Miranda had already been waiting for Nial to return to her to discuss the offer.
Since the day after the dungeon breakout, he seemed to have disappeared, only to reappear all of a sudden.
Not even his mana traces could be sensed for the period in between.
Because of that, Miranda hoped that Nial had learned to control this weird type of energy he released by now.
When she sensed his presence from further away she realized that her assumptions were proven to be correct. Nial was actively releasing dark energy, even if it was not much.
And the moment she was able to see him, Miranda could tell that the young man had changed quite a bit.
His demeanor had changed radically and he seemed to be much more confident than before, and it looked like he had grown more ambitious.
Of course, there were things the Old Medic didn't know, but she was oddly confident in the young man.
He would make the right choice; the choice that would allow him to become stronger as quickly as possible.
Miranda knew that she was the key for him to become the strongest in the shortest period which was why it was not surprising for her to see him walking into her small abode!
"Hello Miss Miranda, I hope we're not disturbing you right now!"
Nial's voice was quite gentle and he greeted her politely.
Right behind Nial were his two friends, Bella and Mathias, who were quite confused about what they wanted to do.
Mathias clearly remembered Miranda because she was the one to be able to tend to Nial's wounds and the dark energy that had infiltrated his body.
He also remembered that the Old Medic had expressed her interest in taking Nial as her assistant or something of that sort. In fact, Mathias had been way too distracted to focus on their discussion that day.
As such, he only knew that the Old Medic had presented a weird offer to his friend.
But considering that Miranda was everything but ordinary, Mathias began to wonder what Nial was planning.
His blind friend had changed quite a bit, and the rather lax attitude that he would sometimes exhibit had disappeared completely.
It was almost as if Nial was ready to work without break as long as he would be able to achieve his goals!
This was only normal for some, but there was a trace of overzealousness and desperation that radiated from Nial, which could harm him in the long run.
"Of course, you are not disturbing me. Are you here for what I think you're, or am I getting excited for no reason?"
Miranda didn't like to beat around the bush. As such, she acted rather straightforwardly.
Nial liked this kind of behavior because it made things much easier for him.
"How about you get your hands on three assistants, or rather disciples instead of one? We are a great package, and have the necessary potential!" Smiling brightly, Nial gave her a tempting counter offer.
Of course, his question could come across as a rather rude one, but after sensing the Old Medic's mana fluctuations, Nial knew that there was nothing to fear.
"You mean, I should let all three of you work for me? Earlier, I just said that I didn't want Captain Clara to work for me, but wanted you instead. And you outright denied my offer to work for me, didn't you? That doesn't exactly mean you can come forward and make demands like this, to begin with, you know?"
Miranda looked at Nial with a trace of interest. Her mind was rather calm, even though she had not expected this change of events.
Averting her gaze from Nial, Miranda quickly noticed that Nial didn't even discuss it with his two friends before blurting out his offer to her.
Both Bella and Mathias were staring at him in utter confusion. While it was easy to sense that Miranda was stronger than them, they were not exactly sure how an Old Medic should help them to become the strongest.
As Originals, it was easy to determine the rank of weaker Originals, while more powerful Originals were able to conceal their rank from the sight of others.
That simply meant every single Original with a single Origin ring was able to hide his or her rank from Originals at the Origin rank.
Because that was the case, Bella and Mathias couldn't know that Miranda was the strongest Original within the Teradan military camp, and one of the strongest Originals in the entire human race.
If they were to know this, Nial's friends wouldn't even hesitate to ask the Old Medic for help.
There were not many Originals that had reached Miranda's prowess, be it her healing capacities, brute force, or knowledge in various subjects.
In fact, Nial didn't know everything about Miranda either.
However, he could tell that she was far stronger than one would think. After all, he was pretty sure that she had defeated the Giganodes after solving the issues outside the Teradan military camp.
The longer Bella looked at Miranda, the stranger she felt.
'Haven't I seen her before?' She wondered, only for several seconds to pass before realization struck her.
'Isn't she the one who brought me the runic armaments that belonged to Nial?! Even the camp leader was being so polite and respectful toward her!!'
It was as if Bella's mind was bombarded with resurfacing memories as she recalled the day of the dungeon breakout.
She clearly recalled that an old woman, Miranda, was treated with the utmost respect.
And that even included the Originals with five advanced Origin rings!
Slowly understanding what Nial was trying to do, Bella's eyes widened a little bit as she stared at her weird friend.
'Why the hell did you reject her offer before?!'
Unable to grasp Nial's reason for doing so, Bella could only stare at Nial, who smiled lightly at the Old Medic's words.
"Back then, I rejected your offer because I had to fix my condition first. I will spare you the details but can only tell you that I'm fine now.
If the offer is still valid, I would like to work for you! I hope that you can consider my two friends as well, they're even more interesting than I am!"
Nial was eager to get both his friends in as well which was why he kept mentioning them again and again.
However, Miranda had already lifted her hand indicating Nial to stop speaking.
'More interesting than you? I really doubt it! After all, that would mean I would be able to have my fair share of fun with three young students!'
Smiling lightly, Miranda couldn't help but like Nial's attitude. It was not as if he had transformed into an entirely new person in just a week.
But there were slight changes in his demeanor, meaning that he became more confident in himself, less worried about his issues, and so on.
This was more than enough for Miranda to be inclined to accept Nial's offer. She sensed something unique about Bella; something divine which intrigued her quite a bit, while she had already perceived that Mathias was not an ordinary Original as well.
That was something Miranda had already realized last week.
However, even if Miranda was a little bit intrigued, it was not as if she was willing to teach three students at the same time.
This would deprive her of way too many resources, and time! It would be impossible for her to properly focus on their growth!
"In that case, what would you do if I were to say that my offer is not valid anymore, and that I don't need any of you?"
Nial was aware that he was risking quite a bit with every single word he uttered.
But even then he had not really expected to hear this kind of question. Thus, he was stunned for a moment and was unable to say anything.
"Would you change your mind if we were to reveal the details of our Innate abilities?" Bella suddenly asked, before Nial could speak because she had sensed that Nial was struggling to find a proper answer.
Thus, Bella did her best to help, and to prevent the Old medic from rejecting them.
However, even Nial shook his head at Bella's question as he mumbled,
"It's not like we can keep our abilities a secret if we want to be taught properly, to begin with…"
Nial's mind was rattling as he was trying to find an answer that was convincing enough to make Miranda reconsider his offer.
At the same time, Miranda was already smiling faintly because Nial's reply to Bella's question was correct.
Telling her about their innate ability right now wouldn't make much of a difference because she would get to know it either way.
As such, Nial thought that he would have to come up with something else that might be more important. While the two friends were now lost in thought, Mathias decided to intervene as well by stating his opinion.
"In that case, how about we procure more runic armaments within the ancient ruins dungeon?"
He was still not sure why even Bella had decided to jump in and help him gain the Old Medic's favor.
Miranda's appearance was quite ordinary for an old woman and she did not exude the aura of a mighty original.
Nial's behavior had confused him already, but the fact that Bella joined him was even weirder.
'Is she really that important for our growth?' Mathias wondered, tilting his head in the attempt to figure out more.
Yet again, Nial shook his head upon hearing Mathias' proposal. The Old medic didn't really need more runic armaments from them because she was bound to receive more than enough research material in the form of the runic armaments which the military would procure and hand over to her.
That was something he was quite sure about.
In the end, luring her with materialistic treasures was not exactly helpful, and Nial couldn't help but believe that it would mean much more if they were to provide her with information she would never be able to find out without any help.
However, this would mean that the others would have to tell her something Miranda didn't know, or he would have to make use of the memories that belonged to the late God of Darkness!
Nial knew what was going to happen, but considering that Miranda had already sensed his dark energy, it was not like she should be an incarnation of the Old Gods. He wouldn't be alive anymore, otherwise.
With that in mind, Nial chose to pick out one particular fact that wouldn't exactly reveal his secrets, but at the same time was something the Old Medic didn't know.
"How about I tell you about the origin of the dungeon portals?"
Nial's voice was low and cautious, but everyone in the room heard him.
While Mathias and Bella had thought about more things to provide the Old Medic with, Nial chose the easiest way to get what he wanted.
His lifeless eyes stared at the Old Med, as he fell silent after the small bomb he had just dropped upon the old Medic.
"You…know the origin of the dungeon portals?" Miranda asked, flabbergasted to think how a blind youth would know the details about this.
Even if her earlier question had just been a small attempt to exert her superiority and make the three Originals realize that they didn't have anything she needed, Nial's words had caught her interest.
"Rather than knowing the origin of the dungeon portals, I think telling you what kind of existences create the dungeon portals would be more interesting, am I right?"
**
[A/N: If you like the Novel, leave your golden tickets and powerstones with me. If you like my writing style, test out my other novels. All of them belong to one big Multiverse. You might find the characters and hints about certain events in other novels :P.
Link to my Discord is in my profile]