女人的战争之窥视的眼睛

Oliver returned to the spectator area and was greeted with warm words of encouragement and praise from Val, which Val spoke to keep his image as stable in Oliver's eyes as possible.

He didn't want others to know he wasn't what he appeared to be as he was planning to stay in the frontier for a long time. Thus, he was always trying to act more and more humanely to the people around him. It was to the extent he seemed more kind-hearted than priests and priestesses of the Holy Church of Light in the eyes of the people he was trying to manipulate.

"I have," Oliver beamed.

Val was the first to notice that. Oliver thought, At least now he also had a friend who could recognize his efforts. And that warmed his heart.

...

After Oliver, many people took the test, Motivated by the consecutive victories of humans against beasts, most of them severely overestimated themselves and miserably failed the test, almost losing their lives in the process.

However, thanks to Marshall's timely intervention, no lives were lost.

Among the few dozen who succeeded was Alfred. His eyes met Val's briefly before both looked away, acting as if they didn't know each other.

'Looks like I will be seeing this guy on the expedition to the lesser dimension. Maybe I should involve him in the matter concerning Oliver's life?' Val grinned, not a hint of maliciousness to be seen in his smile despite his hideous thoughts. 

Just then, from the center of the arena, Marshall's voice boomed, "Alright, the tests are concluded. The expedition will commence in three days. Until then, you're all free to do whatever you like."

Saying so, he dismissed them.

The majority of the crowd left the Coliseum. Some remained behind to gamble and fight.

Val approached Oliver and asked, "Bro, can you do me a favor?"

Oliver raised an eyebrow before responding, "Let's hear what you have to say first before I decide whether to help you or not."

"I want you to help me get a private audience with our family head," Val said.

"Master is a busy man, but I will see what I can arrange," Oliver replied. "No promises though."

"That would be great if you could."

Val didn't forget to thank him, despite not meaning to. He knew how human psychology worked. Showing even the slightest of appreciation for one's help was better than showing none. By thanking him, he had shown he was appreciative.

"Wait here for a moment," Oliver instructed Val before taking out an item that closely resembled the arcane token.

The distinguishing feature was the emblem it was adorned with, which represented the Destiny Walker Family.

"What is that?" Val asked.

"It's a 'Destiny Communicator.' It functions much like a standard long-distance communication cursed artifact or a communicator in short. I can use it to directly contact Master. He gave it to me as a gift on my 15th birthday," Oliver explained.

"He truly treats you well," Val said with a hint of bitterness in his voice. It was of course faked, but it made Oliver think at least he had something Val didn't and inflated his pride. 

Oliver grinned. A bright sparkle could be seen in his eyes as he said, "Well, Master and I have our unique bond!"

Subsequently, Oliver engaged in a conversation with Lucious.

"Why the sudden contact? Do you need assistance?" Lucious asked.

Oliver replied, "No, it's not about me."

"Oh, then who is it about?" Lucious inquired teasingly. 

"It's about the new member of our family. Val... he wishes to meet you," Oliver replied honestly.

"I've been meaning to meet him. Direct him to me. I am currently at the 33rd avenue street of the lower city," Lucious replied after a moment.

While Oliver was busy speaking with Lucious, Val pondered if the communicator's functionality was fundamentally based on runes.

To ascertain his guess, he looked at it and cast detect.

However, even after that, he couldn't discern the most useful aspects of the token.

But he did verify his assumption!

The token's functions were a product of a handful of runes being carved into it.

Moreover, because the runes were deeply engraved within the core of the device, without actually dismantling the communicator, there was no way Val could observe these runes directly. And without a direct view, replicating the device for his own use would be an unattainable task.

'If Oliver lets me dismantle his communicator, I can use my innate technique to memorize the runes and replicate the communicator endlessly. However, asking such a ridiculous request would be too much, especially because it's a gift given to him by his master,' Val thought.

After the chat with Lucious ended, Oliver put down his communicator.

Val asked curiously, "What did he say?"

Oliver turned to him and said, "I have good news for you. He has decided to meet you."

"It is good news indeed," Val said.

"Follow me," Oliver said as he led Val to the central district's depths. The place Lucious mentioned in the call was there.

At a coffee shop with an outdoor sitting area, Lucious sat on a chair around a table, nestled under the shade of a tree. There was a cup of black and bitter coffee in his hand. Sunlight filtered through the tree, casting a sunlit glow on his golden hair and enhancing his already striking features.

Also, the ladies nearby were literally swooning over him, having never seen a man as handsome as him.

"Oh, they are here."

Seeing Val and Oliver, Lucious waved at them from his seat, telling them to come over.

Without a moment wasted, They walked over to him.

"Take a seat," Lucious invited as they settled down.

The next moment, after setting his coffee cup on the table, Lucious turned his sharp gaze to Val. "So, what did you want to say to me?"

"It's a sensitive matter. I would like some privacy," Val said.

"Very well," Lucious looked at Oliver and said, "Oliver, erect a sound cancellation barrier."

"Okay."

Oliver snapped his fingers and a barrier that blocked all sound from going out and coming in was erected around them.

"Now you can talk freely without the fear of being overheard."

Sensing that the barrier was erected, Lucious assured Val.