56 (56) Lunius Ael Decima

"Cough," Someone tapped Kraton's shoulder, causing him to jump in fright a little. It had been 10 minutes since everyone had started to talk, but no-one seemed to want to talk with Kraton.

To them, he was just a weak Boss who was all brawn but no brain. A long-lasting stereotype for the Sasquatch Monsters.

Although Kraton now had shorter hair after the Awakening, and looked much more civilised than Sasquatches, there was still a resemblance between them. Moreover, Kraton was only level 31 and was one of the weaker Bosses in the room.

Stronger Bosses could quite clearly feel whether another Monster was weaker than them, it was a natural instinct which helped the ancient animals survive.

Kraton gathered his thoughts and composed himself before turning round, if there was someone looking for him, then he had to appear more professional on the first encounter.

"Eh?!" All at once, Kraton lost his composure. His face twisted in disbelief, shock and fear. He pinched himself to make sure it wasn't an illusion as the man before him was a demon with white flames.

Kraton had initially prepared himself to greet another low-levelled Boss like him due to the absence of an powerful aura. Never in his wildest dreams would he expect to be patted on the shoulder by Fynd, one of the hundred Demon Leaders.

Everyone in Kraton's close vincinity turned deathly quiet and stared at the two. Only after Kraton had released a small yelp had people realised that Fynd had snuck into the crowd. It was like the Demon had mastered the arts of blending into shadows and hiding his presence.

"Come with me, you seemed to have caught the attention of my friend..." Fynd spoke quietly, but his powerful voice still carried over to everyone's ears. He then added, "We'll get your Lamia friend in a second, but follow me first."

Fynd made his way through the parting crowd, his figure seemed to glide gracefully across the ground. Kraton trailed behind him, his thoughts were still muddled and surprised.

Soon they reached the corner of the room and Fynd gestured towards a small circular table and a seat.

Opposite him sat a female monster, her physique was almost identical to an Elf or a Human, but her skin was pale and smooth.

Both her hands had six fingers, symbolising that she was of the Immortal species; and in the darkness, the irises of her eyes appeared all black. But when light was reflected onto them, their true colour was a dark wine shade. Eyes like this indicated she was a Fae.

The Fae were mystical creatures. They did not strive for knowledge like the Moon Immortals, nor did they desire overwhelming strength like the Titans and neither were they greedy like Dwarves.

However, they were all born with these strenghts innately.

Their natural strength could rival that of three other 'Normal' Bosses combined, their mastery of elements including the life and death forces were unparalleled, and the variety of skills and techniques they could master were unlimited.

The only thing that prevented the Fae from becoming the overlords of the world was their indifference and uncaring attitude towards the world. The Fae would only do something if they found interest in it. It was wrong to call the Fae selfish because they wouldn't always do something which directly benefitted them.

Any being would be a fool to reject a Fae's proposal to help. The Fae were not creatures of deception, although their looks may encourage this thought.

Every Fae could be considered an otherwordly beauty in many species' eyes, but if they detected lust or harmful thoughts, the Fae would not batter an eyelid to refuse any plea for help.

The Fae in front of Kraton had smooth, long black hair, like her eyes, there were some strands that were dark wine in colour.

Fynd left the two alone, but the Fae did not remove her unblinking gaze from Kraton. Her large, dark eyes felt like they were gazing into his soul.

Under the gaze from this peerless beauty, Kraton started to feel uncomfortable and fidget around.

"Sorry." Noticing his discomfort, the Fae apologised and released her gaze. Her voice was monotone, yet silky and full of life. Just the sound of her voice projected a calming scenery into Kraton's mind, with a voice like this, hypnosis masters would bow down in shame.

"You... you've seen it as well, felt it. Am I correct?"

The question caught Kraton off-guard. 'Seen what? I don't know her so how do I know what she's thinking' he thought silently in his head.

However, a memory, no a dream, danced around in his head, but he couldn't place a finger on it.

"Before this, there were eyes. They watched over you, have you never seen them?"

Kraton felt like that what the Fae just said did not corrolate with the dream that just surfaced. Was she wrong? No, not neccesarily. Eyes? Yes, Kraton had felt them before, but he had long gotten used to them.

Seeing his confusion, the Fae smiled and shook her head. She mumbled something under her breath, not quite audible enough for Kraton to be clear on it, but it sounded like "Not yet awoken".

"I apologise for my questions." Her graceful voice swam right into Kraton's mind, easing his state of mind.

A shadow fell over the table and Fynd reappeared next to it, Lysine followed behind.

After gesturing for her to sit, Fynd bowed and left again without a word, returning to a group of Demons.

"My name is Lunius Ael Decima," She hesitated before continuing, "You can just call me Lunia. I must say, that I am impressed with the two of you, Kraton and Lysine of Ophid Crypt."

Lysine nodded in thanks, and punched Kraton to make him do the same. He was still dwelling over their previous conversation, but after remembering who the lady in front of him was, he quickly showed respect.

"Well done for noticing something off about that Orc. They had already sent a few hundred Monsters back to their Dungeons." The lack of any emotion in her sweet voice felt strange, how could one so casually talk about a hundred Bosses being killed so easily.

At least most people would feel some sympathy for their misfortune.

"I am also glad that the two of you do not have bloodlust, unlike the other three who showed up. I'm not one who is into fighting you see."

Something didn't feel right. Her lack of emotion, tone and aura spoke of danger, or someone long accustomed to it. Maybe she didn't like fighting, but she most definitely could. Even Fynd had shown some respect before leaving.

"The two of you have the most stunning levelling rate; becoming an Intermediate Boss within two years. And for Lysine, a single year. Although you have had three Bosses governing your dungeon, this rate is truly extraordinary."

"I offer you my help in whatever you would like, as long as the two of you will continue to work hard."

"Just like that?" Lysine felt doubtful. This was a Fae, one of the most powerful species, yet she was offering help for free basically.

"Mhmm, if I cannot accomplish it, then I have many other... contacts who might be able to do it, although I doubt what you ask for is something I cannot do."

"Don't you want anything in return?" even if they were geniuses, why would Lunia not want anything.

"Young girl, I am, as you have surely noticed, a Fae. I do not need anything, I need no purpose to do anything I do. But... If you do not want my gift without a price, then how about we become acquaintances; We Fae do not accept disciples, we treasure freedom."

Lunia paused, she saw Kraton and Lysine's expression; uncertainty. If someone was given free resources like this, they would surely doubt whether there was a catch or not. As long as their was still a price, it would show its worth and reliability.

"If that is not enough, then I will settle the price after I have heard your demand."

Even Kraton knew that everything was favourable to them. Who wouldn't want to stay in contact with a Fae. Just a mention of being friends or close to a Fae could give them benefits. No-one would challenge them with Lunia behind their backs.

He glanced at Lysine and she nodded back, after confirmation, he took two items out from his cloak. Both were wrapped in sheets of metal and blankets of fur, it was unimaginable on how heavy the items were in addition to the layers of protection.

Kraton uncovered both of the items. The smaller item started to glow a bright, vibrant red light as it revealed an orange crystal. Whilst the second, larger item was a metallic mechanism.

In a way, it looked like a very large pendant with rotating rings around it. The centre had a small hollow hole, just smaller than the ruby crystal. The rings had numerous runes inscribed into them, as well as what seemed like fancy lines and patterns decorating the metal. This was the Project Kraton had been working on.

Lunia became intrigued by the device, her slender fingers traced the etched lines and pressed against the cold hollow in the centre.

Next, she went to the orange crystal, it was the very same one that Barren had been cultivating on for a month.

"High Quality, and newly grown." Kraton was shocked that she could tell how young the crystal was with her bare eyes. Most cultivated crystals might need a long time to cultivate and stabilise after it reached each stage of quality.

However, with Barren's help, he didn't need any time inbetween in order to stabilise the energy.

Lunia glanced between the crystal and the device, it was fairly simple to discern what they wanted. "You want to refine the crystal into a gem? Seeing how new this crystal is, you must have some way to produce them quickly."

Kraton nodded in confirmation.

"I can refine it myself, but for the price, for every ten crystals I refine, I would like one of the same quality of the batch. Fair?"

"Only one for each ten? If you are fine with this, then we will be very thankful." Lysine still felt like this was overly generous, but if Lunia only demanded this much, it was better that way.

"Mhmm, I'll do the first one for free, I can deliver it back in a few days. By the way, that device is really ingenius, lets hope it works then. Runes have a tendancy to make mana unstable, so don't be disheartened by any failures."

With that piece of encouragement, Lunia gave back the device and kept the orange crystal next to her.

The two were glad that Lunia didn't ask any intrusive question like how they were able to form such high quality crystals so easily, in fact it helped by improve their relationship between them.

After business was concluded, the three started some small talk whilst they connected their Data Rocks. Suprisingly, the ordinary looking circular table was also an S-rank tablet foundation.

After Kraton pointed it out, Lunia showed an expression of shock, but quickly covered it back up. Since Kraton already knew, there was no point in hiding it from his partner either.

Lunia gestured for Lysine to read her Innate Talent and everyone was shocked at its description.

This Talent.. it really was akin to being blessed by Fortuna. It was an absolute luck of fate to have something like this, it completely overshadowed Kraton's own Innate Talent!