Chapter 1407 (2/2)

After making sure that there was no likely source of accidents coming from around him, Derek crossed the street and walked into an alley. From there, he wiped away the few inches of snow, pulled up a manhole, and descended into Kharon’s underbelly.

As she climbed down the ladder, Hydie changed the conversation topic. “How can you say you don’t believe in luck after partnering with me for these three weeks? Everyone else gives up after two days due to my Aura of Misfortune- Eeep!”

Hydie’s hand shot out lightning fast as a rat skittered across the pipe next to her head, smashing into the rodent’s body and turning into liquid gore that exploded outward. Derek glanced upward, calmly wiping some bloody fur that had been flung onto his cheek.

“It could have been one of the Level 30 Sewer Vermin,” Hydie muttered in her defense as she reached the ground. Due to the nonexistent luck, none of the rat’s remains had ended up on her sharply tailored Order Ducis uniform. “If enough of them gather, even someone as strong as us would be threatened.”

Derek simply pointed down one of the side passages nearby. From the darkness, Hydie could see hundreds of glowing red eyes in the darkness, carefully studying the details of her person so that the lurking horde could avenge its fellow vermin in the future. As Hydie’s face warped into a look of horror, Derek had already tossed three glowing green orbs into the passage.

With a crack, each orb blasted out a wave of emerald fire that sent the rodents screeching and fleeing. When the magical flames extinguished themselves a few seconds later, perhaps three-fourths of the horde had been turned into sizzling corpses. Derek continued to walk forward down the main passage.

“Why don’t we just wipe them all out?” Hydie complained as she followed, barely catching herself as she stubbed her toe on a bit of uneven ground.

Derek shrugged. “From what Naffur has said, it’s an ecosystem thing. Plus, they can breed in places that are quite hard for humans to reach. And at least this way, they are a manageable threat to send some of Kharon’s youths after. Gives them a sense of direction.”

To that, Hydie shook her head. They quickly crossed through the passages toward the training area for the new Order Ducis Applicants. “And how do you feel, having your son learning the Skills to be a rat exterminator? How is your son, anyway?”

Derek paused briefly and glanced back at Hydie. A pipe above him leaked at that very moment, causing a spurt of unidentifiable liquid to dribble over his hand. Tsk-ing to himself, Derek quickly wiped the liquid away and continued forward. “Why do you ask so many questions about my son, anyway? It always sounds like you are making veiled threats on his life.”

Hydie flashed the most charming smile she could manage toward Derek’s broad shoulders as he determinedly continued walking forward. “You are so… military-training-guy all the time. It’s only when you talk about your son that… I remember that you probably behaved in a cute manner in the past. Before you became…”

Hydie tried to find the right mixture of accuracy and insult. “...so rigid. Like an oak tree bred and raised by an obsessed mathematician.”

To that, Derek sighed. “I’m definitely not as rigid as you make me out to be. Besides-”

But Derek snapped his mouth shut as he stopped abruptly in the passage. In the next second, the door in front of him burst open. If he had continued moving forward, the heavy metal door would probably have impacted his face and broken his nose. The man who opened the door was wiping his sweat from his salt-and-pepper grey hair when he noticed the two people beyond the door.

“Mr. Moss, Miss Mordath, I-I’m so sorry! I know I’m not supposed to use this set of doors-” The Order Ducis applicant mumbled, but he was lightly nudged to the side as Derek Moss continued forward. As opposed to the bubbling anger of Valor Rend or the fearsome geniality of Ajax, Derek Moss had earned the fear and respect of the applicants with the brief glance he gave the man as he passed.

It was a glance that said: You are nothing to me. I’ve seen you before and I’ll see the likes of you again. Do not stand in my way. You are wasting my precious time with your inferiority.

The applicant, despite being probably twenty years Derek’s senior, stepped meekly to the side and lowered his gaze. Hydie tried to imitate that heavy glance as she passed, but the result wasn’t satisfactory. The man just looked confused when he saw Hydie’s look.

Truthfully, it’s a curse to have such good looks, Hydie thought as she shook her head in mock horror. Then she adjusted her glasses and continued after Derek into the training area. There, Valor Rend was standing with his hands on his hips, looking down at the collapsed figures of the applicants around him in mostly-feigned disappointment.

Hydie secretly memorized that expression as well. Later she would practice both in her mirror.

But Valor’s expression brightened when he saw Derek and Hydie. After a few growled complaints to the exhausted applicants, he walked over to them with a spring in his step. “You two ready to take over? Training these weaklings is such-”

Both Derek and Valor froze and a split second later Hydie felt something… strange in the air. It was an alluring call…

Suddenly she found herself swaying. Blinking rapidly, Hydie stifled a yawn. What the hell was that…?

“Why do I feel so… sleepy…” The Order Ducis applicant that had opened the door for Derek and Hydie had followed after them and returned to his training, and now barely stayed on his feet when he was hit by that energy. Then, as Hydie watched, he collapsed.

“Eidolon Crucible.” Valor said in an excited tone. “And… yes! Word from the top. Now that Heiffal’s boys are back, we can all go in. You ready for some fun?”

Derek Moss reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose. “This always leaves me with such a headache…”