As Miles was walking back from the Umbra Forest to the Stronghold, he saw a woman not far away from where he was at the edge of the forest, walking to the same destination, without any care in the world. Considering the identity of the person, it was normal. After all, she was a pinnacle-tier hunter, Peak of the circle, and no monster could kill her in a short time. She didn’t need to raise her alarm at all.

Because he activated dark vision to see in Umbra Forest and didn’t want to show it to others, he was wearing the maroon armor, and he couldn’t take it off now while Quinn was so close, so he decided to keep it on his body and wait for Quinn to walk away first before he continue to his trip back.

But all of a sudden Quinn turned to look at him from where he was watching her. There was a slight smile in her dark eyes. Her crimson-pinkish lips were curled up, making her more beautiful than she already was.

“The one and only Marooner. It is an honor to meet you at last.” Quinn shouted from afar.

“Same goes for the famous captain of the stronghold, Miss Quinn is as beautiful as rumors.” Miles praised without any shame.

“Honey-tongued!” Quinn smiled and the sun looked brighter for a second. Her eyes were charming, and her ebony skin looked alluring with her smile. “I was looking for you for a while. Even today I came here to see if I could see you.”

“Why does Miss Quinn look for me?” Miles asked with wonder. What could Quinn want from him? Is she going to invite me to the hunting team?

“You stole the orb and artifact from Tian Ling, and he is looking for you all this while. I am sure you are having trouble too. You can’t even enter the stronghold. How about we make a deal?” Quinn asked with a smirk. Her smile turned into a devilish one.

“What does Miss Quinn have in mind?” Miles smiled under his armor and asked innocently.

“You give me the orb and artifact, and I take care of Tian Ling men stationed at the doors of the stronghold. Of course, I will pay a sufficient amount to you, and you will not make any losses.” Quinn offered.

“Doesn’t Miss Quinn forget something?” Miles asked playfully.

“Hmm? What did I forget?” Quinn asked as she tilted her head. She offered generously. Not only did she fix the problem the other party was having, but she also made it worthwhile by paying more than the worth of those two items.

“Beneath this armor, who am I?” Miles asked with the same playful tone.

As soon as she heard what Miles said, her face froze. Who was the Marooner? Beneath the armor, who was he? Once he took out his armor, and walked in, who could recognize him? She felt stupid as blood rush to her face. How could she ignore this fact?

“And there are two more strongholds not far from this forest. I can always move to one of them and start over. It is not like we are in an F-Circle where strongholds are rare with great distances between them. Why would I care about Tian Ling and his men?” Miles answered honestly. He had great respect for Quinn and would help her as much as he could. But as the Marooner, he couldn’t be partial towards her. Or he would give away his identity.

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“How about naming your price? I will pay you whatever you wish for orb and artifact.” Quinn said after some consideration. The other party was right. He didn’t need anything from her. Even if she was the commander of the stronghold, there weren't many things she could do. “I will also make Tian Ling take away his men from the entrance, doesn’t mean you need it, but you can say that it is an extra.”

“More like you were keeping your eyes closed because you wanted them to pressure me, so you could offer me what you offered before and get the orb and artifact. Now that you learned I have no problem with Tian Ling and his men, you realized it was all for nothing and will make them go away anyway. You shouldn’t use it as a bargaining chip. Don’t you agree, Miss Quinn?” Miles answered with laughter. This lass thought she could swindle him?

‘This bastard!’ Quinn clenched her fist and looked at the dashing figure in the Maroon armor. She wanted to rush over him and beat his ass, but she realized the other party was keeping his distance. She wasn’t confident enough to attack him. If she were to fail, she would lose her chance to buy two items.

“What do you want?” She asked coldly, suppressing her anger.

“Thanks for the great offer, Miss Quinn! But I don’t plan to sell them for the time being.” Miles answered.

‘Asshole! If you didn’t want to sell them, why did you expose me?’ Quinn cursed silently and quipped.

“I can understand the orb, you may have great use of it. But how about the artifact? You can’t carry it with you. It would expose you, and it doesn’t suit your fighting style. As a coincidence, I have a friend who has a great need for it. Can you consider selling it?” She asked nicely this time to Miles's liking. After all, she was trying to swindle him before, even though she was paying their values, she was forcing him to sell.

“Now, this attitude, I like.” Miles chuckled and crossed his arms on his chest. “I truly don’t have any need for the artifact and can sell it, but I am not sure if you are willing to pay for it.”

“What is your price?” Quinn asked. She had a bad feeling about it, but she couldn’t read the other party because of the stupid mask closing his face.

‘I want the secret art of the Anemone family.’ Miles wanted to say, but he couldn’t. Secret techniques weren’t things shared lightly. Even in the short history of big families, the techniques were important and heritage couldn’t be shared with outside of the family. Ever since Portal World had opened and humans gained superpower, big families worked hard to create those techniques. Some even evolved from ancient arts.

Of course, that didn’t mean ancient humans could make use of them. They were the creation of imaginations. Energy and superpowers didn’t belong to the human world, thus people couldn’t make use of them before. But ever since the portal opened to Earth, energy seeped into Earth and made it alive once again. After all, before Portal World opened, the earth was a dying world.

Even the mentions of energy before the portal opened were just things of imagination. Chakra, Ki, Mana, and stamina, energy lauded with many other names, but each of them only formed part of mysterious energy. No human could make use of them before. It baffled Miles, to be honest. How did ancient humans know how the energy worked or was it just a coincidence? He didn’t know. But, he was positive, it couldn’t be practiced before the portal opened.

But now those techniques shone once again, and they were the most precious treasures one could ask. But Miles couldn’t ask Quinn to share her family technique with him.

“5 2-star Hall of Arts coupons,” Miles asked instead.

“Impossible!” Quinn rejected without even thinking.