"Heh~ Interesting!"
The girl started to walk towards Eren, the sound of her shoes hitting the floor with each step echoed.
Eren couldn't avert his gaze from her.
He was internally shocked to see that even his broken skill, which was practically invincible under Divine grade, couldn't fully see her status.
All of her attributes and skills had been hidden too deeply; only a bunch of question marks were showing.
His spirit from his reserve was reducing one by one at a speed visible to the naked eye.
'What the hell?!'
Eren tried to cover his eyes and avert his gaze, but the girl named Lyssara was already standing in front of him.
She looked at him as if he were some kind of rare creature.
"Don't you know it's rude to peek at others' status without their permission?"
Eren's whole body stiffened as he realized that the girl in front of him had noticed his detection skill, while even Tier 3 Awakeners hadn't noticed anything at all.
"I-I'm sorry... I didn't mean to be rude, but my new skill is getting out of control..."
Eren blamed everything on the skill while trying to not look directly at her.
"There is nothing wrong with your skill. The problem lies in your spiritual sensitivity. Close your eyes and try to focus your spirit energy. Divert it from your eyes to your whole body equally."
"...!"
Eren was surprised for a moment, then immediately chose to followed her instructions.
He sensed too much spiritual energy flowing like a river through his eyes from the bottom of his stomach.
He tried to reduce the flow, but it didn't work.
He also tried to completely cut off the flow, but that didn't work either.
No matter how much he tried to control it, it didn't respond.
While Eren was focusing internally, a middle-aged man, around his forties with black hair, rushed toward Lyssara.
Following him was a girl wearing a business suit.
"Lady Lyssara, is there a problem?"
From the way everyone parted respectfully from his way, the man looked like he carried certain authority over this association branch.
Despite that, he maintained a polite tone toward Lyssara, who looked about the same age group as Eren.
But instead of answering them, she raised her hand and gestured for him to be silent before looking at Eren with a serious expression as she spoke.
"Are you stupid?... Why are you trying to control the flow? I said to divert it to your whole body. You don't even know such basics?"
"Start by focusing on your core and spread the spiritual energy to all your limbs like the flow of blood... Forget about your eyes."
Her tone carried unmistakable authority despite her mismatched sweet voice.
Eren flinched when he heard her.
'How the hell did she know what I am doing?!'
Shocked, but still doing as she said, it took him a few moments to adjust.
His spiritual energy spread from the bottom of his core and started coursing all over his body like blood flowing through veins.
That automatically reduced the intense flow of spirit energy coursing through his eyes.
When he opened his eyes, he was able to see normally once again.
His skill didn't activate on its own.
Only then did Eren take a proper look at her face.
Her black hair, tied in a ponytail solely focused on efficiency rather than beauty, added to her unmistakable elegance.
A few strands naturally framed the left side of her face.
'She is... beautiful...'
The thought naturally slipped through Eren's mind.
"Thank you for your hel— huh?"
As Eren was about to express his thanks while standing up from the seat, his skill once again activated on its own.
His spiritual energy heavily concentrated on his eyes again.
But this time, Eren was able to redirect the flow of energy within his body and deactivate his skill within a few seconds.
"Did you... obtain the special trait [Spiritual Sense] just before your skill went out of control?"
Lyssara spoke again, shocking Eren once more.
"...!"
Seeing Eren's expression, she nodded in understanding.
"Now it all makes sense."
Her gaze fell on Eren again.
"Level 2 shapeshifter?... No, something is wrong..."
She adjusted her focus as she leaned forward.
"Level 5 shapeshifter... Eren Morrow... Even I can't see your status very clearly. You must have quite impressive skills for your level. Not only can you see through my disguise, but you can also hide your information from me. The amount of spiritual energy in your body isn't bad either..."
She leaned in closer and closer.
Eren fell back into his chair as he instinctively retreated from her approach.
But Lyssara didn't step away.
Her face was now only inches from his.
Her gray eyes didn't blink once as she stared at him with pure amusement.
Gulp.
Eren felt her breath against his skin.
With his heightened senses, he caught her natural scent drifting into his nose.
He struggled his best not to look downward, directly at her chest as she leaned toward him.
He spoke with a shaking voice.
"M-Miss Lyssara... I presume... I already apologized for peeking at your status... and I told you it wasn't intentional. Could you please stop looking at my status?.."
Eren swallowed nervously, forcing his gaze upward after looking at her neckline and below for one last time.
"And could you please step away from me... I can't breathe..."
Lyssara looked at him for a few more seconds before backing off, leaving space for Eren to breathe.
"Oh, sorry about that..."
Despite asking sorry, she watched Eren gasping for air with a proud and smug smile before asking,
"Which clan are you from?"
"Clan?"
Eren looked confused at first, then shook his head as he got up and moved away from her.
"I don't belong to any clan... I am from a common family, and this is my native city..."
He looked at her face one last time before bidding farewell.
"Once again, sorry for the inconvenience, and thank you for guiding me just now... Goodbye..."
Even though Eren felt she was incredibly hot, everything about her screamed trouble.
The way she hid her real status while pretending to be a Tier 4 expert when she was only Tier 2, her job name, Forbidden Tool Master, everything about her sounded so sketchy.
He immediately tried to leave the place but was stopped by her voice.
"Wait a moment..."
When he looked back, he saw her serious expression.
"If you are really from a normal background, you should know this... Currently, you're in a similar state as a person who was born blind suddenly gaining new eyes in his twenties. The senses you always relied on are now trying to adjust to your newly awakened sense."
"Practice the flow I taught you until it becomes as natural as breathing... If you train your [Spiritual Sense] enough, it can even surpass and replace the other senses you were born with and help you greatly in combat. Try your best to improve it..."
Eren didn't know why she was giving him this advice, but he nodded gratefully before disappearing from the scene.
Lyssara continued looking in the direction where Eren had vanished.
The man who had been standing beside her silently the entire time finally spoke.
"Lady Lyssara, would you like us to gather information about that person?"
Lyssara immediately shook her head and returned to her usual cold expression.
"No need. I just got a little curious about him, that's all. Focus on finding traces of those cult maniacs of 'Netheris'. Without a doubt, they are in this city. Track every boss monster clearance and give me the details of boss monsters that haven't been cleared yet. There is a possibility they are secretly tampering with boss levels."
"Also, give me the case details of assaults involving combat awakeners over the past two months. There is a chance they have already started attacking innocent people under the pretense of petty reasons."
The man politely nodded his head and asked,
"Would you also like us to assist you with the investigation? We have several powerful individuals who specialize specifically in investigative work."
Lyssara gave him a disapproving glance.
"Don't dare to underestimate those of the Netheris cult. Each and every member of their organization is considerably powerful. Every one of them specializes in various curses."
"What makes them even more terrifying is their ability to mix soul attacks with curses. Most people wouldn't notice a thing. Even if you are able to cure a curse, there is a high possibility the victim will become hollowed."
The man's face stiffened immediately as he listened.
"Even if your people successfully manage to push them to a certain extent, they will perform a demon summoning ritual at the cost of their lives without hesitation. If they end up summoning a higher-level demon, or a true demon, in this city, even your branch head will not be able to stop the disaster."
"T-True demon!?..."
The middle-aged man became even paler as he listened.
He didn't doubt a single word she said.
"Just focus on gathering information. I will handle them..."
Lyssara said as she walked out of the building and entered a costly supercar.
Both the man and the girl in a business suit stood politely until the car drove away.
"It's really nice to be rich... I wonder how many years I could live without working if I had enough money to buy a car like that."
The girl in the business suit muttered as she watched the disappearing car with envy.
She then looked at her supervisor, the man beside her, and asked,
"May I know which family this rich lady is from?"
"Watch your words, you stupid!"
Instead of an answer, she received a stern glare and harsh words.
"Rich lady? Do you think I would personally come to escort some random rich lady? What the hell have you been listening to during our conversation? Do I look like someone who has that much free time on my hands?"
"S-sorry, sir..."
The girl was frightened by his sudden outburst.
Seeing her reaction, the man let out a small sigh and spoke plainly.
"She is one of the Empyrean Vanguard of our empire..."
The girl's whole body froze in an instant as she shuddered at the name.
"E-Empyrean Vanguard!? You mean that 'Empyrean Vanguard'?"
"Yes, the same one you're thinking of. The elite combat force that stands only next to demi-gods and directly serves under the Emperor. Each and every member of the Empyrean Vanguard is considered a demi-god in the making."
"But becoming one of the Empyrean Vanguard doesn't only require the finest talent... It also requires real contributions from the frontline."
The man looked at her with stern eyes.
"Every single member of the Empyrean Vanguard has slain thousands of demons, risking their lives on the battlefield. Because of people like them, we get to enjoy the current peace."
The girl lowered her head, avoiding his gaze.
She looked deeply embarrassed.
"Send every detail she asked for without any delay..."
"Yes, sir!"
She immediately agreed.
On the other side, Eren arrived at the healing hall.
The moment his family and friends saw him, they rushed toward him.
"Capture him!"
"Mira, you check the front..."
"I'll check the back..."
"...!"
Before he could react, his friends grabbed hold of him while his mother and sister started taking off his shirt and inspecting his body.
With Eren's current strength, he could easily throw everyone off, but he was too confused to react to their actions.
His little sister Mira sighed once she finished checking.
"Mom, there are no stitches or marks on the front..."
His mother replied,
"There are no marks on the back either..."
Only after hearing their words did it click in his mind.
"Mom! Do you really think I sold my organs to get money?!... SERIOUSLY?!"
***
Author's Note:
Guys, there's only one chapter today because we had a power cut in our area. I barely managed to finish this chapter on my phone.