Free Web NovelChapter 214: _The Most Dangerous Person Here
Five Days Later
Today was going to be a special day. Other than the perfect, clear weather and the delicious breakfast Devon whipped up this morning—it was also officially the first time Ambrose would be participating in a dungeon raid.
As a member of an entirely different Guild!
Okay, maybe he was exaggerating his excitement just a little bit.
But Ambrose had been plotting for days, imagining all the ways he could utilise his newly acquired abilities from Valentine.
"I’m off to school, daddy." Orion’s voice snapped Ambrose back to reality just then.
He blinked, glancing over his shoulder from where he squatted in the backyard. "Hey, kiddo." He beamed, eyes scanning the boy from head to toe. "You’re looking sharp this morning."
Orion giggled. "Thank you, daddy. I..." the kid frowned as he sniffed into the air. Soon he caught the smell whiffing through the backyard and frowned. "Did something die?"
Ambrose’s cheeks flushed a bit as he shifted enough for Orion to see what he’d been staring at.
It was a huge dead mouse; its body rotted so bad that its fur had begun falling off. Flies buzzed around it—a sight that most six-year-olds should’ve found disturbing.
"A mouse." Orion merely blinked, his gaze flitting back to Ambrose. "Were you doing something to it?"
"Something like what, buddy?"
"I don’t know... but I’m definitely not going to be eating that."
That left Ambrose utterly speechless for a good few seconds. "Boy, I didn’t say anything about eating—"
"Orion, you’re going to be late!" Devon rushed over to them just then, his boots crunching against the carpet grass.
He held Orion’s shoulder, arching a brow when his eyes settled on Ambrose. "Aren’t you supposed to be preparing for your first Guild mission?"
"Yep." Ambrose shot to his feet, placing his hands behind his back.
Devon maintained eye contact. "You’re sure you won’t want a ride? I could drop off Orion first then we—"
"I’d like to go there on my own for a change." The Guide’s lips stretched in a reassuring smile. "I’ll be fine, Devon. You know I’m more than capable of handling stuff by now."
Neither of them said anything for a moment.
The Esper didn’t know why... but he could swear there was something off with the atmosphere here.
Eventually, he grabbed Orion’s little fingers and spun on his heels. "If you say so," his smile returned. "Good luck, Rose. Tell me all about it when you come back."
"Will do." Ambrose waved at them as they left the backyard.
Only after spatial awareness confirmed they hopped into the car and drove off did he finally turn back to the rotting corpse.
"Alright." He lifted his chin, an eerie light flickering in his eyes. "Until I can find bigger, more powerful targets to practice on..."
Suddenly, the mouse’s tail twitched.
His smirk turned into an ear-to-ear grin as he watched the once lifeless mouse lift itself off the ground—on all fours. Its eyes glowed with a dark blue light, mirroring the one flashing in Ambrose’s orbs.
He twisted his wrist.
The mouse shakily stood on only its hind legs. Another twist made it open and then shut its mouth. All while flies continued hovering around it.
[Necromancy Reanimation perfected successfully.]
[Note: To keep animated corpses active, host has to continue expending aether into them. The stronger the corpse, the more aether required.]
In other words, the aether needed to keep this one mouse active was negligible at best. If it were say... a C-Rank beast though.
"Ugh," Ambrose heaved. "What about summoning? We’ve seen Valentine summon phantoms and even corpses from his shadow."
[You’d have to imprint your aether so deep in the target that it naturally remains bound to you. Whether it’s a soul or a corpse.]
Huh.
For once Aura was proving really informative.
’This should do for now.’ A clench of his fist made the reanimated mouse fall to the ground before merging into his shadow. ’Now for the hardest part. Pretending to still be a C-Rank guide.’
★★★★★
Steel Falcon Guild
Arriving before the manor, Ambrose could already see a familiar group gathered ahead. He recognised them as the members of the Guild team he was supposed to go on the raid with—which he got to know via email.
The system ran a quick scan on all of them.
Four C-Rank Espers. A B-Rank Esper. And two C-Rank Guides... other than himself, of course.
The B-Rank Esper was a stern-looking man in his late thirties. He appeared to be addressing the group but paused the moment Ambrose drew closer.
"Your first mission and you’re already late." If looks could kill Ambrose would be six feet under by now. "You had better be at least worth the wait, Guide Ambrose."
One of the other Espers harrumphed. "I’m sure he didn’t dare come this late for his raids at Phoenix Flight."
"Bold of you to assume he went on raids to begin with."
"You’re right. What use would a C-Rank Guide offer to an S-Rank Guild? They probably kept him as an accessory or something."
Ah. There it was.
Ambrose sighed, choosing to ignore the two Hunters bad-mouthing him.
It was so painfully stereotypical that he was almost tempted to laugh in their faces.
A notification suddenly flashed across his vision.
[WARNING: Abnormal aether fluctuation detected.]
’Hmm?’
The system’s scan swept over the gathered Hunters again.
Nothing looked particularly strange at first glance.
Four C-Rank Espers.
One B-Rank.
Two Guides.
Completely normal.
Yet Aura’s warning remained.
[Source identified.]
Ambrose discreetly activated a deeper scan.
The result only confused him further.
[C-Rank Esper.]
A spike of aether? From a C-Rank?
Before he could investigate further, a familiar voice called out. "Guide Ambrose!"
His attention shifted immediately.
One of the Espers broke away from the group with an easy smile.
Leon.
The same handsome Hunter he’d bumped into while registering at Steel Falcon.
"Good to see you again." Leon stretched out a hand warmly. "Looks like we’re teammates now."
Ambrose smiled back and shook it. "Likewise."
The handshake lasted only a second.
Long enough for Aura to run another scan. But also long enough for absolutely nothing useful to come back.
[C-Rank Esper.]
The warning vanished as quickly as it appeared.
Weird...
Ambrose frowned slightly but let it go.
Maybe Aura had simply glitched or something.
It wouldn’t be the first time.
Meanwhile, Leon released his hand and chuckled. "Don’t look so nervous. It’s only a C-Rank Rift."
Ambrose laughed lightly. "Yeah, yeah... I know. Just nerves, you know?"
The two shared another brief laugh before returning to the group.
Up ahead, the B-Rank Esper clapped his hands together. "Alright. Enough chatting."
The small crowd quietened immediately.
His sharp gaze swept across every member present.
"This will be a straightforward resource-gathering raid. Stay with your teammates. Follow instructions. Don’t do anything stupid."
His eyes lingered on Ambrose for a beat longer than necessary.
"Especially the newcomers."
A few snickers followed, making Ambrose roll his eyes.
"Move out!"
With that final order, the team began heading toward the waiting transport vehicles.
Unaware that among them stood someone far more dangerous than any C-Rank Rift they were about to enter.
