A staring contest.
That was what was taking place between Reva and Eren. Reva spoke with an irritated expression on her face when she finally couldn't take it anymore.
"I didn't know the White Raven guild master liked to stare at random strangers without even extending formal introductions."
Reva said before releasing her aura. She was an Expert ranker just like Eren. However, she was on the cusp of breaking into the next rank. Plus, she was an accomplished ranker with plenty of accumulation. As a result, the mana signatures of Paladin of Pain established her as a particularly cruel ranker.
Eren smiled as he was subjected to Reva's aura. He released a lungful of smoke in Reva's direction before responding.
"You already know my name and I know yours. Why bother?
More importantly, did you find out what happened to Shalen Craft? Brilliant girl, if you ask me. It's a shame she was somehow pulled into a royal conspiracy and died.
Sadly, we can't bring her back. But we can at least find out how she was killed, right?"
Eren remained unfazed by Reva's intrusive act. He knew that even a cruel ranker like her cared for Shalen who she had practically raised from the ground to the top. Just like the Paladin of Pain, the butcher liked to strike at his enemies where it hurts the most. One could say that he had learned it from her.
Reva was a smart woman. She looked at Eren's playful nature and immediately understood that he was trying to incite her just to see her react. It was as if this was not their first time talking to each other.
Reva smirked. Immediately her aura changed and it started to incite a certain emotion in Eren. She wanted to show that only she could play with others' emotions and not the other way around. Although she cared a bit about Shalen Craft, the fact that she died had no visible impact on her.
A subtle mana pulse was released. And it was the tell-tale sign of an Ability getting used.
Eren first realized that he was sick. That he was mortal again and suffering from various diseases all at once. Then he felt hungry - as if he had been starving for weeks on end. After that came the feeling of unexplained aggression. And finally, he felt that he had achieved everything he came to achieve and it was okay for him to die.
Eren felt different shades of all those emotions in a fraction of a moment while he was being exposed to Reva's aura. If there was any other ranker other than him standing in front of her, they would have been brought to their knees by her peculiar Ability.
Eren knew about the Paladin of Pain's Ability the most. He had been subjected to its effects many times just for her entertainment. But unlike last time, he wasn't affected by any of the feelings she was trying to induce him. And in doing so, he denied her the pleasure of breaking in front of her.
'Hmm? She is a demonic ranker, Eren. Her demon soul fragment, however, is put to sleep and restricted. She is an initiated demonic ranker.'
Eren heard Alephee's words in his head and raised his eyebrows in shock. Even after knowing Reva Rain from the past timeline, he didn't know anything related to demons or demonic rankers. So it took him some time to process it.
Reva's expression changed when she saw that Eren was not affected by her aura that carried the effects of her Ability. His response to it made her eerily uncomfortable. She felt that what was deep inside her was trying to warn her– either kneel or get the fuck away from this man.
Everything starts looking yellowish when one has jaundice.
Eren felt it odd that as soon as he learned the existence of demonic rankers, there was someone from those groups standing in front of him. Especially someone like Reva who he knew from his past timeline.
However, he quickly concluded that there was a reason for that. First was the fact that demonic rankers were relatively stronger than their peers. As a result, they became more successful in their ranking journeys and other aspects of life than the rest. So it was natural that some of them gathered inside the capital city of Edin where people with influence and power were concentrated.
The reason he was not aware of Reva's status as a demonic ranker in the previous timeline was that he was not qualified to know. He could only blame his past self for being incompetent and uneducated.
Reva dispersed her aura when she found out that it did not affect Eren. She could have tried suppressing Eren even more. She could have said something clever to intimidate him in return. But she chose not to do that. It was as if every fiber in her body wanted her not to engage in conflict with him. For the first time in her life after a long while, the Paladin of Pain felt like prey standing in front of an Apex predator.
'This man… Something about him just creeps me out.'
The revelation bothered and intimidated her at the same time. There was only one person who induced those same feelings in her– Demonmir.
Once Reva retracted her presence, Eren narrowed her eyes on her. He stepped forward and got within a breath's distance of her.
"Do… Do we know each other? No... how do you know me on a personal level?"
Reva couldn't help asking Eren this question out of frustration. She could sense Eren's behavior and tell it wasn't his first time getting affected by her aura. She tried her hardest to remember if she had ever met someone who even remotely looked like Eren. But so far she had drawn a blank.
Eren flashed a subtle smile at her before responding. His voice was calm, his eyes the reflection of calm water.
"I have come to realize that there's no such thing as a painless lesson in life. The lessons that truly hold some value will be taught to us at the cost of losing something in return.
We can walk away from the pain. Or we can work through those lessons to find out that we have been reforged by the very pain that tried to break us.
You don't know it, Reva Rain. But it was you who helped me make peace with the feelings of pain. You helped me see past those feelings and reach for what lies on the other side of them.
So as a gesture of conveying thanks… I'm offering you a deal."
AN: Drin, thanks for the castle. Bit busy with setting up INFIO and other projects. But we will have VEH's mass release possibly by the start of the next month. Cheers! ;)
