"Cass, we need to talk," Olivia followed in after Cassarae, the two entering the shabby shack at the center of the village.

Cassarae took a seat at the head of her desk, a tight frown on her face. Clearly, the coming battle was weighing heavily on her mind, and Olivia's sudden sternness wasn't really to her liking either.

She sighed. "Lay it on me."

"Well, it's not all bad news. There is some good news."

Olivia passed over a ring.

---

[Simple Storage Ring (F-)]

[Contains hidden space accessible by the mind. Size is dependent on Aether Units invested with a limit of 10 by 10 by 10 meters]

[Aether Units: 20]

[Scale: 10 centimeters]

---

Such a large storage device sounded great, but it was unfortunately an F- treasure for a reason. The scalability was terrible.

An Aether Unit was the equivalent amount of Aether someone with 10 Intelligence would have. Meaning, someone with 10 Intelligence would have to drain all the Aether they had just to increase this ticker by one.

This was fine enough, but the real trouble came in what each unit meant.

A single Aether Unit was worth about an additional ten centimeters. So Sylas, for example, would have to drain himself 20 times just to gain a two-by-two-by-two-meter storage space.

The worst part was that the invested units were not permanent, as they would dissipate over time. After a day, a ring of this quality could lose about 20% of its size, and that was regardless of how much you invested. Due to that, the two women were actually reluctant to fill it past 20 Aether Units even if they could.

In this world, Aether was probably the most valuable resource. They couldn't afford to drain themselves everyday just out of convenience.

Not everyone had Maddened Meditation to quickly replenish themselves, and even then, Sylas was only able to replenish his Aether so quickly precisely because his Intelligence was so low in the first place.

"These are… beasts?" Cassarae's brows jumped. "They don't have the usual signs of wear and tear. They're perfect. How…" Cassarae smiled bitterly. "It was Sylas, wasn't it?"

Olivia pouted. "You took all the fun out of it. Couldn't I have had a breakthrough or something? Do you really have so little faith in me?"

"You didn't—"

"Stop, I already know what you're thinking. I paid him."

Cassarae's eyes narrowed. "How much?"

Olivia coughed. "Anyway, the bad news. I think we have to draw some lines in the sand. I understand if you might have some more… leniency toward Sylas than most others, but today he basically made this choice for us."

Cassarae leaned back into her chair, taking those words in. Although Olivia didn't explain with any depth, she understood what she meant.

Ultimately, this was her city. There was a reason she had made it a point to say that the Quest wasn't a charity event, and they would get rewards for their participation. She knew a lot about human nature.

Whether or not she or Olivia would have made the same decision, it wasn't Sylas' place to unilaterally decide for them.

But at the same time, considering the circumstances, was there another choice?

"How much?" Cassarae suddenly asked again.

Olivia didn't expect this, but in the end, she told the truth.

Cassarae sighed, rubbing her brows.

"He didn't even know coins existed until I told him about it. Even if he learns in the future, he won't put two and two together. The events will be separated by too much time. Don't be like that. We're tight on funds, we have to cut corners where we can. Plus, in this world, as cruel as it sounds, he can only blame himself."

Cassarae shook her head. "Everything you said would have made sense… if it wasn't Sylas. He definitely already knows. He just didn't bother to call you out on it."

"Then that's even better. He's not a petty person."

Cassarae's smile became even more bitter. "He's the pettiest person in the world. Don't let that stoic face fool you. He's brattier than you are."

"I am not bratty!" Olivia said with a gasp. As for Cassarae's words about Sylas, she didn't argue… that was because she remembered that even though Sylas knew she was interested in the bone ax, he didn't even talk to her about it, directly selling it to Alex for such a low price.

"He'll definitely remember this. Take the initiative to give him an extra 600… no, actually. We'll let him use the Nexus."

Olivia's eyes widened. "Cass, you…"

There was a smile on Cassarae's face and she didn't even seem to be listening to Olivia anymore.

Was she surprised about Sylas? Killing an F+ elite, then slaughtering five gnolls including another elite on his own…?

Not really.

She just felt that it was typical Sylas. She had never thought about it so clearly, but there was never a doubt in her mind that he would have clicked [Yes] to enter this world. And once he did, he would definitely excel.

And most importantly, she saw something that Olivia didn't. He definitely didn't have to go after those five gnolls.

He did it for her.

He was still the same Sylas. Still as overprotective as ever.

**

Sylas' eyes shot open. He only should have slept for an hour or two, but he felt that his body was feeling much better. He had already had a good night's rest, and this nap had more than made up for his aching body. If he had had a large meal, it would have replaced it quite easily. Unfortunately, he had traded away the beasts he defeated.

'There's time between now and the night. There's a good eight hours… I can go hunting, or I can use my coins to exchange for something if they don't let me leave.'

They had left barely after dawn, and it should only be around noon now. Assuming they attacked at night like everyone thought they would, there was definitely time.

However, Sylas set aside his hunger. He hadn't forgotten that he had gathered many rewards.