"I can't wait to break into the Awakened rank."
Eren said as he felt the winds brushing past his face. His body was missing the feel of something it technically never had. He could feel that Gilaahan was more suitable for ranking progression than here.
It was as if Earth was still in its budding phase as a world. Or a world that had emerged from its ashes. Compared to Earth, Gilaahan felt freer and more inviting.
Reece chuckled and sighed before responding.
"All rankers feel that. That's why most rankers relocate to Numbered Oases of their preferences when they break into Awakened rank. And that's why you won't find anyone other than Rank 1 entities on Earth."
Eren smiled and added up.
"I can see why. Even if we ignore the feeling of being freer in Gilaahan, the advantages of relocating to different worlds are many. First of all, you don't have to return to your natal body every once in a while."
"That's right," Reece said and pondered a bit before adding up.
"Furthermore, the native rankers of the world have an advantage over us in terms of signing contracts with guilds. They don't have to use the guild's teleportation arrays to bring their resources from one place to another.
And some spells like the Spirit beast spells can only be most effectively used when the rankers have their natal bodies."
Eren wouldn't have to teleport his resources back to earth if he was native to the world. He could always leave his resources inside the personal space that was bound to his synth body. But he won't be able to use them here in a pinch. And most rankers liked to keep their most valuable resources with them.
"Yeah. You are not free here on Earth. I think most rankers leave the Earth because they like the freedom that's offered to them while in Numbered Oases.
The height of freedom is, in fact, chaos. But that won't stop humans from aspiring for their own unfettered liberation- their own chaos. I'm not different from that lot."
Reece laughed before responding with a "me too." Eren felt a bit weird hearing the term. He just couldn't explain why.
Eren and Reece ate the meal the latter had prepared for them. Eren helped with the dishes before heading out. Reece wanted to talk with Eren some more. However, it turned out that for the first time in a while, Eren had made friends. It was a rare social event for him, so she didn't want to stop him.
***
The sky that seemed starless was hosting schools of gray clouds. Their grayness had a silver lining thanks to the full moon night.
"Yo!"
A handsome blonde guy greeted Eren with a smile when he saw Reece's car pulling up next to him. They were from the same guild after all.
"Ekay."
Eren greeted Ekay casually after getting out of the borrowed car. This was yet another Barran spot Ekay had asked to come and meet him.
Ekay smiled and shook hands with Eren before gilding him in a particular direction. In the distance, there was an abandoned factory. Eren guessed it was their destination.
"How are we able to make money here, Ekay? There's nobody here except us."
Eren raised his eyebrows as he scanned the area with his mana sense. Ekay smirked before responding.
"Eren, what do you know about underground fights?"
Eren narrowed his eyes and looked at Mayne curiously. He then shrugged his shoulders before deciding to come clean.
"I used to deal with arranging such duels between fighters, let's say in a past life. But I never really participated in them myself.
Hehe. Only maniacs who want to let off steam participate in those matches. Pay is never as good as the injuries you receive. Why experience pain and suffering when there's nothing substantial to gain from it?"
Ekay was surprised that a guy like Eren was involved in arranging shady fights. Of course, Eren was talking about arranging underground fights between mortals when he was in Latvia as Viktor. He had just said that to Ekay so that he wouldn't take him for a complete amateur.
"Hehe. today was your first day in Gilaahan so of course, you'd say that. Rankers deal with pain and suffering all the time. The more you spend time in Gilaahan, the more you'd realize this."
Ekay said and chuckled before adding up.
"And yeah. The stakes and gains are not as low as you make them out to be, Eren. At least not where I'm taking you.
A single fight only requires you to pay 10 Mana Quartz. If you win, your gain would be 20 Mana quartz plus some bonus depending upon how the betting plays out.
You can ask your opponent to raise the wager or bet on yourself if you are confident in winning. That would give you even more of a profit margin for your investment.
A 30 minutes duel. Double or nothing. Simple as that.
Not bad right?"
Ekay asked Eren with a smirk on his face that he would not normally display. Rankers were prohibited from fighting one another openly without using official channels. However, that doesn't stop some of them from organizing such events in the dark.
Ekay knew that Eren needed money. He also realized his potential when he achieved multi-stage breakthroughs. So he decided to introduce Eren to such events that would help him earn a lot in a short time.
Eren immediately agreed to Ekay's offer when he pitched it to him before they left the guild. He was already used to dealing with mortals' shady businesses as Viktor. He just needed to use that experience in this life as well. All so that he could achieve his goals faster.
"Here. Use this."
Ekay offered Eren a face mask to hide his identity. Unlike the synth-skin masks, these were Rank 1 artifacts that looked to be made of very ductile metal. They had runic patterns etched over them that exuded faint lights when Eren imbued his mana into the mask.
"Did you decide your stage name?"
Ekay asked, looking completely different from the previous him. Eren looked at Ekay's changed appearance and chuckled before deciding to follow his lead.
"Yeah. Let's keep things simple. I choose... Viktor."
Eren placed the mask on his face and spoke.