We Have A Deal

"Finally!" Darius yelled excitedly; he was happy that they had finally taken down the cobra. He was not sure how he would have been able to do anything to the monster if Theo wasn't there. 

{Skills Upgraded by 50 points!} 

The notification popped up; Darius was not even paying attention to it. He needed to catch his breath; he didn't know how it was possible for him to even do something like that again. 

'I am not going to be able to move for a while if I fall asleep,' He looked around him; he was searching for the Red Cobra's core. He spotted it in the rubble there, and he was not going to waste time to absorb it and make sure that he had taken what he needed for his net powerup. 

He slowly walked over to it, placing his hand on it. He absorbed it. But unlike other cores he had taken in the past, he felt something surge through him like a wave. 

'What in the world?!' It took half of his strength to keep standing after he absorbed the core. Darius fell to his knee. The power from the cobra was a bit much, and he was not sure if he had even done half for it to do that to him. 

"What in tarnation was that Azree?" He was puzzled; he had to turn to Azree to see if he would get an answer. 

'I believe it is because the Red Cobra unlike the Blue which was an S-ranked monster, was an SS-ranked monster, it is strong, and as you can see it would have taken you a day or two to take it down.' Azree gave him a quick response, Darius looked at his hands knowing that it took a lot for him to even graze the monster in question. 

"So this means the only reason I am alive is because...." 

"Darius Winters!" 

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot Theo." Darius turned to see Theo coming out from below the red cobra's belly. "Were you taking a nap there?" 

"No, I was trying to see if the snake would give me an autograph but it turns out that it's dead." Theo shot back sarcastically, he was not in any way in the mood for jokes, he had witnessed something happen in front of him and it was not normal. He needed answers. "Now, tell me what are you?" 

Darius looked at Theo, he took a deep breath and walked close to him. "You want to know what I am?" He asked looking the warrior dead in the eye. 

"Yes." Theo wasn't still going to back down, he was sure that nothing would surprise him. 

Darius still looking at Theo, his face was serious. "I am a 6'2 tall leprechaun thrown into the world to collect my pot of gold." He had a stupid smile on his face bursting out with an even crazier laugh, he wanted to see how Theo would react and he was not sure what he would get from him. 

Theo on the other hand was not taking the joke, he was trying to find out what Darius was. "If you are scared that I will rat you to the association then I want you to know that I would do no such thing!" 

Darius stopped laughing, he heard the seriousness in Theo's voice. 

Theo looked down, he was serious. "You saved my life, if it wasn't for you then I would have perished the moment I entered this dungeon and I am serious there was no way for me to even match up to the Blue Cobra. I was only able to do something because you were here." 

But even if he was going to tell him what he was then he wouldn't know how to start. Because he was not even familiar with his powers or what they were, he was still learning what they were whilst using them. Darius was still looking at Theo letting out a sigh of defeat, he was not sure what he would think of him but he was going to do what he wanted him to do and that was tell him where his powers came from. 

"The truth is," He spoke, Theo looked up to see if Darius was serious about telling what he wanted to know. "I don't know what I am," 

Theo could see the honesty in his words, but then he also wanted to know why he was using an F-ranked ID when he was not an F rank but someone stronger. 

"Explain your rank?" 

"That was the rank I got when I first signed up to be a warrior, I was only trying to pay for my sister's medical bills so when I went for an assessment. My powers were so weak they couldn't even light the orb." Darius was looking at his hand, He knew things had changed and he was not going to be the same weak warrior that failed the test. "But now, I am certain that my rank is now higher than before, but I don't know if I want to stop being an F rank."

"Why? There are many opportunities if you get your rank reassessed." Theo looked at Darius in confusion, he wanted to see why he was not pushing to become someone higher. 

"That is the point, if I show the world that I am stronger then guilds would be on my neck. They would want me to join them and make a difference, I honestly want to be a part-time warrior, look after my sister, and eat some really good food." 

Theo stared at the warrior in front of him, he was shocked Darius had all that power but still didn't feel like he was meant to be in the spotlight.

'I know many warriors if given the power he has would not waste time to head for the spotlight to gather fame, yet he doesn't even want to do any of that but wants to fight so he would be able to survive.' Theo was moved, he knew Darius was not the type of person to even be moved by the words of even the highest guilds. 

'Maybe he is the right person I am looking for...' 

"All this yapping is making me hungry," Darius slowly lay on the concrete floor, he was not in the mood for more talk. "I know what you are going to say, go take your assessment exam and check for your new rank. But there is no huge reason for me to do so...." 

"Yes, there is." Theo sat down beside Darius, he was not going to be hiding anything from him as well. "If you don't take the exam to find what your new rank is then you would end up facing the association, and they might mark you as an anomaly." 

"What?" Darius was lost, he had never heard of such a thing in his life. "How does that pan out?" 

"Let's say you will get locked up, and there is no way for you to escape unless you abide by the rules becoming the association's dog. At least that is what I heard, but it is a risky game and I wouldn't advise you to play it." Theo wanted him to know what he was getting himself into if he was going to keep being secretive about his rank. 

Darius sprung up from the floor, he was not sure what was going to happen if he was to get locked up. "What in the world is this? How am I going to avoid this? I do want to be locked up, I want to be with Lena and make sure nothing happens to her. There has to be something I can do to make sure that I would still be free." 

"Then take the exam," 

Theo sounded serious, he was not sure if Darius would listen to him but he knew that was the only way to save him from anything that was going to happen if he was found out as a warrior. 

"The exam? So if I take the exam then it means guilds would be on my neck and I will not have the chance to even avoid them. This is why I want to avoid all this." Darius was panicking, he didn't know what to do. 

Theo was trying to think of something, he knew that it was going to be impossible for Darius to even think of avoiding the association for long and he was also certain that if they left the cave there would questions concerning how they were able to survive it. He was trying to think of something when an Idea came to his mind. 

"The next exam will be around three weeks, so you will have to avoid raids for now, and also don't do anything that would bring the attention of the association to us." Theo had something in mind, he was trying to make a way for Darius to remain a warrior. 

"Even killing those traitorous warriors that betrayed us?" Darius asked with a serious tone. 

"More especially that, I would want you to remain under the radar until it is time for you to take the exam then you will be free to do anything you want..." Theo was looking at Darius, he was not sure if he was going to follow his advice but then. "Can I have your word?" 

"Will you buy me chicken breasts if I do that?" Darius asked he was rubbing his stomach. "All this fighting and talking is making it hard for my belly to stay intact" 

Theo smiled, "Yes I will buy you chicken breasts." 

Darius nodded in excitement, "Then we have a deal." Both warriors shook on it.