I Reject Quests

Tervon flashed a mysterious smile. "Ho… I see. Why do you need the skills? I got knowledge that your Martial Arts isn't too shabby so I would definitely see why you would be willing to learn body techniques but skills?"

"I thought of trying to see how I would fare using the skill. You know, some cool stuff combining Martial Arts and skills." Rewen used the excuse he had thought of while driving here. 

Tervon nodded but didn't appear to be completely satisfied with the answer. "I bet it would be cooler than you expect! Haha!"

"I hope so," Rewen replied with an optimistic tone.

"Have you decided which type of skill you want to use?"

"No. I'll see the options and hopefully, be able to pick the best one." 

"I like the spirit. Just a heads up though, there are no 'best' skills. Only suitable skills."

"You say that but aren't there skills which have the best offense?"

"Of course, there is." Tervon laughed. "However, you made a very common misunderstanding of the phrase."

"You meant that the skill with the strongest offense may not suit me, right?"

"Not exactly. When I said suited, I meant suited for the scenario. Not trying to brag about me or anything but look at me. As a Rank 4 Mage, I have an unimaginable number of skills on my mind. If I want to, I can easily defeat a person without using any Rank 4 Skills or the physique upgrade when I went from Rank 3 to Rank 4. All I need to do is do a showcase of my skills."

"It's hard to believe you aren't trying to brag."

"The point is when I said that there are no 'best' skills, only suitable skills. Rather than an individual's comprehension skills, I was talking about the scenario. You might be feeling that an offensive skill is the best cause it's offense and all that but my guy, no. That's not how fights work. It depends on the scenario. Let's say for example, how do you feel about evasive skills?"

"Evasive? You mean skills that can be used to dodge?"

"Yes. How do you feel about them?"

"I don't know. I didn't know that there was a category solely dedicated to dodging. It could be useful for all I know but learning a skill just to dodge doesn't exactly sound profitable."

"Oh, you have no idea. Evasive skills are one of the highest-selling skills."

"For real?"

"For real. I know this would disappoint you but sorry to say, hot-blooded fights rarely happen. Most of the time, it's just like who would pull out the gun first. In this case, who would be the first one to display the skill would be at an advantage. I have seen battles at the borders… it's cruel. Honor doesn't exist in this cold world. No, the world doesn't deserve the honor." Tervon paused.

Rewen was shocked at the sudden jump of topics but decided to stay silent.

A few seconds later, Tervon let out a short laugh. "Hah, sorry if I made you cringe. Anyways, yeah. Skills are solely dependent on scenarios you are facing. By the way, I never got the chance but why do you always dye your hair red? It does look good on you though."

"I don't dye my hair. I was born with it." For Rewen, his red hair had become an identity in itself. Be it in the virtual world or on Earth, he always stood out due to his hair. 

"Father or mother?"

"None. My father and mother both have pitch-black hair. I don't think it's heredita… wait, my brother has the same hair color as mine. It's probably a gene mutation."

"Your brother is the same? Damn, that's rare then… hold up. You have a brother?"

Rewen bitterly smiled and went on to narrate the story.

"Man, that's just…" Tervon's face was incomprehensible.

"How long are you both going to talk?" Yeri stood inside the apartment and sighed. "And they say girls talk too much."

Svety wryly smiled.

***

"Slurpslurpslurp! Damn, the tea hits hard."

"Manner, Rewen. Manners… Pftt..." Svety found it hard to restrain her laughter.

Tervon grinned while Yeri had no expression on her face as she was scrolling through her smartphone.

"Have you decided which skill you want?" Yeri asked with a bored look.

"I haven't." Rewen looked at Svety. "Bring your laptop… nevermind, bring me to your laptop."

"Why?"

Rewen didn't answer. He couldn't and also didn't need to. 

"Okay." Svety and Rewen got up and went to her room.

Yeri was still scrolling through her smartphone but she had not missed the weird interaction between them. 'They are hiding something!' 

"My intuition is telling me that they are up to something," Yeri concluded and voiced out her thoughts.

"Let them be. At most, it would be pranks. Nothing too serious." Tervon yawned.

"When did you become so laid-back?"

"I was always like this. Just because I'm a perfectionist doesn't mean I can't be lazy."

***

"Did you get any information on them?" Svety anxiously spoke from behind Rewen.

"Nope." To be honest, Rewen expected this. 'A colossal evil organization… Why would they leave out their information on the open?'

"There's got to be some information about them somewhere."

"There is surely information about them in the Dark Web," Rewen replied without much thought.

"Then go to the Dark Web."

"You think the Dark Web is some kind of website? To find out about the Blood Squad, we need to hire a professional. Give him a load of cash. And then, maybe we can find out something. Do you want to take the risk of informing another person?"

"What should we do… what should we do…" Svety fell on her rear. Grabbing her hair tight, her entire body trembled.

Seeing this, Rewen let out a sigh. 'Her mental state finally collapsed. It's better than holding back.' After all, which normal person can remain calm after knowing that an explosive is fixed on her body? She is a teen. Everyone has their psychological limit. Some could suppress their emotions well, some couldn't for long. 

Svety is a fairly normal girl. When she saw the letter in her room, she was overcome with shock. She felt scared but didn't think too much to feel grief. Later, she realized the severity of the situation and felt hopeless. Even so, seeing Rewen's confidence, she steeled herself to fight for the hope available. Now that she saw that Rewen may not be as confident as she thought he was, hopelessness filled her mind. 

To the most extent, the phrase - Greater the hope, greater the disappointment - is very true in a negative case.

"Don't cry." Rewen softly said.

Svety acted as if she didn't hear what he said.

"I'm not saying this to comfort you. If you cry, your bodyguards will most certainly think something's weird. It would be extremely risky if we let them be suspicious that we are onto something."

"I won't cry." Svety bit her lips.

"It sounds cruel but this is also a kind of opportunity to grow as a person. I have known you for years and you are particularly the reliant type. It's not necessarily bad to be reliant but it's beneficial to not be reliant in many ways. Look, I understand your circumstances and I'm trying to say you are weak or anything. If anything, the fact that you hold your emotions for so long is worthy of praise. I, uh, just look at things in an optimistic way." 

Svety gave a small nod. After a while, she raised her head. "Will it be difficult?"

"As long things go according to plan, it won't be too difficult." Rewen could only give a vague answer. With the microphone inside of her, he couldn't directly say anything too shocking. 

Svety wasn't completely satisfied with his answer but he decided to trust him for the time being.

"Let's not delay." Rewen and Svety went back to the living room where Yeri was still scrolling through her smartphone and Tervon was laying down.

"Finished your little talk?" Yeri raised her head.

"Yes. Can I see the skills?" 

"Sigh, just don't do anything stupid." Yeri showed her smartphone to Rewen. "Here's a list of skills for Rank 0 Mages. Since you want yellow-ranked… Here's the list. Do you have any particular skill in mind?"

Rewen scrolled through the list of skills. There were several sections - [Front-Attack], [Mid-Attack], [Ranged-Attack], [Long Ranged-Attack], [Front-Defense], [Mid-Defense], [Ranged-Defense], [Evasive], [Low-Regenerative], [High-Regenerative], [Magic], [Spiritual], [Search], [Strategic], [Shape-Shifting], [Custom].

"Isn't there quite a few?" Rewen said in a sarcastic tone.

"That's because the capabilities of a Rank 0 Mage is very limited. There are more sections and subsections in Rank 1 Skills." Yeri seriously said, not catching the sarcasm.

"..." Rewen looked through the skills for about a minute. 'It's difficult to make a choice. In the first place, I don't even know what I want. The tip was to not rely on brute strength… I don't think that I should have any problem if I wanted to defeat a Peak Rank 1 Mage but just to be safe, I should increase my possibilities of victory as much as I can.'