Placing the sack of cores before the dragon, Drake took a few steps back before commanding Kyvern to consume the cores.
It did so in one swoop, biting down at the sack of cores and gulping it all down at once.
After that, it let out a low growl and remained indifferent.
'Not the reaction I was expecting,' Drake thought, still waiting for a reaction—which never came.
After he eventually got tired of the slow, gruesome wait, he dismissed Kyvern and turned to the other Awakened. Many of them were on their bottoms doing their best to recover their strength; others had their eyes scanning through the bone platform. A lot more had their sights quickly flying away from Drake, as they had been glaring at Kyvern all this while. However...
One person had chosen to approach him. It was Gary.
Coming forward, he gave the most appealing grin he could and spoke, "I am Gary, and I think what you did—giving us a percent—is really generous. I appreciate that."
Drake could already see through the sorry heart of the ambitious boy. He remained blank and furrowed his eyes.
Gary gulped as a cold silence was held in the air. 'He's not buying it.'
He had approached Drake to befriend him—or more appropriately, gain his best interest—to escape the dungeon alive and also maybe gain popularity and wealth by being close to a high-ranked Awakened.
But that was proving difficult now.
"Hmmm, if I may ask, why did you give us a percent?" Gary asked. This time he had his fingers crossed, hoping for a reply, as this could very much be his last attempt to befriend the prestigious Original.
Drake let out a sigh. "Most people perform at their best when they are fed a fraction of what they earn, because of the fear of having it all taken away from them."
Gary was dazed, unable to comprehend what Drake's point was about. 'Shit! Why does he always talk like he's sixty?'
This was Gary's opportunity to relate to Drake, and he was unable to do so. Opening his mouth, he tried to give a reply but stuttered before shutting it back.
"That's nice..."
A voice came from behind, and almost immediately, Drake got a strange feeling in his gut. He turned his head around in a single, fast motion, and his gaze fell on something rather surreal.
It was a female, one who was part of the cohort, standing right next to him—silent and unable to be sensed even when she was right beside him. Which was very strange.
'My Awakened body should have sensed her, even if slightly. But it didn't. It's like she's not even there—'
It didn't take long before Drake fixed his composure and simply stared at the black-haired girl, his thoughts unknown to both Gary and her.
"Imagine a dog given a bowl filled with different types of meat. Yes, it might be hungry, it might eat everything up all at once out of greed, or it might just play around with its food because of how much it has to eat. But imagine taking away all the meat but one single chicken wing before its eyes—it becomes desperate and quickly eats it up. To make it do tasks, you reward it with another, then another piece of chicken... That is what Drake is implying."
The girl explained to Gary, stunning him further with the explanation.
Drake still kept silent. It was another shock to him that she had listened in on the conversation of the two without being noticed for that long.
'From how shocked Gary is, she must have just made her presence known when she spoke...' Drake, at this point, was more entertained than stunned.
Just what was her talent?
"I'm Luna," the girl spoke in a light yet rather excited tone aimed at Drake. "You already know that—you know me since we had a few encounters during our time in the academy. And I would like to make a deal with you to join your party."
Drake's eyes twitched a bit, amused. He placed his hands into his trouser pockets and replied afterward, "Why would I want you in my party? Just because you can sneak up on me doesn't mean I'm impressed."
Luna nodded with a smile and then raised her hands up for Drake to see. "This thing is bitch-ass heavy—"
In her grasp shone something very agitating to both boys... It was the red radiant sword Drake used, in her hands. It was fast and unnoticeable—none of them had seen it coming.
"If that doesn't impress you, trust me, I specialize in final solutions. And if you ever choose to cross me, never forget I will give you a final solution," Luna said in a clinical tone that sent chills even up Drake's spine.
"So you're saying you are... an assassin?" Gary made sure to say the last bit in a low whisper, to avoid incurring the wrath of the wrong person.
Luna gave no reply, simply smiling before turning back to Drake.
Drake, in turn, did not speak or sell out his expressions. From what he had seen her do, her speed and ability to approach someone unaware were things that could not be overlooked.
'She probably has an assassin-type aspect, which would be useful for a party if I ever create one...'
Drake froze in thought as she began to somewhat come closer, her large bosoms exposed as though trying to seduce him into agreeing with her.
"That level of deception doesn't work on me," Drake said, taking steps back from her. This action confused Gary, but not Luna, who clearly gave a naughty smile—knowing what she was trying to do.
"What do you hope to achieve if you join me?"
The last question hung in the air for a while before Luna spoke.
"It's too private to be mentioned here. But let's say I need to get stronger—and what better way to do that than to follow the most power-hungry soul in all of ALCRAN, or maybe the world..."
Drake froze for a second before nodding in acceptance to her. For a moment there, he had thought she could see through him—but that couldn't be her ability.
However, what Drake did not know was that Luna could see directly into his soul and the deepest desires that lay there.
She grinned at his reply. "Then I'll be at your service, Mr. Dragon."
---
Meanwhile—
The cold embrace of the cave's atmosphere coated the air, and with each step taken forward, they felt as though the temperature dropped further.
Tessa let out a sigh, her body clearly glowing yellow and emanating a warmth that could be perceived by everyone else.
Most of the other Awakened there, despite not showing interest, had gone closer to her to get warm—even the S-Ranked and higher.
However, the pride of the Originals did not bend to temptation. Instead, they shivered and hugged their bodies while walking.
Tessa felt her stomach grumble in protest, and for some reason, this reminded her of Drake. 'Almost all the S-Ranked appeared closely together. Why didn't he!' she complained within.
"This is so frustrating. He's only a summoner— is he going to be even alright?" she mumbled to herself too low for anyone to make out.
But just in case, those who were close to her for warmth took precautionary steps away.
She continued off like this until her feet stepped on—snow?
Raising her gaze forward, her eyes grew wide in awe, and she stopped in her tracks. Not just her had done this, but the other S-Ranked and Awakened as well.
As right before them all was a massive ice spire, and on top of it stood a monster unlike the others they had faced earlier.
{Ding}
The notification resounded in all their ears at once, agitating them, as they knew the meaning of this sort of sequence.
The loud ding—and how it came almost at the exact same time...
{Boss monster detected}
{Elemental Banshee}
{D-Ranked Dungeon Beast}