Rebuked Sulong as he menacingly growled at Zeke.

“By the way, Madam Bella’s mission. When is it?”

“Next Sunday. We have exactly a week to prepare.”

Zeke nodded and was about to leave but Sulong stopped him,

“I registered myself as the founder of our merc group. Is that okay?”

“I’m still a minor and I have no interest in dealing with the paperwork. You do what you think is best and I’ll help you.”

“Great!”

*****

“W-what…”

Freya was standing next to Commander Jennifer Savbra.

They were inside a main tent, which had a sound-isolation spell cast on it.

The two women were staring at a strangely-colored pyramid that was split in two parts.

The experiment they had been conducting had only two results; Either the two parts would fuse into a single pyramid or they would be destroyed.

Despite the simplistic of the process, its only purpose was to identify the relation between two material or immaterial matters.

In this case, Jennifer used her own blood and someone else’s and the result was, as she had expected, positive.

“This means…”

With a look of disbelief, the big-breasted blonde witch looked at her superior.

“It’s true.” Muttered Jenny as her knees plopped to the ground.

The 5-star witch covered her pale face with shaky hands, unable to process everything. Even before conducting this experiment, she was almost certain of her guess, but to see tangible confirmation made her emotional.

Freya knelt down and hugged the relatively petite Jennifer, squeezing her grip and whispering comforting words.

“It’s okay, Jenny. Don’t cry… I’ll help you deal with everything.”

Jennifer cried her heart out for a whole hour before Freya supported her to the nearby chair.

“I’m fine now. Thank you, Freya…”

With reddened and teary eyes, Jennifer wiped her face and stopped sniffing. Unlike her usually solemn and cold attitude, she currently looked fragile and emotionally distressed.

However, the tears she shed were both of joy and sadness. After all, she had just learnt that her son was alive.

“Still, I can’t believe that kid is your son. Then again, his attitude was similar to yours.”

“...”

“I’m joking… just joking, hahahaha!” Freya was successful in lighting up the mood as her superior chuckled and absent-mindedly looked at the only picture on her desk.

It was of her hugging a baby and standing next to a tall and handsome man.

She had thought both of them died in that incident, but, fortunately, it wasn’t the case.

“So, what are you going to do?”

“I’m going to see my son, of course.”

“But…” Freya lowered her head and momentarily hesitated, “He’s in the Nezulian Republic and he has the System. Her Majesty is hunting all System Holders.”

“I won’t bring him back here, but that doesn’t mean I’ll abandon him. I will protect him this time.”

“Ehmm… Jenny, please wait a bit. Please. The Ambassador was killed and the situation isn’t good there. If you’re spotted there, you’ll be the first suspect considering the grudge between the earthlings and our kind.”

“...”

****

It has only been a few hours since Zeke woke up, but not only did he get to ‘meet’ the unknown girl, but he and his two colleagues were given their first mission.

He had intended to rest at the office, but Sulong and Jack were noisy.

As the Final Exams were starting tomorrow, Zeke headed back to Erys. He was planning to study a bit and get a good night’s sleep.

Even after his return from the North, every day has been chaotic and filled with one problem after the other. It didn’t seem like a coincidence anymore… he had been embroiled in several life-threatening affairs right after the acquisition of the Paths of Extinction System.

‘Maybe that’s the fate of System Holders? I guess a life of monotony and peace will severely limit my progress and significantly decrease the chance of unlocking new paths.’

As he reached the entrance of the school’s campus, Zeke was startled to see a large crowd of students and civilians.

There were at least forty of them gasping and shouting in horror and dread.

He squeezed himself between them and soon arrived at the large and fancy gate only to see a sight that shook him to the core.

Zeke forgot to breathe as his pupils constricted and his heartbeat accelerated.