She shakes her head, “Nope. Instead, after it goes to S, then SS, and finally SSS.”
“Oh, I guess that means it’s super, super, super rare then.”
“You have no idea. With the right preparation, that ability of yours gives you an edge over every other User in the System.”
“What do you mean, ‘an advantage over other Users’?”
“The description of your ability says that you can absorb the essence of any ‘defeated foe’ not just a dungeon monster. That means you could absorb skills from other Users. And that’s just at its current level. I can only imagine what it can do if you level it up.”
There’s an almost predatory light in Lillian’s eyes that I just don’t understand. “Why would I want to absorb some other User’s abilities? Aren’t we all trying to help the world by clearing dungeons?”
Lillian shakes her head sadly at me. “No. I wish that’s how the world worked, but it isn’t. I told you some people only use the System and the dungeons to make themselves rich and powerful. Well, those kinds of people don’t like to share that power. Some of those people even go out of their way to hurt and kill other Users so that there’s less competition for the resources of the dungeons. Some people even do it just for fun and to test their skills out against other Users.”
“But even if they are killed, they can’t die, right? I mean they’ll just respawn at their home base.”
Lillian nods at my statement. “Sure, at least until they run out of levels. If a User is killed when he’s at level zero, he dies permanently, just like anyone else.”
Wait, Users kill other Users? I thought I was gaining some safety by becoming powerful, but now Lillian is telling me that I may become a target for some asshole player killer?
“That’s why you have to join my team. We can offer you all training you need and help protect you until you’re strong enough to protect yourself.”
My mind is still reeling from the revelation that I may be a target that I blurt out the first thing that comes to my mind on her offer. “No! You keep making these offers to help me, but I know something's not right. No one offers to help someone else without wanting something in return. What are you hiding from me?”
Lillian’s expression becomes guarded, and she takes a step back from me. “I’m not hiding anything. Everything I’ve told you is true. I’ve been nothing but kind and welcoming to you.”
I know I'm cruel, that it’s true Lillian’s been kind and helped me more than I ever thought some stranger would, but I press on anyway. If someone is going to hurt me, I need to know who’s offering to protect me.
I take a step towards her and look straight into her eyes, “NO! You’ve been hiding something from me. You could have left me alone after you dropped me off at the college hospital. Instead, you tracked me down and told me all about the System, neglecting to mention the danger it posed. You told me about the treasures offered, hoping to tempt me into joining your company with the promise of wealth and power. Even now, you’ve only told me about the danger from other Users to try and scare me into joining you. But why? Why me? Why are you pushing so hard? Why, with all your money and power, do you need a guy like me? It’s not because of my rare ability. You just found out about it. So why?”
Only now that I’m done do I realize that I’d been yelling. I can’t take it back though, and I can’t apologize. My plans and how I can take care of my family depend on knowing what’s happening here.
Lillian looks like she’s on the verge of tears and turns away from me. She’s hasn’t answered me. She may not be able to give up her secrets so easily. So I use my last card.
“Fine. You don’t want to tell me. That’s your right. But I can’t work with someone I can’t trust. Either you tell me what you’re hiding, or you can forget about me ever joining you. I’ll figure out the rest of this System stuff on my own.”
The words almost burn my throat as they come out. Lillian’s been good to me, and even though I’ve only known her a short time, I like her. But she has to understand how serious I am. My Mom told me a long time ago that my dad left because he had too many secrets and it destroyed our family. I won’t let something like that happen again.
Lillian turns towards me, tears glistening on her cheeks, but anger in her eyes too. “You want to know what I’m hiding? Fine! I need you because I can’t get anyone else to join my company. The other groups have blacklisted us. They’ve either hired or threatened every independent User I’ve approached to join my team. They’re determined to run me out of business because I’m a threat to their power and wealth.”
“That doesn’t make sense. You said you had a whole team that would help train me. What about John? He works for you.”
Lillian shakes her head and laughs bitterly. “I lied. I’ve spent nearly every credit of my family fortune in that office and the upgrades. I have enough money to staff a team, but that’s it. Within a year, I’ll be broke. John is an old friend of my father that’s a genius with tech. He doesn’t care about money as long as he has a lab to work on his crafting. I promised him that lab and delivered.”
“No one else would work with you?”
“You don’t understand the kind of power some of these System Companies have. They have credits to burn and are more than willing to use their wealth to bribe Users. However, there was one other friend of my father’s, Daniel Edenberg, that was prepared to go against the other companies. He was a swordsman and the damage dealer on the team. But Daniel disappeared three months ago. The companies are spreading the rumor that he was deleted permanently as a warning to others that may think of joining my company.”
Lillian sits on the stone floor, her armor clanking loudly. She looked up at me and wiped her cheek with the back of her hand, which looked weird covered in metal. “You’re right, Anthony. You should stay away from me. While the offer of training and equipment is real, you’ll only be putting a target on your back if you join me. The truth is that I need you more than you need me.” She gestures to where King Kanon’s body was a few minutes ago. “Hell, with your rare ability, you could join any of the big companies and write your ticket.”
I walk over to Lillian and sat beside her. I put an arm around her, and she unconsciously leans her head on my shoulder. “I’m sorry I yelled at you, Lillian. I didn’t mean to bring up so many issues; I just can’t trust someone that can’t be honest with me. Is there anything else you need to tell me?”
She looks up at me; her eyes are a bit puffy. “I also think you're kind of cute and like that your mom thinks I’m your girlfriend.”
I laugh. “Ok. Then I formally accept your offer to join your company. We can talk terms when we get back to your office.”
The pure joy and happiness I see in Lillian’s face as she smiles at me let me know that I’ve made the right decision.
Chapter 20
After a round of hugs from Lillian and many promises from her that I won’t regret joining her, she realizes that the dungeon hasn’t disappeared yet. I tell her that we have to free the princess first. Lillian looks around for the key, and I realize that when I absorbed the boss, I must have given up all the loot he was going to drop including the quest item. I’ll have to watch out for that in the future. I’d hate to mess up a quest because I lost the last important piece.
Still, in this instance we’re okay. I still have the key from the first time I beat King Kanon and use it to open Princess Plum’s cage. The princess steps out of the cage, hugs Lillian, and thanks her for rescuing her from the grasp of the evil King Kanon. The princess turns to me and faster than I can blink, slaps me on the cheek. I see a red five float away from me but am too stunned to respond. I guess the princess is mad that I didn’t free her sooner.