Healing System

After a few short minutes of waiting, the receptionist came back, followed by a burly and intimidating man.

Yet it seemed like all his strength and muscles were for show, as he was barely level 50.

'Why are the people in this city so weak...?' Michael could not help but express as he walked closer to the receptionist's counter.

I wouldn't be so sure.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, young lad. The name's Rowan. I am the leader of this branch," the burly man said as he stretched his arm out, asking for a handshake.

Michael glanced at the man once again, a bit cautious because of the system's words, but nonetheless, also stretched out his hand, accepting the handshake.

"Michael."

"Good! It is nice to meet you." Rowan shook his hand enthusiastically before pulling him in a bit closer and whispering something only he could hear. "We should probably continue this conversation in my office, don't you think?" he said and ended the handshake, opening the little makeshift door for Michael to walk through.

"Sure," Michael agreed and followed along. It would not be the best of ideas to discuss things regarding the mana core in front of many people. After all, he was under oath.

And the strangest part was, the man was also hiding his strength. When he went in for a handshake, his level began fluctuating from 48 to 52, and once the handshake was finished, it stabilized back on 50.

'How is everyone I meet able to hide their mana...?' He sighed at his unfortunate encounters. It would be really great if the system gave him a hint on how to hide it himself, but alas, it only helped him occasionally.

The other kind of help included training—or more like beating him up until he acquires some knowledge on how to defend against the system's attack. And once he finally does that, the system increases its training intensity.

Stop whining about it. You did get stronger, no?

'Yeah, yeah,' Michael ignored the system and followed after Rowan. They went through the door right next to the reception and headed up a flight of stairs.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Along the way, he could see multiple floors, all of which had long hallways followed by many rooms. That continued until they reached the 5th floor, where there was only a single door with the name

Rowan

written on it.

The two of them went inside, and the moment they stepped through the door, Michael could feel some sort of barrier around the entire room. It seemed like it was blocking out the sound since inside, there was some kind of contraption running.

'It's so loud,' he couldn't help but express as he used mana to plug his ears. There was some device that was pumping out sound waves directly at the two of them.

Michael glanced at Rowan and noticed he was completely fine, and as the seconds passed, the sound started to fade until finally, it seemed like it was barely even there.

"This little thing is what provides us that perfect noise cancellation. It's impossible for the others to hear anything from the outside, and if someone without a mana core dares to go inside, they would pass out from the noise," Rowan said in a proud tone and sat down at his desk.

It only had a few documents laying around. There was a computer on the table, so that was probably where most of the information was being stored anyway.

Aside from that, the room looked pretty normal for someone who looked like they lived in a castle. It almost seemed like a slightly more convenient office room. But that was probably Rowan's intention in the first place; it's not like he slept here... probably.

However, just as he thought that, a sofa by the window caught his eye. It had an interesting feature. '...Is that a foldable sofa?' His suspicions were further confirmed when Rowan noticed his gaze.

"I treat the office like a palace. I sleep here, I eat here, I work here, and lastly..." Rowan stopped himself and let out a cough. "Anyway, what brings you into the city, Michael?"

Michael quickly glanced at the map, making sure the person in front of him was a green dot—and he was. However, just in case, he wanted to be 100% sure.

He's clear. Just don't tell him about your plans with Amanda.

'No shit.'

"I came to participate in the academy tournament, but until then, I have some time to spare, so I was thinking of picking up a few requests," Michael explained briefly. He did not want to go too much into detail.

"You are a student?" Rowan said with a raised brow, seemingly unable to believe the fact that someone like him even existed among the students.

However, instead of further explaining himself, Michael showed him his Vivum ID, which clearly displayed his affiliations as well as status.

Amanda was a bit annoying, but at the very least, she got things done. After coming back from training with the system, he saw his ID card on the table, which had been updated back to what it had been when he was still the Saint.

It was a pity the status screen no longer recognized

Saint

as a surname. It was a pretty nice addition to have; it boosted his confidence just a little bit.

"Oho, so you are the Saint. It is a pleasure to meet someone of your stature," Rowan comically bowed, to which Michael simply ignored. He was cringing on the inside.

However, right after bowing, Rowan spoke up again, this time in a serious voice. "You said you wanted a request, right? How does eliminating a pair of cultists sound?"

"Which cultists?" Michael's eyes narrowed. If they were who he thought they were, then he would accept without a doubt.

And the answer he received was in line with his expectations. "Some white-haired folks that go around kidnapping people. We captured a few, but they always just killed themselves—a shallow-minded bunch. However, we might have gotten a lead on their headquarters."

"I see. I accept the request," Michael replied in a quick but steady tone, trying to mask his willingness to go on this request sooner.

Ever since finding out about the Demons and Evangelists, he had been wanting to find out more information about them. The system was holding back quite a lot, and he did not pry either; otherwise, it would just go quiet again.

However, since the chance presented itself at such a perfect time, he would not dare refuse.

"Good. I knew you were the man for the job," Rowan said with a small smile as he stood up off of his desk and headed to a nearby file cabinet. Upon opening it, he pulled out some kind of phone that looked a bit too outdated.

He walked up to Michael and handed him the phone. Despite its appearance, it looked rather sturdy. Better yet, it was infused with mana.

"You can turn it on by injecting your mana," Rowan added before he went behind his desk and sat down.

Michael did as he was told, and suddenly, a golden hologram appeared right before his eyes. It displayed some kind of structure that had many hallways, as if it were an ant nest. However, as he began reading the information right by the side, he realized that this was the building Rowan had been talking about.

'Cultist Base Camp #16, huh...' He read the description of the entire structure, and after finally finishing it, he looked up at Rowan.

"When can I go?" he asked and noticed Rowan looking at the watch on his watch before returning his gaze to Michael.

"Now."