Chapter 6 - Algressia Valgroneth

Chapter 6 - Algressia Valgroneth

Jack, after receiving the good-luck wish message, produced a glow of inexplicable emotion in his eyes.

"Challenge an ordinary rock mover-level Dotrian, right? Hmm. How do I go about that?" Jack asked as he scanned around him.

"I guess I can only do it through this way." Jack said affirmatively and nodded his head.

Then he immediately chased after the young woman that saved him from being swallowed up by the Aeonyx. She still walked on the street to where her assigned duty post was.

At the moment, her other colleagues had taken care of the Aeonyxes that suddenly flew into their airspace and tried to raid their assigned, observational parts of their grand and immense city. So, she didn't need to do much except go to her assigned station and rest till there will be another occurrence of a raid by winged beasts of the air, or by vicious colossal beasts that reside deep within the ground in the city's outskirt.

After running for quite some time, he finally came across her and said with a smile in his face, now able to easily understand and effortlessly communicate in her language, "Thank you for saving me."

"You don't need to mention. I was only doing my job. You should be more careful next time." She said.

"Alright." Jack muttered with the slight nod of his head.

He then continued, not sure if he said it right, "If I may ask, how can I join your league of protectors?"

The woman suddenly stopped, and Jack, who looked back at her, could now easily notice her features. At first, he hadn't paid much attention to her appearance, but now that the awe, which had gripped him due to her great strength and skill, had subsided, he could observe her marvelous features more clearly.

Standing proudly at 6 feet, she was accompanied by a palpable air of excellence, zealousness and charisma, while an undeniable aura of formidableness, remarkability and incomparably great vigor, exuded from her tall, unblemished, and conspicuously energetic figure. She had a long, natural olive-green hair that looked vibrant, beautiful and healthy. This hair went far beyond her waist and softly fluttered in the gentle wind that circulated about, adding to her indisputable charm of attractiveness that will absolutely mesmerize the hearts of all onlookers that would gaze at her and have no choice than to greedily take in her amazing and radiant, top-notch beauty.

Her bright, clear eyes—possessed of intense crimson irises, and which seemed full of concern, care, and protective feelings for people, were reminiscent of polished, pearlescent gems. They beautifully sparkled under the endless rays of the brilliant sun that continuously flooded the entire city with its luminescence, brilliantly illuminating everywhere.

Though her eyes were beautiful to gaze at for a really long time without ever tiring, they however concealed a strong, indissoluble, and unfathomable yearning for boundlessly climbing strength, planet-wide glory, unmatched honor, world-spanning fame, and ultimately, the harrowing, rampant macabre sights of endlessly piling amounts of brutalized, blood-spouting corpses of gods, titanic entities, and devils. She constantly, expertly hid the feeling that she was one of the crazy, unpredictable type who would do anything—good, unorthodox, and possibly profoundly evil things to gain great power, exceeding calamitous might, and unmatched combat prowess to achieve all goals in mind, no matter how minor or insignificant they are, making her a rather deadly opponent and foe to face or deal with.

With a ravishing, symmetrical and oval face that added to the absolute feeling that she was a fairy of superb, peerless beauty come alive from a grand artistic painting that depicted fantastical, alluring creations, or like an untainted, soft and delicate goddess of unparalleled, irreproducible beauty descended from a spot in the highest heavens—a place designated for the perfect and flawless conceptions of marvelously beautiful beings after a million-decade period, she could instantly win the hearts of all living beings and sentient oddities—which she would rather wish and hope it doesn't happen, as she believed her beauty was a curse that made her look fragile, weak, and one in need of constant serious guard or protection.

But what no one knew, including herself, was that one of her inherent powers was 'Peerless Beauty Evolution'—a rather passive ability that no one would ever think of as an actual ability. So, the more she grew, the more grandly charming and enchantingly beautiful she became. However, beneath that mind-blowing and breathtaking exterior, flowed seemingly unbound currents of devastating power, knowledge of fiendish, formidable fighting skills, and an unending stream of a marveling, monumental physical strength—all of which made her a skilled, brilliant, and truly fearsome powerhouse.

She had fought in hundreds of inter-regional and trans-regional wars and emerged gloriously victorious in all of them, simply by virtue of her incredible, potent abilities, which therefore earned her the fierce nickname: 'Crimson Massacring Flower of Ten Thousand Deaths'. It was her great, record-breaking achievements in many decisive, large-scale battles of epic and legendary proportions that also earned her the prestigious title of Grand Regional Protector—a government-conferred designation that placed thousands of other protectors in their marked region under her command. So, she wasn't as delicate or fragile as she seemed, even though her truly fascinating, beautiful, and unblemished appearance suggested otherwise.

But why she couldn't be given a bigger, magnificent, and more authoritative post—after all she had done for the now feared region that had resisted numerous deadly invasions and repelled extraterrestrial marauders in the past, which she played a major role in essentially because she needed the post to fulfill a certain hidden desire in mind—was something she just couldn't understand. This made her cry her eyes out every night for hours. At the moment, she was a figure who walked about with excessive, mind-staggering beauty, highly destructive powers, and an exceeding sombreness that she couldn't climb and dig her way out of—it entirely buried her and pushed her deeper and deeper into the dark pit of intense gloom and melancholy.

"You want to join the Blackest Sky Watcher Squad? Well, I could ask for a slot for you, and as well give my recommendation. I do that most of the time, for people who are totally willing to join the organization and become agents or officers who will develop into better, innovative, and more powerful protectors than me. But I am sorry to say this, you are too weak to join. You will be so bullied that you might simply commit suicide, or kill off yourself in whatever way you can. That's something I definitely won't ever allow."

"Those boys, I mean the bullies, who they themselves are weak but pick on weaker people, will bully you to no end. You will get tired of life and simply unalive yourself." The young woman, who was Algressia Valgroneth by name, said with a serious and concerned look written all over her face.

"I will take my chances." Jack said boldly and fearlessly, slowly and secretly inhaling the sweet, intoxicating fragrances that continuously exuded from Algressia's tall figure that radiated grace, charm, and a kind of violent yet subtle power that charged the atmosphere confined to twelve feet around them with the nearly tangible currents of savagery and desolation.

"You will simply die, but I won't allow that." Algressia said and simply continued to walk into the distance, leaving Jack standing there with a frustrated expression marking his face.

Quickly, Jack who was unwilling to give up, ran up to her and said with an unwavering tone in his voice, "Why don't you give me a chance? I won't fail you. Just give me a try."

"But why do you sound desperate to enrol into the Blackest Sky Watcher Squad? It's not a place that terribly and impossibly weak people like yourself can join. You will definitely suffer, be constantly weighed down by overwhelming gloom and lament morosely to no end. Who knows, it could eventually lead to your doom, in the form of suicide. So, back off this moment and return to your residence," Algressia said harshly and sternly, hoping Jack would withdraw and stop pestering her.

"Alright. I may not have great physical strength like the others, but I have an unbreakable mind. Believe me, you will definitely be amazed by my future prowess. All I just need is a chance from you." Jack said, saying many things to convince Algressia who defiantly shook her head and seemed likely to heavily scold or reprimand him anytime soon.

Suddenly, a string of messages appeared on the screen in Jack's vision.

[New Task!]

[Title: Convincing Algressia]

[Detail: Host must try to convince Algressia, a female battle powerhouse, that he is physically strong and mentally resilient enough to join the Blackest Sky Watcher Squad. Host must persuade her so that he can participate in their difficult and arduous combat trainings, as well as perilous, treacherous-terrain navigation drills]

[Duration: 2 weeks]

[Failure penalty: none]

[Completion reward: will be known later]

'Hmm. Can Algressia know my actual strength level? Or how does she know I am really weak, when compared to the others? But damn, she is freakishly strong. What a monster.' Jack said within himself as he recalled that devastating, city-leveling punch sent out by Algressia.

"I will come again some other time to prove myself to you. And by then, you won't have any other excuse than to give me the squad enrollment recommendation I need." Jack said with boldness in his heart and turned around to walk away before Algressia, who opened her mouth wide because of the things he audaciously mentioned, could really say anything. She simply looked at him with a slight smile gracing her bright pink lips before shaking her head and continuing her graceful leisure walk to where her majestic, 'Region Overseer' duty post—an imposing, grandiose office was.

But, assuming Jack knew who she was—a brutal, decisive, and vicious killer of men, women, infernals, fiends, devils, and even younglings or little offsprings of strange entities, he might have chosen to speak really carefully to her, and perhaps in a more frightened and seriously overwhelmed manner. However, because of his really brave words and surprising fearlessness before her, where others would cower in soaking cold sweats and constantly, irritably flinch, he had earned her slight interest in him as she decided within herself to wait and see if Jack's brash and audacious tongue would truly match the forthcoming deeds and feats that he so brazenly mentioned to her.

As Jack walked, not aware of what he had triggered in the slightest, he began to think of things to do. First, was to get a place to stay. Like a good place to inhabit in case of abrupt monster attacks or overwhelming raids by fearsome wild beasts. Second, was to find a way to feed himself. If it was extensive labor work to earn money so he could feed himself, then he would gladly do it, as he couldn't go around begging for alms to feed himself. He was able-bodied and so would work to earn. The work would be really difficult for him—as a human, he clearly understood that, but he would attempt to do all anyway.

Third, was to find a group that he could join, like an adventurer group that would tell him authentic stories of region-shaking major and grand events that took place in the past, and of powerful, war-waging legends that once resided or currently reside in certain flourishing cities.

Another reason why he wanted to join them, was to go for numerous adventurous explorations in different exotic areas, or in beautiful yet forbidden parts of any large city that they would set their feet on. He simply needed people of great venturing spirit to tell him many more things than the Trifaceted Talent System did, just so he could understand the world he was in much more than he currently did.

After walking for a long time, approximately 2 hours 55 minutes on the tremendously wide, long winding street that seemed to have no end, he suddenly came across a grand, imposing building that exuded greatness, wealth, and magnific splendor. Then right beside it, mounted on a massive wooden pole that seemed driven into the ground by a giant, was a large advertisement board that said in Dotrian language {Ascleota}: Work here for 3 hours and get 15 blue olgorian crystals.

"Hmm. Three hours and only fifteen blue olgorian crystals? Why does this sound like work really hard for three hours and be paid only fifteen dollars? Sounds like cheating to my ears, and smells very much like inhumane exploitation."

"Though, I suppose the financial value of the crystals are determined by their color. So, it's possible that a 'blue' olgorian crystal has a good or higher financial value than other colored olgorian crystals that they have." Jack said with a contemplative expression lingering on his face as he thought deeply about the value of the olgorian crystals.

Then he said further with his lips widening to form a rather mischievous smile, "Anyway, I don't mind them cheating me for now, as long as I will get a place to sleep anywhere within the building. Also, it's not like I will be working for long. I just need to find, challenge and defeat an ordinary rock mover-level Dotrian that might be working here to get that wondrous and excellent reward of Limitless Cosmos Cluster Grand Annihilator Constitution activation."

"So, maybe after gaining a certain level of decent physical strength from its activation, I wouldn't look too much a weakling in Algressia's scrutinizing eyes."

"With the body constitution type that I will attempt to enable in the soonest time possible, I definitely won't appear too frail or vulnerable like she emphasized earlier and concernedly rejected all my pleas to join the Blackest Sky Watcher Squad, simply because of the severe bullying and taunting actions that I will constantly face once I am entrenched into their system."

"As for these goddamned bullies, I, your father, king, and god is here. You all suckers will feel my savage, assaultive, and ruthless violating might if you try as much to approach me!" Jack said with a cold gleam in his eyes, suddenly recalling how he had covertly taught different bullies that dealt with some of his friends, really brutal and absolutely harrowing, gruesome traumatizing lessons.

For instance, while masked, dressed in different inconspicuous outfits, and targeting them one after the other at nightly hours, a self-assigned mission that he took three months to patiently and secretively complete, he used a bat to continuously smash the kneecaps of one till they cracked open and gave way for the continuous spouting of blood. He pummeled the jaw of another into a bloody pulp till he lost most of his teeth which he was forced to swallow before being knocked unconscious with a heavy stone. Another was, by handling a sledgehammer, he used it in breaking the bones of his upper and lower back, before ruthlessly hammering his vertebral column, ruining his spinal nerves in the process.

His grandfather, a formidable, secret private agency ex-mission operative, had taught him numerous self-defense skills and techniques since he was 5 years old, including certain severe pain-inducing techniques and extremely lethal moves, which Jack would definitely employ without reservation on bullies that he detested to the core of his being.

Actually, despite being exemplary, good, kind, upright, and law-abiding people that exuded a strong sense of allegiance, camaraderie and sincere family love, and could be nominated numerous times for humanitarian and peace-loving awards, the thick blood of viciousness, savagery and tyranny mysteriously and profoundly ran in their lineage. So, it was crucial for individuals, or a group of people to prevent Jack's family's dark side from unveiling, or it could lead to many gruesome, brutal and heart-wrenching events. As for his parents, who were actually highly-trained, secret government assassins that chased after extreme-priority, hard-target individuals or personnel, they would definitely kill or afflict severe, traumatic pain without hesitation. But, it was really unfortunate they were betrayed by an avaricious colleague with the event leading to them being surrounded by a significant number of dangerous veteran operatives whom they impressively killed ninety percent of before being annihilated.

As a descendant of such a terrific lineage, Jack wasn't one to be intimidated by bullies who could only pick on weak and feeble people, not those of their own size or individuals stronger than them. So, while Dotrians were super-strong, they would certainly feel his ardent, humiliating might and experience vicious, retaliatory vengeance if they attempted any form of dehumanizing oppression or tyrannical subjugation against him.

After thinking deeply about many things and finalizing his mind on the right course of action to carry out, he headed straight into the colossal building of seemingly unmatched magnifique. He then walked to the place that he perceived as a reception area to inquire about certain things from the receptionist.

Once he arrived before her, with a friendly, accommodating smile gracing his lips, he said in fluent Dotrian language, "Hello, I would like to join the workers here who diligently work for three hours and get paid only fifteen olgorian crystals."