Chapter 31: Presents.

They landed safely and the three of them left the airport, but Sierra went her separate way to her apartment. She was tired and wanted to have some alone time, which made Gratya realize why she was so grumpy since it was the day of the month. They both then went straight to the Emissary headquarters because Alseace had to meet with his partner.

Once they arrived at the Emissary headquarters, Gratya was welcomed by the Agents. Her position was higher than the branch president, so she could have access to everything in West Dasmein. The power of being Niko's secretary was too powerful that nobody dared to disobey her orders anymore. With that, she used her authority and put Alseace as the top Agent in West Dasmein despite his level.

"You should take the branch president position. I think it suits you more," Alseace said after he listened and observed how dignified she was.

"Do you think so? I heard enough rumors that I fit more as a secretary because of how I look. You might be the first person to tell me that," Gratya looked flattered by Alseace's words. "But even if I want to take the branch president position, I can't protect my little sister from those Guildmasters, especially Louvenia, Lucretia, and Violette. After all, I still have a more important duty which is being a big sister to Katya," Gratya smiled as she led Alseace to the meeting room.

They both entered the meeting room, and Alseace saw a woman sitting at the round table. She was the only one in the room. She had black long hair with dark yellow eyes. She brought a cane that she put on the table, and she was busy listening to music with earpieces on her pierced ears.

She was swinging her head left and right with her eyes closed, and when she opened her eyes and saw Gratya, she slowly removed her earpieces. She then judgingly stared at Alseace because she might know him since Gratya had informed her that she would have a new partner on the phone earlier.

"You must be Alseace, right? I'm Renata," Renata said as she offered her hand for a handshake.

"Yes, nice to meet you," Alseace shook her soft and slim hand.

Gratya gave all the basic information about Renata to Alseace. She was three years older than him, and it had been confirmed that Renata was stronger than Julius. She was a swordsman, and her weapon was a rapier that she hid inside the cane.

"I heard that you single-handedly killed an S-Rank monster in East Dasmein. I wonder what your class is," Renata asked as she crossed her arms on the table and stared at Alseace in the eye while the music was still playing and could be heard from her earpieces.

"I can use any weapon. I'm not discriminating the art of each weapon," Alseace answered.

Renata raised her eyebrows and she looked skeptical about what Alseace said. She then smiled and chuckled as she nodded her head.

"Do you still need to confirm anything from him, Renata?" Gratya asked as she sat down next to Alseace.

"No, I'm good," Renata forced her smile.

Gratya turned on the projected screen and it showed the map of West Dasmein. There were hundreds of yellow dots and dozens of red dots on the map. The yellow dots were the locations of the portals, and the red dots were the location of the vortexes.

"Renata has been on a solo mission since 2 years ago, and she has accomplished and cleared 42 portals and 2 vortexes. She's a professional in this field, so you don't have to worry about her because she can protect herself," Gratya informed as she looked at Renata's smug face. "However, she's a clumsy woman, so she did things messily," Gratya pointed out.

"I don't think that's necessary, Miss Gratya," Renata said as she frowned.

Gratya chuckled quietly and then pointed at the projected screen and zoomed in on the inhabitant areas. There were 4 portals in a 2 kilometers radius, and they were quite far away from each other.

"As you can see, these 4 portals are the furthest from the habitant area, and I want you to clear those portals. It has been identified by the observation team that 2 of them are D-Rank portals, 1 of them is a C-Rank portal, and the last one is potentially a B-Rank portal," Gratya informed as she pointed at the yellow dots.

"Potentially B-Rank? What's that mean?" Renata asked with her eyebrows furrowed.

"The terrain is a rainforest and a swamp field. The monsters are both airborne and grounded. Lizardman, flying mantis, and there's a sign of a powerful monster that rules over the area. We haven't checked it and that's why it's potentially a B-Rank portal. This might be the first-ever B-Rank portal in West Dasmein," Gratya answered and explained as she showed the pictures of the monsters that resided inside the portal.

Renata and Alseace shared a stare and they both were thinking the same thing. They both couldn't wait to enter that portal and check it out themselves.

"I see that both of you are excited, and I'm you guys like it. Anyway, you have a week to clear these 4 portals. Is there any question?" Gratya looked at both of them back and forth.

"A week is a bit too much, we can clear it in 3 days or 4 days at most. Isn't that right, Alseace?" Renata asked as she smiled and raised her eyebrows.

"We can try to push it to 3 days," Alseace nodded his head in agreement.

Renata smiled and chuckled because she liked him already by how confident he was and how he played along with her.

"You can ask for more jobs once you're done with these 4 portals. I'll be here for a month, so you can meet me and ask for more jobs. We will also send mining teams to the dungeons for getting the Mana Crystal," Gratya said as she turned off the projector. "If there's nothing else to ask, you will move tomorrow morning at 6, so be ready," Gratya continued as she stood up.

They both nodded with understanding and then left the meeting room.

"Are you free, Alseace?" Renata asked as she looked at Alseace.

"Yes, is there anything you need?" Alseace asked.

"Want to have a spar with me? I guess we can say it's for testing each other skills so we can work together better," Renata pointed out with her arms crossed.

"Sure," Alseace nodded in agreement.

They both went to the training ground and since Renata wanted to see Alseace prove his words, she asked him to use a spear. Alseace didn't mind and took a spear from one of the weapon racks in the room.

"Ready whenever you are," Renata said as she unsheathed her rapier and put it in front of her face.

"I'm ready," Alseace answered as he readied his stance.

Renata coated her rapier with Aura, and it was the same color as his, dark blue. She then used her unique skill, [Triple Perception] which allowed her to see things 3 times slower. She also used her [Sword Art] sub-skill, [Sword Acceleration] which allowed her to swing a sword-type weapon faster.

She bent her knees a bit and dashed toward Alseace with the rapier pointed at him. Alseace let her get close to him and when she was in range, she started thrusting her rapier repeatedly. Alseace dodged them all, and after he was satisfied with the speed that she showed him, he took a few steps back and started doing the same thing with his spear.

"(It's too fast! I can't dodge them all!)" Renata said as she dodged and blocked the spearhead. She then dashed forward as soon as Alseace pulled his spear. "(This is my chance!)" Renata thrust her rapier, but then Alseace flipped his spear and used the bottom part of the spear to hit her. "(I can't dodge it!)" Renata said as she saw the bottom part of the spear coming up from below. She covered her chin with Body Aura to prevent her from taking a serious injury.

Renata got hit really hard on the chin and she got stunned as she tried to stay conscious. Alseace then spun his spear and hit her calves and sent her down with a single hit. She hit the back of her head on the ground, and she was shocked that she had just lost in a spar. The spar didn't even last a minute, but she already knew the difference in both skill and stats.

"Remind me next time to not fight you while you're holding a spear," Renata said as she smiled and chuckled.

"Noted," Alseace smiled gently and offered his hand.

Renata grabbed Alseace's hand and stood up as she sheathed her rapier. She then left since she already had a plan with the other Agents to go out for dinner. After they said goodbye, they went their separate ways, and Alseace went to Sierra's house.

"Congratulation, Alseace!" Everyone shouted as soon as Alseace opened the door.

Elenoir and the others were raising their glass of beer at Alseace, and they all looked happy for him. Ando then wrapped his arm around his neck and dragged him to the counter. "Get whatever you want, everything here is all yours!" Ando said as he patted Alseace's back.

They wanted to see Alseace's Agent card, and when they saw the black stripe, they cheered in excitement. Turned out, Gratya didn't tell them anything about it, and they never thought he would become part of the extermination team.

"Alseace, I have a present for you. Wait here," Elenoir said as she walked to the back. She came back and brought a pair of gauntlets in a black mate color. "Try to put it on," Elenoir gave the gauntlets to Alseace.

Alseace put them on, and it fit right in his hands. They were so flexible and didn't feel like wearing anything on his hands. It was light and looked durable as well, which was enough to tell it was well-made and expensive.

"Thank you, Miss Elenoir. I'll use it tomorrow," Alseace said as he kept looking at them and flexed them.

"I'm glad that you like it," Elenoir gently smiled.

"She's not the one who has a present for you. I also have one for you," Sierra said as she bent over to grab something under the counter. "Here, it's yours," Sierra put a suitcase on the counter.

Alseace looked at it for a moment and then opened it. He was confused as to what it was until he pulled it out.

"It's a suit for you since you're an Agent of Emissary now," Sierra said as she sipped her cup of coffee.