"You are right, Eren. I needed to hear that to snap out of my jitters. Weakness has no value in the rankers' world. It can only burden you and those who are close to you."
Eren listened to Reece's statements while he was setting wood to burn in the middle of the cave. It could fit 4 to 5 Iron Trunk mammoths easily. So the trio had ample space to crash here for the night.
Eren sat on the ground after he was done setting up the wood he had collected while coming here. In the next moment, Mia conjured a fire arrow with her spell and lit the wood on fire. She was sitting near the entrance of the cave where the energy shield was. She was planning to keep the first watch for the night.
Eren gave Reece time to process her emotions. She kept staring at the crackling fire that had just been lit up and was in her thoughts. It took her a while to speak again.
"Death is just another side of life. As rankers, we see it all around us even more than mortals. I knew this was the way the world worked for all of us. Yet, it took today's events for me to understand it.
You don't need to apologize for anything, Eren. Because those words were the ones who helped me get over my slump."
Reece's cute face glowed in orange light as the fire picked up more wood to burn. The trio had caught a few rabbits that they were grilling over the fire.
The smell of wood burning was permeating the air. It was then complemented by the aroma of smoked meat, giving the wild cave homely vibes it was missing.
Eren smiled when he realized that Reece had gotten over her mental block. He nodded at her before speaking up.
"I know. I'd never be sorry about speaking something like that to someone I care about. It's just that I could have said it in a better way. Then again, I was never a great talker, to begin with."
Eren wrapped his arms around the folded legs he had brought close to his chest. He stared at the dancing flames too before adding up.
"I'm glad my words helped you, Reece. I really do.
However, don't depend on anybody to solve your problems for you. If they do it, great. If they don't, you carry on.
I am not saying don't count on me. I'm saying you should start giving more credit to yourself as a ranker and find the growth that's within you."
Eren said and looked at Reece, who then nodded and smiled.
"Understood. And you say you are not good with words. Hehe.
By the way, do you ever want to tell me what happened to you after that mammoth kept chasing you? And how did you end up achieving multiple stage breakthroughs?"
Mia stopped looking outside and looked at Eren too when Reece asked that question. She was paying attention to the duo's conversation.
Eren smiled before describing his version of the events. He told Reece and Mia that he had achieved a forced breakthrough while fighting with the mammoth, which was true. Essentially, he avoided anything related to the bear or his lair.
A forced breakthrough was something the rankers achieved while in desperate situations. Meta rankers from earth didn't really practice ranking techniques, so they relied heavily on forced breakthroughs. Their synth bodies were supposed to help them in the process after all.
The ranking journey would get tougher the higher one climbed the ranking ladder. As a result, even high-ranking entities would attempt forced breakthroughs by putting themselves in dangerous positions.
Mia spoke up after Eren explained.
"It's called Gilaahan's blessing. Most rankers who are from different worlds find it easy to achieve breakthroughs here. Although it's not common, multi-stage breakthroughs are not that rare either. Especially for someone who had to face a situation like yours."
Eren chuckled when he found a way to justify his multi-stage breakthroughs from Mia. he also wondered if the reason behind him progressing in his ranking journey was indeed Gilaahan's blessing and not his infinite mana core.
Unaware of what he was thinking, Mia looked at Eren with curiosity filled in her eyes. She sighed before speaking up.
"Finding a deviant beast in your first mission. And then achieving breakthroughs. Hehe. I don't know what to call your luck, Eren."
Eren smiled mirthlessly as he remembered his friend. Tory was used to saying the same thing to him, albeit with a lot of curse words involved.
Mia, Eren, and Reece then talked a bit before finalizing their tasks for tomorrow. Mia had decided she would not leave the duo alone, lest something strange happen to them again. She would just observe the two as they hunted the mammoths and guide them whenever necessary.
The trio talked some more while having rabbit meat for dinner sprinkled with some herbs and spices. Eren concluded that Mia was someone he could trust to a certain degree. So he fetched the coin from his storage and threw it to her before asking.
"Mia, what can you tell me about this coin?"
Mia wasn't ready for Eren's coin or his question. She caught the coin effortlessly with a puzzled expression on her face before looking at it keenly. A realization dawned on her face as she threw the coin back to Eren before saying.
"Looks like you found something out in the prairie."
Mia looked at Eren with interest and smiled cunningly before saying it to him.
"No need to tell me. Rankers have their own secrets to keep. A ranker that's an open book only dies quickly when his enemies read them like one."
Mia pursed her lips as she looked at the coin Eren was tossing like a circus act before adding it up.
"These kinds of coins are used by a very special group of rankers in Gilaahan. We can find them as adventurers and hunters working for normal guilds. However, most of those who are from this group are often involved in underworld activities.
Hence, these rankers tend to have a bad reputation. Even as adventurers, they don't like to get along well with the rest of the rankers.
They are called various names by various people and kingdoms.
However, most people know them as Hexers."