Kiara didn't stop.
She pointed her finger at Alice.
The ghost girl actually floated backwards a few inches, clearly shocked by the teenager's intense glare.
"And you," Kiara said, squinting through the cigarette smoke. "You're too pale to be a living human. But I can see the flow of your energy. There's a rhythm in your chest. A thick set of mana acting like a working heart."
Alice instinctively brought a hand to her chest.
"Your ability is tied directly to the afterlife," Kiara continued, her voice indifferent and detached. "A Necromancer variant, most likely. You can float and move around freely, so you aren't bound to this building like in a standard haunting. You're just crashing here for some personal reason."
Kiara gestured with her cigarette toward Alice's hand.
"And that ring you're tied to. It can unlock your full potential. But you aren't using it right. Your mind is too weak at the moment. Whatever trauma put you in the grave is acting like a wall, blocking the flow to unleash its power. You're holding yourself back."
Julien sat dumbfounded.
Chris looked like his brain had just short-circuited. Alice, who usually had a witty comeback for everything, was completely silent.
"Wait," Julien finally found his voice, shaking off his shock. "How do you even know about the ring having any power to help her? We literally pulled that thing off a demon we killed down in this basement. Nobody else has even seen it."
"The centre stone," Kiara said, tapping her own finger on the wooden table. "It's a green emerald, but it's not regular jewellery. It's a highly compressed, powerful mana stone. I saw one exactly like it at a high-end exhibition in District 5 once. It enhances curse energy and forces an overflow. It's a rare item."
"District 5?" Chris frowned, leaning forward so much the sofa creaked. "That's a rich sector. Are you from District 5?"
Kiara rolled her eyes. She took a slow drag of her cigarette and looked away for a second.
"Yes," Kiara replied flatly. "My uncle is there. Although you can say we don't get along very well."
She didn't elaborate. Instead, her dark, cold eyes snapped right back across the table, locking onto Julien.
Julien braced himself. He suddenly felt very naked sitting in his own shop under her gaze.
"Which brings us to you," Kiara said, pointing her silver-ringed finger right at his nose. "You must be the leader. Although you don't look very great, you are smart."
"Thank you?" Julien offered cautiously.
"You opened a shop in a poor district and did zero to no promotion," Kiara analysed, gesturing to the dusty room. "Most idiots would scream from the rooftops that they have a new business. If you did that, the local thugs would have flocked here to rob your place blind on day one."
She flicked some ash onto the floor. Julien winced but didn't correct her.
"Instead, you're relying entirely on word of mouth to spread," she continued. "It keeps a target off your back. Smart move, but it can impact weak businesses."
Kiara leaned forward, resting her elbows on the table.
"But here's the interesting part," she whispered. "I don't see any weapons around here. Which means you either have a massive safe hidden in the room..."
She paused, a smirk pulling at the corner of her lips.
"...Or, even better. You have an inventory. Something only you have access to."
Julien's heart started beating fast. The System was his biggest secret, with only Chris and Alice knowing about the Dimensional Merchant class.
"You do not look strong," Kiara concluded, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "So you must be having your giant friend help you out with the heavy lifting. I cannot perceive your ability at all, so I guess it's not a power or spell type. It's more likely to be in the utility or at least similar."
The shop went dead silent. The only sound was the faint crackle of the burning tobacco in Kiara's mouth.
Chris slammed his hands down on his knees.
"Holy shit!" Chris shouted, his voice echoing throughout the shop. "She's the real deal!"
Alice nodded accordingly, still staring at the teenager with a mix of awe and mild terror. "She read us like an open book. I feel very exposed now."
Julien didn't say anything.
She really is an incredible find, Julien thought, staring at the delinquent teenager. She didn't use a spell. She just took one good look at the room and us, then quickly deduced our entire party dynamic, our business strategy, and my hidden inventory.
But something didn't add up. The merchant side of Julien's brain started shouting warning signs.
"Okay," Julien said, narrowing his eyes. "You're a genius. I admit it. You're exactly the type of person this poster was pasted for."
He pointed at the stained piece of paper on the table.
"But I have a doubt," Julien said firmly. "Since you are so confident in your ability, why aren't you working for other guilds?"
Kiara stopped chewing her gum.
"Any top-tier guild in District 1 would pay millions for someone with your brain," Julien pressed. "Why are you sitting on a broken chair in a District 9 slum, answering an ad for an accountant willing to do tax fraud?"
Kiara's face twitched.
The cocky, rebellious aura cracked for just a fraction of a second. She looked down at her combat boots.
"Well," Kiara muttered, her voice losing its sharp edge. "My mother is kinda sick."
Julien softened his gaze while Chris stopped smiling.
"The major guilds know what I am," Kiara said, staring at the floorboards. "But the guilds don't let me join without a contract of slaving away my life for forty years. I can't do that. I need cash now for her treatments without a prison sentence."
She looked up, trying to force the bored expression back onto her face.
"Your poster looked interesting. You guys clearly have no idea what you're doing. But as long as I get the money, it's fine."
The three members exchanged glances among themselves.
They did the only thing they could do.
Julien grabbed Chris by the collar and pulled him close. Alice floated right into the middle of the huddle, her head phasing through Chris's shoulder.