“How the hell do you know Jessica?” Azeban’s voice could be heard under his mask. Strange as it was, nobody knew how he was drinking with Joe. Strange or not, everyone could see as Joe poured, the glass would empty itself mysteriously.

Stranger still, Joe and Fred were not surprised by this. Jessica, on the other hand, had traveled with him before. To her, this meant nothing. She had seen him steal things right in front of her. Not even Joana was able to notice how or when he did it.

Before Fred could say anything. Azeban started to look at Jessica again, “Wait a minute… Why do you have a picture of Jessica at your desk? I know you two aren’t related by blood.”

Fred had a dark expression on his face, “No, we're not related by blood. Jessica was uhm…” Giving her a look of apology, “She was scammed by John. She was with him when he died. She looks very similar to my sister.”

“Hm. May he rest in peace, John was a fun guy.” To the surprise of no one. Azeban got along well with John the scammer.

Turning to look at Fred, “Hah, you have to be insane if you think I am going to invite her to work for me.”

A large questionable expression showed up on Fred’s face, “Why not?”

“You don’t know who her father is. Not only that, she is connected to people too far above me. I don’t like trouble. Taking her under the wing is like walking around with a ticking time bomb. Water is too deep, I only know how to float, I don’t know how to swim.”

Fred and Joe were sharing a strange expression, hearing this. Jessica on the other hand seemed slightly offended. Nothing he said was wrong, though she wasn’t sure about some of it. She was in fact related to some crazy high level people. She was too weak to know the exact details.

This was enough to let her know there is a gap between the old man and Azeban, by extension Evers. That was combined with the fact that all the Evers she had seen showed caution and even fear around Everblood.

If Grade A was the top, she was under the impression a half-step above that was Evers. However, coming here, she came to realize that Grade A was possibly not the top. Though this was clearly a guess. Not even her own, it was one Leo had come up with and after listening to his conclusion she started to believe it.

From what she knew, Azeban was either an elite Grade A or a grade above it, if it existed. Even still, she was flabbergasted by how low Azeban put himself on that list. Azeban was arrogant and loved to talk about his exploitations of the strong. If someone was above him in strength, he would still look down on them. For him to put himself down, Ever’s were more monstrous than she knew.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

An awkward silence permeated the air before Azeban looked at the door. Everyone soon followed his gaze. The first to react was Fred, standing up he bowed, “Greetings Senior!”

Joe, became quiet. He was unsure of the situation, so he didn’t do anything. As a non-graded being, he had no obligations to act the same way as Fred, at least not in Mercury City.

Saleh walked through the door. He saw Jessica and his eyes lit up. However, he didn’t say anything and stood to one side as someone else came through the door.

This time, Joe also stood up and bowed slightly. He didn’t speak.

Behind Saleh was a person in a white cloak and a red elder mask. Beneath Azeban’s mask, his eyes were squinted slightly.

Waving his hand, Fred was lifted from his bow. Fred didn’t dare sit back down and stood behind Azeban who remained seated. Joe moved behind the counter before bringing out another glass and a new bottle of alcohol.

It was one thing to be around Azeban, Joe couldn’t do the same around this unknown elder. Even for someone like himself, these were people that ran the entire city. He stood at the table ready to serve the alcohol.

“What are you doing in the city?” Azeban’s quested was a bit pointed. It was usually impossible to get this old man to stay in the city. No matter which of the twelve tried.

“Noisy.” Waving his hands again, Azeban was swept up as the sound of his voice could be heard. Only that was the end of it. He completely disappeared, as if he was never there to begin with.

Fred’s back became slick as there was literal sweat pouring down his back as if he had just jumped into a pool. As a Grade C being, he felt absolutely nothing. This was something only an elder could do. Only, everyone that had contact with an elder, especially those working for Azeban knew, no elder could single-handedly deal with another elder.

As fear drilled into his mind from every angle, there was a gentle breeze that seemed to lift the weight on his shoulders. As a voice gently entered his ears, “You two can sit, I only came to have a chat with this one.”

As Jessica moved closer, Everblood’s voice continued, “I am sorry to disturb your business, please excuse me and I will be leaving shortly.”

Joe could only pour himself and Fred a drink. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to reply, it would be the proper thing to do. However, his legs lost strength and his arms were a bit wobbly as he couldn’t reply even if he wanted to. Maybe after a few glasses, as whatever effected Fred couldn’t be felt by him. His shackles were all applied to himself by wild thoughts going through his head.

Bowing slightly, “Senior.” Jessica was a bit confused as Saleh was smiling at her.

Everblood nodded gently before the surrounding air, turned silent as if the outside world seemed to disappear.

First to speak was not Everblood, Saleh spoke to her, “Teacher wants to take me on a training session. I brought up the fact that there was an escort mission I wanted to take, I planned to bring you along, so Teacher thought it wouldn’t be a bad idea for you to come along. What do you say? If it is inconvenient, you can deny the request, of course.”