The news kept blowing up as the mysterious, and monstrous, Extrasort kept ranking on the floors of the Tower of Yalen. Questions were being asked but no one had an answer for them. Who was the mysterious ranker that managed to score the best results in his rank?
The top guilds in the world, who some had the backing of the powerful lineages, started a scavenger hunt for the mysterious ranker. Before, when he was a neo-ranker, not much attention was raised to his previous achievement. There were many awakeners that stuck at the neo-rank and had no choice but to hone their skills.
Now, things were different. It hadn't been long since he had been a neo-ranker, and he was already a rei-ranker. Furthermore, he was getting first places like they were cabbages. The second floor, then the third, after that came the fourth, and finally stopped after getting the fifth.
In two days, he had shaken the world time after time. The name Extrasort, despite many people finding it crude and weird, was trending on all social media platforms. Many had come out as the famous ranker, but all of them shut their mouth after a threat came from the guild God's Blade regarding fraud.
Soon, a reward was issued by every guild for anyone who knows the mysterious ranker. Their agencies were also digging everywhere for anywhere the name was mentioned before.
The person in question was sitting on his bed eating sweets that he craved after the long battles in the tower. He had asked Master Ronin to book this room no matter what because he needed it. It was also for his meeting in this room that he had left the tower in a hurry.
He looked at the clock and found that it was almost midday so he stood up to take a shower. He went to the luxurious bathroom where it had a giant tub for him to use. However, he was always a shower person since he couldn't afford a bathtub in their old house.
As he undressed, his attention was drawn by the many scars his body now had. There was the scar of his meeting with Solomon that ran across his torso. There was also a scar from Jin's betrayal. There was a faint scar that the Cerberus left on him even with the healing potion Yuran gave him.
There were also many other scars of his many battles. Even after he became stronger, he would get injured sometimes and a scar would be left.
As he allowed the water, his mind started going through every question he had. There were many, but the main one was where to go from here. He's at a point in his life where he's on his own. No one can help him at this point but himself.
He felt the presence of someone in his room that made him change his mind. There was indeed someone that has always helped him since he met them.
'If there's someone I can trust,' Arthur dried himself with a towel and took out clothes from his subspace. He opened the door and looked at the blonde girl sitting by the window as the sun made her hair look white. 'It would be her.'
"You're a big shot now, eh?" Miko turned to face him with a smile. "Planning out meetings in fancy hotels." Her teasing never got under his nerves. There were only good intentions behind it.
"Two wanted people, one of them presumably dead, walked into a bar." Arthur pulled a chair and sat in front of her. "What do you think would happen?"
"I don't think you're good at making jokes." Miko snorted and waved her hand.
"Oh," Arthur scratched his nose as he tried to think of something. "What about this: what has two butts and kills people?"
"Hm," Miko frowned. "Is it a monster?" She tilted her head as if she was looking through her memories. "Maybe it's a…"
"An assassin." Arthur pointed at her before bursting out laughing. Seeing her stunned before pouting, he apologized in haste.
"Sadly, I don't have two butts." Miko nonchalantly adjusted her sleeve. "What have you called me here for?"
"Other than enjoying your company, nothing in particular." Arthur smiled. "I can't help but arrange a meeting since you have a habit of ghosting me."
"Oh, don't be so dramatic." Miko's mouth twitched.
"Dramatic?" Arthur tilted his head. "After the trial, I was on death's doors. Not to mention, I was afraid someone would recognize me and Erin would come after me. I couldn't contact Hazel because Jin is probably with her if he was alive. You're the only person I could trust, but I had no way of contacting you."
"…I'm sorry for that." Miko was silent before apologizing. She continued before Arthur could say anything. "After the trial, every family was after us. We couldn't do anything because they were hunting us down."
"Hunting you down?" Arthur frowned. "Wasn't that always the case?"
"Yes, but now they're doing their best to catch up to us."
"Why is it that you assassinate people?" Arthur was always apprehensive of Miko's background. However, he has seen her character through her actions, so he was sure that she had her reasons.
"… I can't talk about that." Miko's face turned solemn.
"How convenient." Arthur felt upset. "You want me to trust you while you hide things from me? Something as important as the reason you kill people?"
"You don't trust me?" Miko's eyes were bright blue in the sun's light. Arthur couldn't answer instantaneously.
"I do," Arthur sighed. "However, I learned that you need reasons to keep trusting people. Otherwise, their motives can change and you might get stabbed in the back. You saw a fine example of that."
"I'm glad that you have grown up." Miko grinned. "That's a good answer. You're right, I need to give you reasons to trust me."
"So?"
"Do you know why haven't the empire attacked you until now?" Miko asked something Arthur didn't expect. He shook his head as that was something that he couldn't find an answer for. "It was us." Miko continued.
"What do you mean?" Arthur asked with bewilderment.
"We've tried to assassinate the Sun Emperor."
"I beg you pardon?" Arthur's jaws dropped.
"Well, we failed but that gave you enough time to grow stronger." Miko smiled helplessly. "After we found out that they were attacking you, my family decided to stop intervening. They wanted to test you."
"Test me?"
"Yes," Miko nodded.
"Why do they want to test me?"
"To know if you're truly the outsider." Miko's words made Arthur's skin be covered with goosebumps as his eyes turned sharp. "Relax, I've had a hunch that you were since the first time we met."
"How?"
"I told you what our family tells us: Trust the Silver. Your name was the first thing that made me suspect you were the outsider. What you said about breaking the trial was another. Then came the confirmation in the end."
"Then why did your family want to test me?" Arthur's body relaxed a bit as he tried to calm down. However, the knowledge that there are people out there that knew of his identity bugged him.
"They wanted proof that you had what it takes. After all, prophecies were only prophecies. We can't follow them blindly."
"So, what if I died?" Arthur laughed hollowly.
"I wouldn't have allowed that. That's why I came to warn you." Miko's face was sincere, making Arthur remember her words. She came to help him, disobeying her family. She told him that the moment that they met in Runera.
"Still," Arthur frowned. "I could have died even with you there if I wasn't the outsider."
"Well, yeah," Miko said bluntly. "You can't expect them to come rescuing any stranger they come across, now do you?"
"True," Arthur sighed in defeat. "They have no obligation to help me." He realized his thinking was narrow. "I'm the only person I can rely on."
"That's harsh." Miko smiled awkwardly.
"I didn't mean it like that."
"No, you're right." Miko shook her head. "That's the right mindset to have." Despite her words, Arthur felt that she was a bit hurt. However, he didn't know what to say to make her feel how grateful he was for everything that she did. He decided to leave it for later to think about that.
"Alright," Arthur nodded. "Did I pass the test, then?"
"With flying colors." Miko grinned. "Your showcase of power at the arena had already left my family anxious to make contact with you."
"Miko," Arthur looked at her silently before asking. "Why is your family doing this?"
"Revenge, Arthur." Miko didn't hesitate to answer. "We've been hunted down for ages. Our ancestors have been slaughtered and we had to fear being found out. The seven families were always after us for our powers."
"Why do they want them?" Arthur furrowed his brows.
"If you're the outsider, then you should know." Miko teased. Arthur frowned as his mind raced. After what seemed like a stretched moment of pondering, realization dawned on him.
"The Split," Arthur muttered with shock, looking at Miko. "Your ancestor is the one who split the world into two."