Raven's smirk grew dangerous—the kind that said she'd just cornered a liar in a game of chess he didn't know they were playing.
"It's common knowledge that the rank of the first skill you awaken with determines your current rank."
Her voice was casual, but her eyes gleamed with quiet satisfaction as she leaned forward slightly.
"And you're an E-Rank," she continued, flicking her straw at him like a pointer. "So how does an E-Rank awaken with an A-Rank skill?"
Her grin widened, proud of having unraveled his little lie.
Aren blinked slowly, a drop of sweat metaphorically forming on his temple.
'Really? That's how it works…?'
'But it shouldn't be that bad… right?'
"Okay, you caught me," Aren said with a forced chuckle, trying to play it off as if he'd meant it as a joke all along.
He took a long sip of his coffee like a man preparing for public execution, then slammed the cup down on the table with a bit more force than necessary.
"It's an E-Rank skill, haha," he added with an awkward laugh, his voice not quite as confident as usual.
Raven raised a brow, unimpressed.
Her gaze sharpened like a blade peeking from its sheath. "I may look like a dumb young adult, but I'm not that dumb, you know?"
Her words were sharp, but her tone held a thread of amusement—like she was enjoying watching him squirm.
She leaned back in her chair, stirring the last of her drink with her straw, her eyes never leaving him.
"So… what's the real story?" she asked, voice dipping into something a little more curious, a little more serious.
"Are you secretly an S-Rank pretending to be weak?"
"Or just a newbie who got stupidly lucky and managed to snag that skill from a level-up?" she added, twirling the straw between her fingers with idle grace.
Aren tilted his head slightly, pretending to consider the options like they were actual choices and not just better lies than the one he had prepared.
"Well…" he said, drawing it out just enough to make her lean in. "Alright, alright—you win. It wasn't my first skill. I got it later—lucky roll, I guess."
He stayed calm, voice smooth, posture relaxed—as if he hadn't just changed his story again.
Raven stared at him in silence for a beat, then let out a half-laugh, finishing the last of her drink with a long slurp.
"The way you say it makes me not buy it at all…" she said, her eyes narrowing with amused disbelief.
But before she could press further, a sudden BOOM tore through the air.
A rogue spell—probably from a fireball—had detonated near a parked van, triggering a chain reaction.
The café's windows rattled violently, and the one next to them cracked with a sharp, splintering sound.
The street outside had erupted into chaos.
Multiple cars were flipped and aflame, smoke rising into the sky as pedestrians screamed and scattered in all directions. Sirens wailed in the distance.
"What the—!?" Raven shot to her feet, eyes wide as she looked out the shattered window.
Two Hunters stood in the middle of the street, facing off.
Both radiated mana pressure. Strong. Easily B-Rank.
One was a hulking man in torn gear, clearly a melee type—probably Fighter class. His muscles bulged with tension as he shouted, veins popping on his neck.
"You know for a fact I deserve that sword we looted!" he roared, fists clenched like sledgehammers.
Across from him stood a leaner man in a sleek, runed coat, likely a Mage. He held a glowing staff, clearly not for show.
"Hell no, man! The boss distributed the loot himself. I get to keep it!" the mage shot back, eyes blazing with indignation—and a need to sell that sword for a quick payday, no doubt.
"You bastard!" the fighter snarled and lunged forward.
The mage responded instantly, hurling a fireball that exploded mid-air with a thunderous blast, sending shockwaves through the street and igniting more vehicles nearby.
Chaos intensified.
Inside the café, people ducked for cover. The air was thick with panic.
Aren didn't flinch.
He lounged back in his chair, watching the destruction unfold outside with a sigh of quiet irritation.
"Mortals and their stupidity…" he muttered, resting his cheek against his palm as if this squabble was beneath him.
Raven glanced at him, surprised by his calm—or maybe not so much. In its own twisted way, it was very in character.
"Hey," she said, nudging his elbow. "Think you can handle them?"
"Huh?" Aren blinked lazily. "Why me? I'm an E-Rank, remember? I can't handle them."
Raven folded her arms, her expression turning a touch more serious.
"Well, I'm an independent Hunter. If I interfere with Hunters from another guild, there's a good chance I'll get sued—or worse, blacklisted."
She gestured toward the street with a tilt of her chin. "But you? You're an E-Rank… and practically immortal. If they fight back, you'll be fine. And if you somehow manage to stop them, people will just chalk it up to a fluke or assume they were weak. No real repercussions."
She stepped closer, voice dropping to a near-whisper, eyes gleaming.
"So you're the best option to fix this little mess."
Then, after a dramatic pause, she added with a sly smile:
"Up for it? …Partner?"
She chuckled, raising her half-empty cup in a mock toast.
Aren stared at her for a beat, weighing the absurdity of the moment—then sighed like a man who just wanted to finish his coffee in peace.
"You owe me another coffee after this."