Seneos knew that not all hunters had talent, he was one without any after all. If you did not have talent, you wouldn't go beyond your initial rank, and thus was the fate of most hunters.

Jeol saw his scrunched up face after hearing them talk and sighed.

"Seneos, there are many conditions that can allow one to go beyond their initial rank despite their lack of talent. There are also conditions that allow people to grow strong without having to do a single thing. This 'innate core' Mister Gumiho mentioned is one such condition, one that I already explained to you. Do you remember when I talked about the S-Rank Hunters ?" Jeol asked.

Seneos did not want to look like the only stupid one in the room, so he simply nodded. However, she easily saw through his act and continued on her explanations.

" I mentioned how S Rank Hunters were massively envied, and for one reason. It is a sad reality, but most people can never reach that rank. Even with talent, S rank is a height. There are rumors about people going over that rank and I do not know if they are real, for now, that is, but the S rank is still considered a summit. Now of course I am no S rank, but like many of them, I reached my rank due to a condition that allowed me to gather up mana passively during my childhood. My body was strengthened, and so was my soul. The soul can draw on magic, but as you know magic cannot be contained inside a body. It is too volatile for that. The innate core condition does something interesting because of that." Jeol explained before a faint blue glow covered her body.

The aura covering her body started to pulse, all her hair standing up on edge.

" It strengthens me without any efforts on my part. This process became useless after my fourteen birthday, but it still made me reach the B rank easily. I spent two years training slightly and hence I nearly reached the A rank, the last rank before I am considered a living treasure by the country." She added the last part with a laugh as she looked at Gumiho. It appeared that this was something only the two understood. Like an inside joke almost.

Seneos finally decided to speak instead of just standing there, looking like a confused bulldog.

"I mean I get this, and I knew your rank. I never had any reasons to be jealous anyway. Equipment and paths are more important to me. If you are an S rank with some shitty equipment and a common path, you are just trash to me. No offense of course, Jeol." Seneos spoke his mind, surprising Gumiho. He couldn't help but smile at how Seneos went back to the original topic to prevent Jeol from understanding he hadn't gotten a word of what she had just said.

Most low rank hunters not only didn't understand how the hunter society worked, they also had no desire to know. High rank hunters and their inner working was something that seemed just pointless to know, especially for someone who couldn't reach those superhumans.

"None taken. I think my path is the reason none of the clans tried to poach me. Those groups are always searching for talents amongst the new hunters or even the registered citizens with paths. Either they make them go through crunch to throw them at dungeons or they raise them like their golden goose. " Jeol hissed at the mention of the clans, almost as though she had a past with them, a difficult one.

Gumiho laughed once more before continuing his interrogation. Seneos tuned the two out since they simply discussed Jeol's life. Sen already knew everything there was to know about her, so he had no need to listen.

'Hell, I know her better than she does, just like she knows me better than I do. ' Sen thought.

It was only after another thirty minutes that Gumiho got up, grabbed his files, and left the room. Sen didn't even register him closing the door, he only escaped from his own thoughts when Jeol sat on her sit, behind her very own shiny desk.

The savage smile on her face would've sent shivers down Sen's spine, was he not used to her already.

"I see that the promotion makes you react for once. You can complain about my smiles all you want, at least I am more expressive than you." Seneos mocked Jeol who merely shrugged him off. She touched her desk, she touched her computer, before a heavy sigh left her.

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

"All those years of hard work paid off. I thought I would never get a promotion without providing some 'service' for the higher-ups. Guess merit still has a place in this rotten hunter society. Anyway Sen, you do not seem to realize what this means. I have always made sure to put you in the best possible place. I got your hunter license without you having to spend a single Won. ( The Korean money, if you didn't know ) Now that I reached this high position, I will be able to push you even further and get some much needed information." Jeol explained, putting an emphasis on the word information.

Seneos immediately shifted his entire posture and crossed his hands in front of his face, elbows on the table.

"Will you need more time to learn about our families ? " He asked, a painful expression on his face. It wasn't mirrored by Jeol's own face. It meant she had good news. She knew when to appear sad when it was expected of her.

"I have already learned quite a lot about mine. They were not very difficult to track down after all. At least most of my family was, the only member of my family linked to yours just so happened to be the only one I couldn't learn anything about. " She revealed to him. The corners of her mouth went up as she saw just how serious Seneos got when he heard her.

This was what she wanted Seneos to be like at all times. Sadly he only entered this 'mode' so to speak, for things that personally touched him. However, there were not many things that did, besides herself and his lost family. It was no secret for anyone who knew of him. Seneos might have been poor, but he had much more money than the other F rank hunters, which was why he could afford to finance his crippling alcohol addiction.

The families of hunters, no matter the ranks, were sent money by the KHG. Just having hunters in one's family and raising them was considered a service to the nation. However Seneos had no family to receive that money, so he was the one taking it instead. It was much needed sometimes since Hunters did not have fixed salaries. They were no more than glorified mercenaries working for the government, or rather being forced to do so.

Jeol scoffed at those thoughts and focused on Seneos once again. It was just in time too, since she did so as soon as he spoke.

"You did not hear anything about my family ?" It was a simple question, but one that had her looking at the ground. The guilt made her find the ground more interesting to look at than her best friend who most likely looked like a beaten puppy at the moment.

"I-I did not find anything substantial. Our theories still seem right. They are both alive, however, their files were completely erased. If I didn't meet them myself, I would've believed they were part of your imagination. " She snarled. She wasn't much happier than he was. His family was hers after all, just like everything linked to him was linked to her.

She was not one to cower easily though. She got up and walked towards him. A hand on his shoulder, she gazed right into his eyes as he looked up.

" Remember how we dreamt of meeting our family again ?" She said, her voice not cracking in the slightest despite the meaning such words were supposed to carry.

He looked at her and rolled his eyes.

" At least you remember your family as well as mine. I don't remember shit. "

She grabbed his face and squished it between her two hands.

"Precisely. I have even more reasons to help you, even though I was already decided to do so at all costs. Those lives of ours are shared, Sen. You share your life with me. Your problems are mine. And now...With such power in my hands....I will accomplish those goals of ours. Everything will be done without you having to lift a finger. I will infiltrate the high society of hunters and get all the information needed. So...Find yourself another goal. I will be able to push you up further, but you will need training so people won't start doubting you. Why not make it your goal, to actually become a good hunter ?" She mocked him. Perhaps it was revenge for his initial jab at her expressionless face.

Seneos could only sigh, as though he had heard those words a thousand times and they tired him.

"I have no future as a hunter. Just find them and I'll be content with it. My days are just drinking, sleeping, and doing shitty ass missions. I will never go beyond that. I mean I do have some good equipment left behind by my parents, or at least I do think that is the case no matter what argument you come up with to counter that belief, but I will never be able to wield them. I am a shitty hunter, and I got a shitty path. I mean yours is basic, sure....But I got a path that can't be registered and that gives me literally no advantages. I was so excited the day they said it was a path that didn't appear in their database. Remember ? I thought I had a rare path. I thought I would get recruited. I thought all the nations in the world would fight between each other to get me, just like with that A rank hunter who left Korea to join France, Bomi. And look at me now. This was all a freaking lie !" He yelled, throwing his arms up.

Before Jeol could retort, Seneos froze as his pupils dilated. A familiar sensation returned to him, right as a voice was heard in the big but empty office.

His throat was burning up once more and his eyes couldn't focus on anything.

"I wouldn't say this was all a lie, Overlord...You were just unaware of certain things at that time. Not that I know more than you do, but you now have all the tools required to...Learn, Train, Go beyond, and......Conquer."

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