43 Approach

Unlike how he had approached Eliza, Linnaeus knew that recruiting someone like the man with the absorption Blessing wouldn't be simple.

The man reminded Linnaeus of the more impressive mercenaries and bounty hunters that had been sent after him. He was a silent and stoic person who showed a keen awareness of his surroundings. If not for Linnaeus' habit of laying low, enhanced by his [Presence Concealment] and [Stealth], it would have been extremely difficult to observe the man, even at a distance.

It was usually very difficult to recruit strangers for the position of a Vanguard as, in most dangerous situations, the people holding the frontline were in the most danger. Thus, in most situations, it was the Vanguard who acted as the Party Leader. This allowed them to leave a positive impression on the other members of the Party, something that strengthened their position through ingratiation and trust.

Linnaeus knew the only way he would be able to convince someone to trust their back to him was if he had the strength of character and wherewithal to lead them to victory. He needed to be willing to take risks himself, not hide behind others and expect them to bear the brunt of the danger without recompense.

With this in mind, Linnaeus had decided to take a direct approach to recruit the man. He, along with Eliza, made their way over to where the man was known to rest. Linnaeus knew he was still inside the small pond as it was one of the safer places to stay while also providing an edge when it came to hunting. After all, even monsters needed to drink water so, by merging with the pond itself, the man was able to kill weaker monsters without any effort whatsoever.

Once they had reached the vicinity of the pond, Linnaeus inhaled through his nose as his mind came to a razor-sharp focus. He turned to Eliza and gave her a small nod, earning a subdued sigh from the purple-haired girl as she moved a safe distance away.

Unless they had specifically trained to break their habits, most people would establish a baseline for themselves when thrown into an unfamiliar environment. Linnaeus had already been able to identify that the man was a creature of habit and, though he was extremely cautious, it had only taken him a few days to form a rough routine that he stuck to.

Though it was possible something had happened to make the man change his routine, Linnaeus was confident that his target was still inside the pond. There was still a bit of time before dawn, when the man usually began his hunt, so Linnaeus walked toward the edge of the pond before stopping a few meters from the crystal clear water source. It was fed by a small creek so, rather than stagnate and become murky, it was possible to see through to the bottom without any difficulty.

After several tense minutes, Linnaeus finally heard a small ding in his mind as he was awarded 93 Experience in his [Perception] Skill. This nearly brought a smile to his face but, as he wasn't usually that expressive, his face remained a calm mask as he muttered, "I've already sensed you. You can continue hiding if you want but I'd like to talk with you. I'm not your enemy...unless you decide I am..."

Linnaeus had specifically made a remark about the man hiding away as, even though he had very few pertinent social interactions with other males, he still understood how they thought. After all, he was a male himself and, while not the most imposing figure of masculinity, he had killed enough to cause the average person to feel cautious around him.

As he had expected, the pool of water began to form the rough shape of a person before a tall man with pale grey skin and a muscular build stepped onto dry land. Despite having emerged from a pool of water, he was completely dry as he crossed his arms in an imposing manner and asked, "Are you the one that has been spying on me...?"

Despite his intimidating appearance, the man actually had a surprisingly soft voice, even if he used a stern and somber tone. Linnaeus felt slightly taken aback but, as one of the first skills he had picked up was masking his thoughts, it was completely indiscernible to the man standing before him.

With a perfect facade of stoicism, Linnaeus looked up at the much taller man as he stated in a clear and calm tone, "I cannot say for certain whether or not I'm the person you have been sensing. I have been watching you on occasion, but only intermittently."

Hearing Linnaeus' words, the grey-skinned man snorted through his nose before turning his silver eyes toward Eliza in the distance. Rather than show a lascivious gaze, his expression was largely one of contempt and disinterest as he remarked, "I have no intention to babysit a pair of brats. If you are not an enemy, leave me be in peace. The next time I catch you snooping around, don't blame me for being rude..."

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Linnaeus' expression remained unchanged in the face of the man's words but Eliza couldn't help but furrow her brows slightly as she scrunched up her nose. While Linnaeus may not know what race the man was, Eliza had received a proper education so she had easily identified him as a member of the Ashvalla race. Since they would begin to grow dark markings on their bodies as they age, she knew that the man, despite his size and physique, shouldn't be much older than Linnaeus.

On average, the majority of people entering the Tower were around twenty years of age. Though this grew to become a large disparity in later floors, as people could easily live for hundreds of years, the majority of people reaching the 10th Floor weren't older than thirty. Thus, despite having decided to live a life detached from her original identity as a daughter of the Evendoom family, Eliza was a little annoyed by the man's unnecessary remark.

Fortunately, before things could escalate, Linnaeus stated in the same calm tone as before, "I wanted to recruit you into my Party...but it seems like you are content just hiding away here without fighting for a chance at life. I hope your abrasive nature doesn't lead to your second death..."

Since the man seemed like a loner, Linnaeus wasn't going to waste too much time trying to convince him. Even if he needed to become his Party's frontline fighter, it was better than entrusting their fate to someone who showed absolutely no interest in cooperation.

Rather than allow Linnaeus to simply walk away, the man uncrossed his arms and adopted a broad stance as he asked in a cold tone, "Are you trying to threaten me...?"

With his back still partially toward the man, Linnaeus turned his head to look back as he stated, "I do not need to threaten you. All I have to do is leave you here and it is only a matter of time before you do something to get yourself killed. As for us...we're going to reach the top of the Crucible and earn our right to return to the Tower..."

Almost as soon as Linnaeus had finished his words, the grey-skinned man barreled toward him with the obvious intent to initiate a grappling match. He was fast on his feet but, as someone specializing in Agility, Linnaeus made use of his smaller stature and quick reflexes to deftly evade the sweeping arms of the man.

The moment he missed his tackle, the man surprise Linnaeus by leaping forward and using his shoulders as a pivot to perform a roll. He quickly bounced back up to his feet, obviously intent on closing the distance between himself and Eliza. Since she was standing in the back, he assumed she was the weaker of the two, despite the white-haired youth's frail appearance.

Seeing what the man had attempted, Linnaeus winced slightly as he cursed, "Damn fool..." in a low voice. He didn't even try to go to Eliza's aide as, from the moment the man began charging toward her, the battle had already been decided. Her expression, which was usually demure with a hint of kindness, immediately turned cold as she brought her palms together.

Moments before Eliza brought her palms together, the man was suddenly overwhelmed by a sense of dread. He began to regret his decision to charge her but, despite his best attempts to change course and take evasive action, a hazy purple circle appeared under his feet. In the next instant, it felt like he was being crushed by a mountain as his body was pressed flat to the ground. His bones were creaking in protest as the fragile capillaries in his body, especially around his eyes and nose, quickly ruptured under the strain.

There were very few tribes known to be able to manipulate gravity so the man's mind began to race when he realized what kind of identity the purple-haired woman must possess. What he didn't know was that, despite her current power being far beyond his means to resist, Eliza was actually holding back quite a bit. She had only increased the gravity around his body to around 15x, not even half of her maximum of 50x.

After a few seconds had passed, Eliza finally separated her palms. At this point, the man's health was already below half so, if he tried to charge her again, the only fate awaiting him was death. Knowing this, the man stayed motionless on the ground as, due to his pride, he couldn't really apologize for his actions. He had only intended to rough up the two before sending them running so his mind was still trying to catch up with everything that had happened.

Using her superior position, Eliza kept her palms close together as she looked down on the Ashvallan man and stated icily, "You call other people childish but then attack a woman who hasn't even said or done anything to you. Where is your pride as a man? I guess this is what I should have expected from someone who couldn't even be older than twenty...the next time you say something rude, don't blame me for disciplining you on behalf of your parents...!"

In response to Eliza's admonishment, the man kept his face toward the ground while, in the distance, Linnaeus' eyes had widened slightly as he internally remarked, ("Is this really the same shy girl that I have been living with the last few days...?")

Linnaeus knew girls could have two drastically different sides to their character but, as this was his first time seeing Eliza angry, he was more than a little surprised. She was actually scarier than Ryuuna and Saht as, at least in their case, Linnaeus knew what they were thinking. Eliza, however, was adept at keeping her thoughts to herself, something Linnaeus realized he should have expected from a woman born within the Evendoom family.

Resisting the urge to turn tail and run, Linnaeus made his way over to where the grey-skinned man was laying down. He placed a few foodstuffs and a single Green Gel for the man to consume as he remarked in the same calm tone, "I didn't expect your foolishness would endanger your life so soon after my warning...really, you're lucky Eliza is a polite and benign woman. You might not have shown any killing intent but she could have crushed you into meat pulp if you offended her..."

Rather than respond to Linnaeus' words, the man looked at the items placed before him with steady eyes before weakly moving into a seated position. Then, turning his gaze to Eliza, he asked in a soft and restrained tone, "Your ears...can I see them...?"

Eliza furrowed her brows slightly in response to the man's question, even though she knew what he wanted to confirm. If not for the curious look on Linnaeus' face, she would have reproached him for deigning to ignore the person talking to him. It was clear he had already elevated her position above Linnaeus', something that annoyed Eliza quite a bit...

Understanding that the man could still be useful to their Party, Eliza decided to swallow her indignity this time around as she moved aside her fluffy purple hair. Her hair was deliberately groomed in a way that hid her ears as, like all tribes, the Felborn had their own racial characteristics.

Linnaeus had never tried to ask any personal questions related to Eliza's body so he had never seen her ears, despite living together for a few days. When he saw what was concealed behind the puffy purple curls, his brows raised slightly, even though they weren't even remotely close to the strangest pair he had observed.

Eliza's ears came to a point, which wasn't actually all that uncommon but, unlike normal pointed ears, the backs of hers were covered in a layer of purple fur. It covered the entire back of her ears while, at the very tips, two tiny purple tufts were present.

While Linnaeus was mildly surprised by Eliza's ears, the grey-skinned man lowered his face as the color slowly drained away from it. This confirmed his suspicions so, rather than show any kind of haughtiness at all, he placed his palms on the ground before lowering his head until it was touching the dirt as he said, "Please forgive me...had I known-"

Before the man could continue any further, Eliza loudly harumphed to get the man's attention. His face became even paler until he saw that she was pointing at Linnaeus as she said, "You should not bother with such things. If I wanted to be treated like a princess, I wouldn't keep my ears hidden. I want you to apologize to Linnaeus, not me. If he didn't want to recruit you into our Pary, I would not have spared you...hmph!"

The man was at a loss after hearing Eliza's words. He suddenly looked toward Linnaeus as if he was only just noticing the latter for the first time. His valuation of the boy had suddenly improved a great deal as, even if he seemed weak, a member of the Evendeoom family was elevating his status above her own. This made the man wonder about what Linnaeus' true identity was but, rather than try and pry, he first followed Eliza's instructions by bowing his head and apologizing...