Sero sat there, trying to withstand the pressure from Enzo, Max, and Kit, though the latter directed it more towards Cassandra, who was still staring at him with that inquisitive yet ditzy expression.

"Gentlemen, please, let's just calm down." Gregor offered a smile at the two standing men. Enzo continued to glare at Max, who returned the look without flinching. Kit clutched onto Sero's arm, pulling him slightly closer to her.

"I dare you, say that again." The Demonic Judge growled at his fellow mercenary.

"What if I do? Are you going to fight me again? We're surrounded by metal." Max replied evenly, holding his ground.

"Metal won't mean shit against my fists."

"Try it, see what happens."

"Stop."

Although Gregor's voice was quiet, there was a subtle deadliness to it. Just that one word caused everyone at the table to freeze for a moment, paralyzed by fear. Earlier, Sero had felt the auras coming from all four S-ranks, but now, Gregor's dominance completely quelled the room. He had to lower his head from the sheer weight he sensed from the leader of the Janitors. Even Kit's grip on his arm weakened as the Paradox straightened up.

Both Enzo and Max looked away, though their anger was still evident in their expressions. Enzo sat down slowly while Max reluctantly pulled up a chair to sit at the end of the table.

"Thank you," Gregor gave Sero an apologetic nod. "Sorry for that, Sero. My mercenaries aren't usually like this."

"N-no, it's fine." Sero stammered, terrified of saying anything more. Strangely, his body had buzzed earlier, reducing the mental strain from Gregor's pressure, but Sero didn't think much of it.

"Well, with those introductions out of the way, let's move on." Gregor clasped his hands together. "As I was saying before, while it is true that you no longer have to stay in the tournament, I want to point out that it would be beneficial if you do. Having you make it all the way to the finals would allow us some sort of control of what happens inside the stadium and the arena, since you would be in the know as well. With that being said, I am aware of an agreement that Enzo promised you?"

Sero blinked in surprise. "Uh," he hesitated, glancing at the Demonic Judge.

"Yeah, I promised him I'd introduce him to the other Janitors," Enzo scowled as he spoke up. "I'm fine with Cassandra, but I wish someone other than that asshole was available."

"I can make that fork you're holding stab you right now." Max snarled back.

"Gentlemen." Gregor silenced the pair with another steely gaze. "In any case, I will also support Enzo's decision to reward you, Sero. I assume you'd be eager to copy Cassandra's and Maximillian's skills?"

For a second, Sero almost forgot where he was as he immediately salivated, but he quickly composed himself as he nodded with excitement. "Yes, please. Er, yes please, sir."

Gregor smiled with amusement as he turned to Cassandra and Max. "If you both would, please demonstrate a single skill for Sero to see."

"Wait, is this some sort of show-and-tell?" Max narrowed his eyes in contempt. "Why should I show this kid anything?"

Cassandra, on the other hand, cheerfully extended a perfectly manicured hand over the table. Within seconds, a white swirl of mana gathered underneath her hand, quickly consolidating into what seemed like sharp pieces of floating glass.

Sero's body buzzed with power as he copied the skill, 'Glassmake', which enabled the caster to conjure glass out of thin air. He blinked as his Perfect Analysis learned that only glass created through the skill could be telepathically controlled.

"Is this enough, Gregor?" Cassandra asked with a content smile. The leader of the Janitors nodded with satisfaction. As Cassandra giggled to herself and began to play around with the floating glass, Gregor raised an eyebrow at Sero.

"Have you copied it?"

In response, Sero held his hand out, replicating the skill. His green mana swirled around and then conjured up a few pieces of floating glass. He marveled at the feeling of being able to move them around with just his thoughts.

"Well damn, seeing it in person is pretty impressive." Max quietly admitted.

Gregor chuckled as Sero also began to play with his glass. "Cassandra's class is the Glass Queen, a unique type. As far as we know, she is the only one in the world." He turned to Max. "If you would as well?"

"Fine, but I’m not showing him Metalmake."

Sero quickly dispersed his glass, directing his full attention to Max, who scowled. Reluctantly, he held out his hand.

Suddenly, the fork in Enzo's hands shot out of his grasp and into Max's palm. Sero's body buzzed, but to his surprise, his analysis told him that it wasn't a skill.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Before Sero could say anything, the fork in Max's hand began to glow with a silver light, quickly contorting itself until it had morphed into a small rod. Sero copied the skill as 'Form Shift', which could reshape, reshape, or alter the density of any metal into whatever the caster wanted.

"What- Hey, that was my fork!" Enzo snarled as Max finished mutating his utensil. Gregor ignored the pair as he nodded at the demonstration.

Sero quickly held his hand out, trying to call forth his fork, but nothing happened. Frowning, he picked up his fork and then activated Form Shift, successfully reshaping it into a knife.

"As I thought," Gregor murmured after Sero replicated Max’s skill. "You’re unable to copy their passives."

"What passives do they have?" Sero asked as he watched Enzo try to swipe his reformed fork from Max behind Gregor.

"Max’s class is the Iron Tyrant, giving him the ability to manipulate metal," The leader of the Janitors explained. "Both he and Cassandra have the ‘Kinesis’ passive, which allows them to telepathically move their respective dominions."

"Ohh," Sero understood what he meant. "The Glassmake and Metalmake only allow me to control the ones I make myself, right?"

"Indeed. Though Max has refused to show you Metalmake, he did offer the Form Shift to you, so I can’t force him to perform another skill," Gregor smiled as he smacked both of the men’s heads beside him. Max reluctantly undid the skill on Enzo’s fork and tossed it back to him. "Have you had any luck with figuring out your Influence passive?"

"How did you- Er, no, not yet." Sero remembered how Gregor seemed to know him even before they met. He probably already knew more about Sero than he did himself.

"That’s unfortunate. I would have loved to see how that worked as well." The leader of the Janitors shrugged. An abrupt mischievous glint flashed in his glowing violet eyes. "Sero, how would you like to copy one of my skills?"

Cassandra’s glass trembled, then dispersed into white mana as the other 3 S-ranks stiffened. There was a noticeable tension and nervousness permeating the air, but Sero didn’t think much of it as an overwhelming greed and excitement flooded his buzzing body.

"R-really?" Sero swallowed hard. "You’d let me copy one of your skills?"

"Well," Gregor chuckled with amusement as he leaned back. "As much as I would want to, it seems as though you cannot."

"Huh?"

"Sero," Enzo forced through gritted teeth. "The Boss is using his skill. Use your goddamn analysis."

The buzzing in Sero’s body made sense as he activated Perfect Analysis. His jaw hung open in shock as he examined Gregor.

"I know you must be surprised," Gregor grinned as his eyes glowed brighter. "You should be learning about the ‘King’s Will’ by now, yes?"

Sero nodded, shivering with fear as he absorbed the information. King’s Will, a skill that forcibly made anyone in a set vicinity submit to the caster’s desires. The stronger the caster, the more dominant the skill was. But that wasn’t the main reason why Sero was filled with a rapidly growing fright.

"I believe that my passive, ‘Absolute’, is why you cannot copy my skills," Gregor explained as his eyes dimmed. All 4 S-ranks suddenly relaxed, as if released from an invisible hold. "Absolute designates me as the ‘One’, someone who cannot be replicated, controlled, or replaced. I may also overpower the existence of others. It’s a bit confusing to understand at first, but it fits perfectly with my class."

"What’s… what’s your class?" Sero whispered nervously.

"To formally reintroduce myself, I am the leader of the Janitors, the 5th strongest S-rank in the world," Gregor began as he straightened up. Sero suddenly felt like he was staring up at a mountain. "I am Gregor Stone, the Conqueror."

A massive surge of fear and submission crashed over Sero as he felt the full force of Gregor’s pressure. It was endless, heavy, and utterly terrifying. Gregor always had an intimidating and imposing aura, but at that moment, it was an unfathomable presence. Sero wasn’t looking at a father, or a leader, he was staring up at a king, the strongest person Sero had ever met.

His breath hitched in his throat, but just then, his Rationality activated, lessening the mental assault that seemed to radiate off of Gregor. The Conqueror raised an eyebrow, sensing the diminished effect on Sero.

"Has your Rationality passive kicked in?" He asked with a slight smile.

"Y-yeah."

Gregor let out a rumbling laugh, repressing his aura. Sero’s body deflated as he let out his breath he didn’t realize he was holding. The other S-ranks also seemed to relax as Gregor regained the kind twinkle in his eyes.

"You never cease to amaze me, Sero!" The Conqueror continued to chuckle, grabbing a bottle of alcohol and some glasses. "I never imagined I’d meet another person who’s somewhat resistant to me."

Resistant? That was him being resistant to Gregor? Sero shivered as he tried not to think what it would feel like if he wasn’t as resistant as the Conqueror claimed.

"Damn, Boss. Can’t you give us a warning the next time you do that?" Enzo complained as he rubbed his tattooed neck. "Or at least do it to Max only."

"You’re his dog, it’s only natural for him to do it to you."

"Here you are," Gregor passed out the glasses as he ignored the two men . "My dears, are you ok?" He looked at Cassandra and Kit.

"I’m ok!" The Glass Queen smiled cheerfully as she accepted her glass.

"I’m fine." The Paradox replied, taking her glass as she scooted closer to Sero.

The Conqueror slid a glass towards Sero and held it there, an inquisitive look in his eyes. "I won’t force you if you don’t want to."

Sero couldn’t explain it, but even though he wanted to say no, he reached out and accepted the glass. It had been a couple years since he drank, and Sero began to recall the unpleasant memories resurfacing as he got a whiff of the alcohol. His nose wrinkled as he smelled the cognac.

"My little bookworm is drinking with us?" Kit glanced at him with an eager gleam in her eyes. "This is a special moment!"

"Oh? Does he usually not drink with you guys?" Cassandra tilted her head at him. "Should we order more?"

"Hold on, who’s paying for all of this?" Enzo asked warily as he grabbed his glass.

"I didn’t want to be here in the first place." Max grumbled as he hesitantly took his.

"Cheers," Gregor raised his glass in a toast. "To the success of the operation, and to Sero, a man of many talents."

As everyone clinked their glasses together, Sero tried to push his memories away. With everything weighing on his mind, from the pressure of the tournament, the Culling operation, and his father’s surgery, Sero found the urge to drink to forget his worries for the moment.

It was funny, since he did the same thing after his mother died.