"V-Varian?" Seth muttered in shock, then his face turned serious. "Prove your Identity."
Varian rubbed his chin and said with a proud face. "I'm the one."
"…" Seth processed the sentence for a moment before pulling him inside.
Thankfully, he had a few chairs in his storage ring or they'd have had to sit on broken tiles.
Seth finally saw Varian after a long time. Feeling the aura he gave off, Seth slapped and pinched himself.
Pa!
"Ouch. This isn't a dream."
Varian was starting to have doubts about taking him in for the task.
"I thought you were gone after the banquet." Seth said with a bewildered expression as he stared at his pupil.
In the blink of an eye, this little fellow went from level 2 to level 6. Even if he believed the narrative that he got a half-mature ambrosia and rose to level 5, it wouldn't explain his current strength.
It was only a few weeks since the end of Solar Banquet. Varian's strength was only in level 5 back then. But now…he was fucking high level 6!
"Are you really Varian?" Seth looked at him warily.
While his instincts were telling him that this fellow was his pupil, Seth's logical reason was rioting.
"Argh…" Varian rolled his eyes and was about to explain when he recalled that they didn't have much time to chat.
He tapped his comm and said. "Enigma, please."
Seth rolled his eyes. "It'll take a few days for her answer."
Varian shrugged. "Then I'll wait."
Ting!
Seth watched in shock as the leader of Shadow Guardians, the woman who was so incredibly busy, responded to the call in a few minutes.
Even as a level 8, he had to take appointments if he wanted to meet her.
'The first time I saw him, he had no power, no connections. But now…' Seth looked at Varian once again.
'Level 6 already…I know he always had a secret. But come on, at this rate, he might be a high awakener in a year.
And connections…'
"Seth."
Seth snapped out of his thoughts as he looked at the woman in black. Her tricolor eyes gleamed with coldness.
"He's Varian. Assist him in his task and you'll be rewarded the miracle potion."
Seth stood up in shock. "W-Wait?! Wouldn't it take me at least a year to build up the merits for the potion?"
The miracle potions had to be bought with merits they gained from missions. Even a strong level 8 dual awakener like him would take at least a year for those merits.
But she's saying this one mission can cover all the merit?
"This mission is different." She said.
Seth raised a brow and glanced at Varian. Was it really for the mission?
Varian shrugged and was about to explain when Enigma interrupted.
"I agr—"
"But if you want to take the mission, inject yourself with neutralizer." Enigma said, and suddenly the room fell silent.
Seth looked at Enigma and narrowed his eyes. "Do you not trust me?"
Varian didn't know what a neutralizer was, but from Seth's reaction, he realized it's something not pleasant.
He wanted to say something, but Enigma shot him a look and he somehow understood that this was off limits.
"Trust…" Enigma muttered slowly, her voice cold. "I want the mission to succeed at any cost. It's too important to fail."
"So you're holding our lives hostage?" Seth said a cold voice.
"Both of you are newbies. We already had a Pluto due to traitors. While you are mostly not a traitor, it's better to be safe than sorry." Enigma said coldly.
Seth clenched his fists and took a deep breath to control himself. After a while, he nodded.
"Fine. But you better not renege on your word. A miracle potion."
"Of course."
Having gotten the assurance, Seth took out a red potion from his storage ring and gave it a complicated gaze.
Then, without hesitation, he downed it.
The next moment, he half kneeled on the floor, and his shirt was drenched in sweat.
Varian looked at Enigma who simply shook her head. He didn't ask, and his comm got a message.
{Don't worry, his pain will only last for a few minutes.
Neutralizer is a mix of poison and bomb. If I press a button here, he'd die.
We don't use it for most part, but during extreme times, Neutralizer is used as a preventive measure to stop anyone from betraying.
There have been betrayals in the past during some important missions and we lost many people.
Since then, unless we're sure about the loyalty, we don't give them important missions.
Seth is the team leader for spying on abyssals and his team, in collaboration with Athena uncovered the Sequoias.}
Varian looked at Seth who was coughing violently and apologized. Then, he used his mental force to type. "Then why?"
{He'll most likely not be tempted by your secret treasure. Nor will he attack you. I'm 99% sure of that.
But 1%…that's also a big risk. I'm sending you a link to the device controlling his neutralizer. Let your treasure ship's AI be alert.
Once Seth shows any hostility towards you, kill him.}
Varian was at a loss for words. He looked at Enigma in the hologram. She was still looking at him with those same expressionless eyes.
It was weird. He couldn't understand her.
"Why are you…?"
{Sia is as important to me as she is to you. Your death will make her and in turn, me miserable.
But remember, if you still die after this arrangement, then I'll build a pyramid for you stating that you 'died single and virgin'.}
"Wait, wait, wait" Varian's face paled. "Why the fuck are you guys all plotting on my tomb?
And I'm not single, okay? Sarah is my girlfriend." He said with a smug smile before realizing what he just revealed.
"Fuck!"
{The Fuck?!}
Seth stood up with an expressionless face. He was about to say something when he saw Enigma glaring at Varian.
Her eyes were literally gleaming in rage.
{Varian, you better die. If you manage to survive, even if Sia tries to stop me, I'll kill you. Why? Why did you do it?}
"…." Varian opened his mouth but couldn't utter a word. Wait, wait, wait, why was this sounding so wrong?
If he antagonized Enigma, how the fuck was he supposed to meet Sia?
Fucking hell!
And shouldn't Sia angry one?
Enigma cursed under her breath and looked at them coldly. "You either do this mission or you'll both die."
The hologram went off leaving the room in silence.
"…."
The tutor and pupil looked at each other with complicated expressions.
"Are you feeling ok?" Varian asked.
"I'll get an antidote after the mission, I'll be fine." Seth waved his hand and asked. "So, what's the mission?"
Varian brought Seth out and snapped his fingers.
The ghost ship appeared in full glory, causing Seth to gape in wonder.
"This…the urban legend is true? Is this really ghost ship?" He muttered.
Varian nodded and pulled him in. "Yep. I'll explain later. We don't have time now."
The ghost ship took off and headed towards the planetoid RL-34.