Skill cores could be obtained in two ways: you were either born with it or you could choose to kill a Skill user and forcefully take their Skill as your own.

The only problem with the latter option was that everyone could only have one Skill. If you wanted to have a different Skill, you would have to replace your original Skill with the Skill of the person you killed. Although it could be beneficial to a select number of people, most opted to sell the Skill cores to either the Sun Organization or on the black market.

As to why Kieran was so shocked to find a piece of a Skill core, the answer was simple: once a Skill core was broken, it could not be put back together.

So why did Daemon make him risk his life to get a useless Skill core? It made no sense.

Unless... there was something that he wasn't aware of.

But it wasn't like other people had never tried to restore Skill cores before. On the contrary, there had been numerous experiments trying to fix broken Skill cores, but all of them had resulted in failure.

So what could he be missing?

Somehow, he had a feeling that Daemon would be able to answer all of his questions.

But he highly doubted that the man would give him the answers so easily.

Raising his head, he was able to see a shadowy figure heading towards him. He dropped the Skill core into Daemon's outstretched hand and received the bronze key in return.

"It was about time," Daemon drawled, "I was feeling awfully bored, waiting for you."

Kieran furrowed his eyebrows. "But I've only been gone for a while?"

"The perception of time is different inside the mist." Something about his voice roused a slight suspicion in Kieran.

Their gazes met, and that suspicion only intensified.

"You knew what was going to happen, didn't you?" he accused. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Consider it a test. You did better than I expected."

Seriously? A test? Forget about professional strategist, this guy would have a better career as that one professor everyone hated in class.

"Well, thanks, you bastard. What happened to us working together?"

"I wanted to confirm your capabilities," Daemon replied. "And now that I have, it's time for us to leave this place. We won't find my other item here."

Kieran pushed down his annoyance. "Lead the way."

"The process is simple, really." Unsheathing his broadsword, Daemon looked at Kieran questioningly. "Is there any specific location you would like to go to?"

"I have somewhere in mind."

"Then we shall depart." With that, Daemon gave a wave of his sword. The black metal seemed to slash through the air, giving off a rippling effect. Black mist swirled to the tip of his sword and a rift formed in its wake, long enough for a person to step through.

Kieran couldn't help but gape at the scene.

Did he... just create a fucking portal?

"What?" Daemon cocked his head to the side. "Are you scared? If you are, I will be kind enough to let you hold my hand."

As if.

Pushing the man aside, Kieran stepped through the the portal and was immediately greeted with a wave of nausea. His body seemed to be warping in unnatural ways as the world began to spin in every direction, stripping him of his senses. But despite all that, he persevered, gritting his teeth as he forced his feet to move, stumbling with every step.

Gradually, his head began to clear as he finally made it to the other side of the portal, staggering into a familiar living room.

He faintly registered Daemon standing next to him as three pairs of eyes stared at him in bewilderment.

"Hey guys, I'm back," he managed, giving a weak smile.

Suddenly, world began to spin as waves of pain travelled down his arm and crashed into his body, his legs giving out from under him.

What—

"I forgot to mention," Daemon drawled, "that the Artifact you possess is a very special case. Now please, try not to die before fulfilling your part of the deal."

Fuck.

He vaguely felt someone catching him before he hit the ground, having only two thoughts in his mind as the world around him began to turn black.

He was going to kill that fucking son of a bitch.

And, more importantly—

He was going to be in so much trouble when he woke up.

☆*:｡.♛.｡:*☆

When Kieran felt himself finally regaining consciousness, he realized that he was lying on a soft, plush bed. Blinking his eyes, he took in his surroundings and saw the familiar layout of his room inside their hidden hideout.

The hideout was a secret underground base created by him and his friends to directly oppose the Sun Organization. Its wide range of tunnel systems allowed them to cover large distances without being spotted, and provided a quick escape in case of any potential threats.

Although there were only four current members, it was more than enough to slowly chip away at the Sun Organization with their combined strength. By strategically sabotaging their operations, they were able to gradually hinder their progress to successfully save a good number of Skill users from their grasp.

Glancing at the bedside table, he saw a tall glass of water. Propping himself into a sitting position, he took the glass and brought it to his lips, the cool, refreshing liquid running down his parched throat.

"Looks like our local sleeping beauty has finally awakened," a teasing voice sounded from the doorway.

Kieran lifted his head, catching a glimpse of a girl with silver blonde hair leaning by the entrance of his room, grinning teasingly.

"How unoriginal, Val." He decided to humor her as he raised an eyebrow, unimpressed at her lack of creativity. "I'm sure you could do better than that."

He watched as Valerie Alaya walked up to him, and scooted over to make space as she perched herself on the edge of his bed.

"You're lucky Ari was able to heal you in time or else you would have been reduced to a rotting pile of flesh," she smiled sweetly.

Kieran grimaced. "It wasn't that serious."

Tucking her long wavy hair behind her ear, Valerie stared at him with a deadpan expression.

"Believe me, it was. You looked absolutely hideous." She grinned, and Kieran had a feeling that she would never let him live this one down. "And I thought I was the reckless one."

"Please, you've been through worse and you know it," he retorted.

"Oh, Kieran. You know me so well." She gave a playful nudge to his shoulder as her icy blue eyes twinkled with mischief.

She leaned in closer with a conspiratorial smile. "Say, who's that hottie that came here with you? Are you having a secret affair?"

"I am not." He immediately shot down the idea. "He's just someone I made a deal with. Stop letting your imagination run wild."

"Oh really?" Valerie deadpanned. She lifted up his arm, exposing the dark symbols that wrapped around it. "Then how do you explain the matching tattoos?"

"It's a contract," Kieran defended.

"A contract of love," she sighed, pressing an arm to her forehead dramatically. "Oh, so romantic. He even caught you when you fainted after appearing out of a fucking portal."

"Ah, that... that's hard to explain," Kieran started, rubbing at his neck, "but it's really not what you think."

"Hm, I don't know," Valerie mused, "I definitely felt something going on back there. If it's not a contract of love, then perhaps it's a deal with the devil?"

Might as well be, Kieran thought bitterly.

"Have you been watching too many romance movies again, Val? Why don't you resolve your own unrequited love with our local healer before you worry about mine?"

She scowled, "Please don't remind me. I'm so deep in the friendzone that if I ever mentioned dating, she'll probably end up encouraging me and cheering me on from the sidelines."

He sighed. He was not about to hear her complaining for what seems like the millionth time. "Why don't you just tell her? With how dense she is, she'll never know otherwise."

"Well, someone has never been in love," Valerie scoffed. "It's not that easy, dumbass."

She opened her mouth but then closed it, coming to a sudden realization. "Hey, you're distracting me from the reason I came here in the first place."

"You're clearly the one who distracted yourself," Kieran muttered.

Ignoring his words, Valerie reached out to poke his arm. When he showed no signs of discomfort, she grinned, tilting her head as she rested her chin on her hand.

"Now that you're feeling better, guess what time it is~" she asked in sing-song voice, completely switching the topic.

Kieran felt a bad premonition course through his body. As if reading his mind, Valerie's grin grew wider, relishing in his misfortune.

"Yes, Kieran. Let's go down to the living room. You have a lot of explaining to do."

________________________________

Author's note:

Welcome to chapter 8! We'll be seeing more of the new characters in the next chapter. Any comments are appreciated!

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