"What about the Withered Regrets?" Keynes asked as he and Esopp approached the first dome.

Esopp scowled. "There's a prerequisite," he said grudgingly, clearly disappointed with the consumable. Alice remained silent on the matter, so Keynes waited for Esopp to continue.

"In order for Withered Regrets to work, I must get 100% toward the next level," Esopp explained, "but I can't trigger the level up until I consume it."

Keynes’s eyebrows climbed up. Prerequisites were rare, or so he thought. Alice, however, noted that Keynes hadn't seen much of what the System had to offer and prerequisites were actually quite common. Keynes chose not to argue the point.

"How do you know that?" he asked. A quick check in the System showed no information about Withered Regrets beyond its description, but this information had come from Keynes' own knowledge.

Esopp grimaced further, his scowl deepening. "I tried to use it and got a warning," he admitted.

As they reached the door to the dome, they found the four members of the carry team inside, deep in discussion. Even though the door was soundless and they were over thirty metres away, the carries became aware of Keynes and Esopp's presence. It was clear that their attributes, boosted by the black wetsuits, weren't just for show.

Keynes couldn't help but wonder why Esopp was wearing his wetsuit. He didn't need extra Vitality, and they had nothing to do inside these rifts.

As they drew closer, Miguel glanced at them, his gaze lingering a little longer on Keynes, which indicated extra interest. It had to be related to Kora's question. She, on the other hand, only glanced at Keynes without the same lingering interest that Miguel had shown. Ulf had his wide back turned to Keynes and Esopp, but he didn't turn around. Natalia's vivid monologue quieted down until she fell silent, then she turned to face them.

"Welcome, VIPs," she said, her green eyes boring into Keynes's and Esopp's skulls. "We're planning to make some adjustments today. Our goal is to reduce the time we spend between rifts and increase our clear speed, which should save us about an hour and give the extraction teams more time."

Miguel twitched, but no one complained.

"What's the point?" Keynes asked, unsure of what saving an hour would accomplish.

For the first time, something other than pure hostility appeared in Natalia's expression.

"The point is efficiency," she said.

"Efficiency itself means jackshit," Esopp interjected.

They hadn't decided yet how they would let the carry team know about the hidden rewards - or about the Hated Foe, which Esopp avoided mentioning. Ulf half turned his head, while Miguel smiled. Kora's face remained a closed book, although her aura betrayed a conflict of surprise, disapproval, and curiosity. These were some odd emotions mixed together.

'You must be out of your mind to not see the importance of efficiency,' Natalia snapped. 'What if there are more rifts to clear or they are larger? Doesn't the size of the rifts double each level?'

'It does, but being efficient for the sake of being efficient is pointless,' Esopp replied.

He was right.

The argument between Esopp and Natalia lasted a few more minutes, and Keynes was surprised to learn why the previous carry team had been demoted and sent back to Emerald City. Since the current cluster manager had taken over, things had started looking very good.

The conversation ended when the rest of the VIPs arrived. Natalia had asked everyone to be five minutes early for their rift run, and any late arrivals would have to skip the first rift. Once more, she quickly went over the changes to the run. She wanted everyone to run, with no breaks for the toilet, food, or drink. No one seemed enthusiastic about it, but they all abided by her changes.

***

"There's a hidden door," Keynes whispered to Esopp as they stood on a frozen plateau in the third rift. Thirty metres away, Miguel was cutting through large monsters that resembled yaks. Because it was a common rift, the monsters were easy to deal with.

Esopp nodded and grinned at Keynes. "You're still sticking to your clothes, huh?" The Level 4 chill in the rift wasn't a joke - if not for the Purifying Body buff, Keynes would have started taking damage from the low temperature.

"Didn't you hear what I said?" Keynes asked, ignoring Esopp's jab. "We'll have to act."

“I bet you can think of something.”

Ten minutes later, Natalia declared the rift empty and urged the VIPs to hurry to the next one as she took care of the reward. It was time to stir things up. This, of course, put Esopp in an even better mood, so Keynes reminded him that he'd need to level up to Level 8 twice.

"That's low," Esopp muttered as Keynes started walking towards the area with the reward chest. The other VIPs, with the exception of Esopp, were already out of sight. Miguel nudged Natalia, who glanced at the approaching Keynes. Ulf watched him cautiously, while Kora showed growing curiosity.

Keynes wasn't defenceless, despite the carry team's overwhelming attributes. He readied his spiritual aura, knowing that a single powerful blast would be enough to knock them out for a few seconds. Though he didn't think they'd attack him - after all, they suspected he and Esopp were quite important.

"And what do you think you're doing, Clark?" Natalia raised her voice as she turned to him.

"Don't mind me," Keynes replied, trying to sound nonchalant but failing to hide the coldness in his voice. Esopp chuckled at his attempt. "I have something to grab and we'll be on our way."

"I have the right to stop you unless you show me clearance," Natalia said, her voice taking on a dangerous edge. Keynes decided it was a good moment to let his spiritual aura unfurl. He didn't make it offensive, just a neutral aura without any constraints. At the Superior stage, a spiritual aura wasn't yet a physical force, but the air and the topmost layer of frost were pushed away.

Well, that's stronger than I thought, Keynes admitted to himself as he saw the visible results. It was no surprise that the carry team took it as an attack.

Ulf shot toward Keynes, while Natalia stopped Miguel from doing the same.

Incoming! Alice warned.

Keynes knew he couldn't match Ulf in raw strength, at least not until he reached Level 4. His [Telekinesis] was very weak against living things and required a lot of training to become more effective, according to Alice. [Flight] would be useless against someone who could shoot lasers from their fingers. Using [Mind Illusion] would require Keynes to touch Ulf, but that was too risky. That only left [Chaos Aura], which would be a death sentence for the other man or a spiritual attack.

As Ulf approached him, Keynes knew he had to act fast. He activated his [Spiritual Ghost] ability and used [Telekinesis] to lift the loose layer of frost between them, creating a wall of snow to explode in Ulf's path. Without hesitation, Keynes focused his spiritual aura and slammed it into Ulf, causing him to lose consciousness for a split second and crashing him into the frozen ground.

Keynes didn't give Ulf a chance to recover, instead touching his forehead and using [Mind Illusion] to knock him out for at least a minute. The headache that had been building in the periphery of Keynes's mind intensified as he realised that this little stunt had cost him over 70% of his mana, with [Mind Illusion] being the worst offender, consuming mana at an alarming rate, especially when used against higher level opponents.

As he sighed and glanced back at Esopp, Keynes couldn't help but feel a sense of satisfaction at having bested a member of the carry team. But that feeling was short-lived as Natalia's harsh voice cut through the air.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THIS ABOUT?!"

She was clearly not impressed by Keynes's display of strength.

"He attacked me. I defended myself," Keynes tried to explain.

"You attacked us first," Natalia countered as she walked around the reward chest and approached Keynes and the unconscious Ulf.

"It wasn't an attack, just my neutral spiritual aura," Keynes replied.

Natalia stood face to face with him, her hostility returning. Miguel and Kora stepped up to her sides, and Ulf began to stir awake.

"Bullshit," Natalia snapped, then glanced at Ulf but didn't say anything.

I think she is using her Talent to heal him, Alice said.

Keynes had a similar impression but Talents were harder to discern than spells.

"Miguel, get Goodman here. You'll have to explain to him why there is going to be a delay today. You're taking responsibility for this."

Esopp clapped behind Keynes.

"Very smooth," he said, drawing the carry team's attention and Natalia's ire.

"Do you think this is a joke?"

Esopp shrugged.

Ulf climbed to his feet, staring at Keynes with shock. Even Natalia was unsure, despite her anger.

"What did you do?" Ulf asked when the thick silence stretched for a few seconds.

"Okay, okay." Esopp decided to step in and handle the situation. He put his left hand on Keynes's shoulder and his right hand on Ulf's shoulder. "There will be time for questions later. My friend here is a special case and shouldn't be taken at face value. Once we're done with today's run, we'll fill you in. Is that acceptable?"

When no one answered, Esopp's smile vanished and he levelled his gaze at Natalia. His own spiritual aura - which was weaker than Keynes's but still stronger than the carry team's members - slowly soaked into the surroundings.

Natalia tsked, annoyed.

"If you want me to continue this farce, I have to be made aware of who I'm dealing with. Otherwise, Goodman can explain to his bosses why these rifts aren't cleared."

"Alright." Esopp nodded. "Now let him do his job."

Natalia stepped aside while Keynes moved past her. You are… angry. Why? Alice asked. It's nothing. Just some things aren't the way I wish they were. While there was value in keeping a low profile - it caused less disruptions and people behaved naturally - but sometimes it was an obstacle. Bah! It was so twisted now. It'd been so easy before the trip to the dominion. They'd cleared these rifts without anyone giving them a stink eye or babbling about efficiency. He ignored the fact that it was his fault. That spiritual aura, even set to stay neutral, was enough to provoke others.

He stopped by a frozen, rocky wall. Sensing the hidden door was a breeze now.

***

Kora wasn't entirely sure what she had just witnessed. The spiritual attack, and then things got very weird very fast. Ulf had counterattacked and the black-haired VIP had blinded him by making the snow rise from the ground. Then he had somehow knocked Ulf out. The last part was very confusing. Had he put Ulf to sleep? Was this a Talent? If so, what about the trick with the snow?

Kora made a mental note to have a chat with Ulf later.

Why was the VIP returning to the reward area?

"Wait...what the hell?!" Natalia exclaimed when the door appeared in the rocky formation. Kora was speechless.

"Relax," the other VIP said. "We'll explain the details later on."

The door opened and the VIP went inside. Natalia didn't wait and rushed after him, with Kora and Ulf following closely behind. The electrical light was out of place and, together with the raw concrete, made the corridor and the room at its end feel like a basement.

Inside, they found the VIP standing next to a table with four crystal shards. Wait… are those what I think they are?

Natalia picked one up and turned to the VIP with disbelief. "How is this possible?"

Kora and Ulf entered the room, but no one paid them any mind. Kora glanced at the VIP - wasn't his name Clark? Yeah, but it was most likely a fake name. There were hints of annoyance on his face, but they quickly faded away, leaving a distant, expressionless face that he usually wore.

Without a word of explanation, he turned around, whirling the fringes of his cloak, and then simply walked out of the room.

"What about these?" Natalia called out.

"Take them," the VIP replied, and Natalia hastily scooped the four shards into her dimensional pouch.

"Let's get out of here," Natalia said to Kora and Ulf, pushing them forward. As their leader, she wasn't going to leave them behind. There was no telling what this room was capable of.

Outside, the VIP was striding towards his friend who chatted with the cluster manager. Miguel stood nearby, unsure where to look. Natalia swore as she exited the hidden room. The door closed itself and vanished.

Kora watched Natalia closely and saw growing frustration. Natalia despised disorder and unplanned interruptions, regardless of whether they benefited her or not. Kora, on the other hand, liked a well-thought out plan, but didn't share Natalia's obsession. So, unlike the leader of the carry team, Kora had a growing urge to grab the odd, black-haired VIP and bury him under tons of questions.

They approached the rest together. Kora tried to read the atmosphere among them, but nothing made sense to her. She wasn't very good at quick judgement, preferring slow deliberation.

"Can someone explain this to me?" Natalia took the four shards out of her dimensional pouch and handed them to the cluster manager, who then gave them to the older VIP.

"Skill shards!?" the cluster manager exclaimed, excited but it was the older VIP who drew Kora's attention. He was laughing.

"It's contribution based," the younger VIP said, sounding indifferent.

"Hilarious," the older VIP, Esopp, chuckled. "This-"

"I need an explanation now!" Natalia cut him off. "I won't wait until the end of the day. I can't operate my team without understanding what this is."

Kora agreed. Her friends nodded as well.

The VIPs exchanged glances, the cluster manager was consumed by the tablet as he checked something. His face grew brighter by the second. What were these skill shards? Kora didn't have a chance to check them.

"I guess there isn't point waiting until the end of the run. Not that it is a big deal either," Esopp said. If this wasn't a big deal, Kora didn't know what was. "Still, we have to ask you to keep this to yourself. This is Keynes Kid while I'm Esopp Earl. We're here to level up in peace."

Kora had no idea who Keynes Kid was, but she remembered that the Earl House was one of the wealthiest families in the world.

Natalia shook her head, she was not amused.

"Should I know you or be impressed?"

Keynes opened his mouth but at that moment the cluster manager peeled his eyes from the tablet and cheered.

"There are only seven skills on the market. The auction for the cheapest one sits at eighty million credits!”