A hint of shock passed through Keith’s eyes. Was he really able to establish communications just like that? He didn’t know much about I.R.C.D’s. All he knew was that most Hunters had them. They could connect back to Earth. Filtered through countless channels, Hunters could stay in contact with one person or anyone else attuned to the same channel.

How they were able to do so from different realms, he didn’t understand it nor did he want to. He hated modern technology with a passion. Primitive tools were more his speed.

Although the voice was full of static, he could roughly guess it was female, possibly? Or it was a really feminine man. He leaned towards the former.

Keith fumbled with the I.R.C.D attached to his head. He wasn’t sure how to get rid of the static. There were a few buttons and a scroll-wheel. But he didn’t dare touch them lest he lose communication with the other side.

Keith swallowed hard. Elena rooted for him in his head, but it was annoying and she sounded quite sarcastic. She was about as useful as his system was when it was stealing soul points from him…

With nearly a whisper Keith finally voiced out, “Can anyone hear me?”

Nearly a minute passed. He thought that he wouldn’t receive an answer, maybe his mic was broken. Little did he know that it wasn’t broken but instead his way of speaking?

Lara was confused. What happened to the loud and violent person who was spewing insults? Now Keith’s voice was so quiet she could barely hear him. The near minute that passed was her trying to wrap her head around the sudden change. If she were to see his near facial paralysis, it would feel even more perplexing.

Finally pressing down on the mic button Lara said, “I can hear you.” She didn’t want whoever was on the other side to know she was with her subordinates. This person was not the leader of her Scout Team. Somehow they got his I.R.C.D. For all she knew Keith was their murderer.

Keith’s heaved a sigh of relief. “Hey, you sound like a robot. How do I fix it?” The static was really starting to bug him. Between it and Elena’s snide remarks it was astonishing he didn’t get a migraine.

A moment later, Lara said, “Use the scroll-wheel on the I.R.C.D, and adjust it until the channel frequencies perfectly match. You will know when the static disappears.”

Keith followed the directions. But it still took him a few minutes. All the while, he grumbled and complained to himself about how trashy technology was. Meanwhile, Elena couldn’t get enough of it.

She was hundreds of years old and was only a fragment of her former self. But even she understood technology and how to use it. She had witnessed humanity change from using the standard oxen pulling a plow to steam engines to nuclear power, and finally to the present era where science and magic mixed. Yet, Keith seemed stuck in the Stone Age.

Finally, Keith managed to make the static disappear and then he said, “Speak.”

“Is it better now?” Lara said.

“Yeah, it’s better.”

Lara cleared her throat, sitting down at a table; she grabbed a nearby notebook and pen. Twirling a lock of her hair, she began to speak in a neutral tone. “My name is Lina. I… I work for Windsor Enterprises. How did you come across Agent Atraxia’s I.R.C.D?”

Lara opted to not lie but instead withhold information. She technically worked for Windsor Enterprises. She owned it after all. There was no telling what someone would think if they knew the head of one of the four great families was speaking to them. After all, not just anyone could interact with her.

“That? I came across his group. They were all dead. Your man Atraxia, he had all his limbs ripped from his body by the way. Pretty gruesome sight it was. I don’t know if you guys are just greedy or stupid, but you actually wanted to steal something that belonged to the Divine Ruler who owned this realm; do you have a death wish?”

What?! Something passed down from a Divine Ruler? Why didn’t she know about it? Why would an E-Rank Realm have something that belonged to a Divine Ruler? But the real question was why did her agent have something like that? When did he get it? She had never heard of him going to the Kavala Wastelands before she sent him there to investigate.

Turning to her maid, Lara’s mood became terrible. “Quickly, find out all information about Agent Atraxia and anyone associated with him. Use any and all means necessary.”

Bowing, her personal maid immediately ran off to carry out Lara’s orders with due haste. She had never seen Lara so agitated before, and she had known her since they were children.

The situation could not be any worse. From what the other person said, it sounded like the realm mutating might be the fault of Atraxia’s party and hers by association because she was their boss.

To think they angered a Divine Ruler, or at least something that served the Divine Ruler. Even mortals knew of Divine Rulers. The four great families were each backed by at least one Divine Ruler after all. But they didn’t normally get involved in mortal affairs.

Unless they faced imminent destruction, the four families Divine Rulers would not meddle with mortals. This was the reason that they had their statuses as great families and were unrivalled upon Earth.

Lara sighed, turning back to the mic she asked, “Your name, what is your name and rank? Are you affiliated with any organization?”

Keith frowned. Well… his face was always frowning. What rank was he? Based on his combat capability he should be somewhere in between C and D-Rank. However the Kavala Wastelands mutated. Even with the knowledge The System gave him, for all he knew everything he fought could be the weakest of the creatures that lived here. There was no predictable way to tell if the creatures that lived in a realm mutated with the realm or not.

Frankly speaking, the E-Rank creatures of an SSS-Rank realm would be far stronger than the creatures of an E-Rank Realm. Even if both creatures were still E-Rank; the one from the SSS-Rank Realm would nearly always win if the two were to be pitted against each other.

This was the reason Keith didn’t care for ranks. They were unstable and unreliable. Who know what the person who came up with the rank system was thinking when they invented it. E-Rank didn’t necessarily measure his power, nor did the other ranks. Simply put his strength was dependent on the realm he inhabited.

Yes, an SSS-Rank creature of an E-Rank realm was incredibly rare to find, however that didn’t mean they did not exist. But that creature would not normally win against an SSS-Rank that originated from an SSS-Rank Realm, the chances were quite low.

Even though they were both technically at had the same level of power, the environment they grew up in was completely different. It wasn’t a difference in their power itself, but what made up that power. It was the quality that mattered.

Those from higher ranked realms were naturally of a higher “quality” than those from lower ranked realms. It could be said that they were on a higher plane of existence. It was like comparing a Divine Ruler to a Mortal. However, it was to a far lesser degree since they were both still considered “Mortal”. There were always exceptions of course. Although it was rare, those from lower ranked realms could fight against those from higher ranked realms.

To accurately rank a realm required far more than just knowing what creatures inhabited it. Realms didn’t follow the same rules as Earth. There could be any number of things different such as how strong the force of gravity was. Or even worse, the realm would suppress inhabitants that weren’t original residents who were born there, decreasing the level of power they could use.

Keith’s conclusion… the rank system needed to be reevaluated, revamped, and revised. There was too much that was unaccounted for. In his opinion ranks were only a general level of strength. They didn’t mean everything. Sadly, there were some people who judged everything based off of ranks alone. He felt these people were narrow-minded.

Eventually, after thinking for a moment he came to his answer. He might as well use his age old profession.

“My name is Keith. I do not have a rank. I was a courier for the Hunter’s Association six months ago. But I am guessing they think I am dead. They would not care if I miraculously survived and I would venture to guess that they think I was killed in action. So no, I am not affiliated with any group at the moment.”

Lara was astounded. Courier… how did someone with no abilities or skills manage to survive six months? No, how did he manage to kill even the weakest of the creatures in this realm?

Lara wrote down Keith’s name and profession, “Do you have a last name. Do you have any family alive?”

“Nope…” He was not affiliated to the Silvermoon Family and refused to be known as someone that held blood ties to them. He would rather be an orphan than admit they were his family.

“Then… Keith, how have you survived for sixth months? Tell me your story.” For the first time in years, Lara felt curiosity towards someone. Somehow someone who should have died immediately not only survived for half a year longer than her specially trained subordinates, they were even seemingly living carefree. If Keith didn’t have a story to tell, she would never believe him.