Chapter 83: The Refinement

Arsena had a drooping gaze, and a lollipop, dirty and worn, hung from her mouth. She twirled it absentmindedly between her teeth, her attention shifting between her two swords and the man in front of her. Magrot was sitting at the iron table, his posture relaxed, but his eyes lifeless, as if his soul had been ripped out and thrown somewhere distant.

The metal parts covering his body were second-hand, visibly improvised, pieces discarded from some corner, more out of necessity than choice.

Duna wouldn't give him anything of value again, not after what happened. After being defeated, humiliated, and thrown more than five kilometers from his target, Magrot was no longer the trusted piece he once was. He was now just another fallen one, like so many others.

What Arsena couldn't understand, what consumed her peace, was why he was there. Why Magrot, of all people, was in that lost city, where there was nothing of value for Havok? Nothing that he or anyone else could want. The city was just a forgotten ruin, a place in the middle of nowhere that bordered GreamHachi.

Especially after being defeated, humiliated, and thrown more than five kilometers from his target. What she still didn't understand was why… why he was there when there was nothing in the city that was important to Havok.

She blinked, her gaze drifting for a moment as she reflected on it. Maybe there was something she wasn't seeing, something Magrot knew and didn't want to tell.

"Hey, idiot." Arsena pulled the lollipop from her mouth and scratched her lips with her arm, irritated. "Are you going to tell me why you were fighting? What did you have in Kappz?"

"Nothing." Magrot pressed two buttons on his right arm, and suddenly flames began to accumulate around him, glowing with an opaque intensity, as if he had lost control of something he once commanded with ease. His ability to conjure variations of fire was something Arsena knew well, she herself had suffered through past training because of it. But now, the flames seemed like a shadow of what they once were. "Resource..." The word seemed like a promise of something more, something hidden. The story was getting more interesting.

"What do you think about telling me what that resource is?" Arsena took two steps toward him, challenging, but Magrot took a deep breath and swapped the flames with an impersonal motion. "Come on, ugly. What was so important for you to go there alone, without talking to anyone?"

"Nothing." He answered, his voice lacking conviction, as if he had already resigned to hiding whatever was really going on.

Magrot stood up, his metal legs creaking with the movement, still unable to keep up with the steps of a full man. He slowly advanced toward a pile of scrap metal that had accumulated in the metallic cave.

Arsena followed him, mimicking the movement, approaching him with the agility of a predator. She crouched down, getting very close.

"Oh, little Magrot, you're hiding something, aren't you?" She pointed at him with her finger, her tone sarcastic and sharp. "Oh, you are. I know when you try to trick me or hide something. And I want to know what it is. Maybe I'll help you."

"It's nothing. I already told you." He murmured, more irritated than before.

Behind them, on the other side of the room, the door opened with a low creak, and with firm steps, Duna entered, holding a report. His eyes were fixed on the paper, absorbed in what he was reading, as if the world around him were a mere distraction. But as soon as he noticed the two of them so close to each other, Duna's gaze lifted, cold and sharp. He made an impatient gesture toward Arsena, as if she were an annoyance he no longer wanted to tolerate.

"Get away from him, girl." Duna's voice was harsh, with no room for argument. "You have a gift for making others angry."

Arsena, without saying a word, stepped back, her eyes gleaming with a mix of disdain and amusement. Magrot, on the other hand, didn't seem surprised. He just remained where he was, his gaze empty, as if nothing else mattered, until Duna called him again.

"Magrot, come here." Duna's tone was now more direct, as if something important was about to be revealed. "I saw something in today's record that might interest you."

Magrot stood up slowly, the metal joints creaking with the movement. His steps were heavy, but he didn't seem to care. Whatever Duna had seen, it was enough to capture his attention, at least for a moment.

Duna handed the report to Magrot, and his reaction was almost visible, as if a spark of surprise had ignited in the opaque eyes of the man. For an instant, it seemed that the weight of defeat had been lifted, that something deep inside him still pulsed with a thread of hope. But the transformation didn't last. He stared at Duna, a subtle gleam of expectation forming in his gaze.

"This indicates that the stone is there, right?" Magrot's voice was loaded with fragile hope. "There's no way an increase in Cosmic Energy could have been made out of nowhere. It exists."

Duna, however, didn't give in. His expression remained grave, like a rock resistant to any wave of emotion. He responded with a calculated coldness, not even flinching at Magrot's hope.

"It's still not certain." The answer was dry, direct. "I just want to show you that there's a possibility. But, since you came directly from there and dragged yourself here, I don't think going alone is your best option."

Arsena watched the exchange between the two, her mind working like a sharp machine. She knew Duna well. He wasn't one to make false promises or raise empty hopes. The man always played the game with one foot in suspicion, and that was something he never let show. Magrot, on the other hand, seemed so lost in the search for this… object that his eyes couldn't see that if he left like this, he'd be dead instead of just broken.

"You should talk to Havock," Duna advised, turning his back. "He can help you get it, but go without expectations. The amount of Energy they released from there was enough for my collector to pick it up. And we're quite far from Kappz."

Arsena got tired of listening to them and stepped away from the wall.

"Well, looks like I have my next hunt, Duna." She gave a sideways smile, seeing Magrot staring at her. "Kappz is right there, on the way to GreamHachi. I'll pay the people there a visit. Vengeance for my little friend Magrot."

"You?" Duna licked his lips and went to the table to grab a water canteen, took a gulp, and sighed. "You know you won't get anything from them. Magrot lost, do you think you can do it alone?"

"Wow, such great confidence. Do you think I'm going to lose to some nomads?"

Magrot was still holding the report and threw it onto the cot where he had been lying earlier.

"If you really want to go, be careful with the old man. But… the girl with the lightning is dangerous. And there's some shooter, he's the one who left me in this state. I wanted to go, but I can't until all the pieces are in place."

"Ah, worried about me?" She feigned affection. "How sweet of you. Oh, Magrot, wake up. Do you think I'm going to lose to some little monkeys trying to survive out there? Don't compare me to you, or anyone Havok says is good. I'm the best at what I do."

Magrot didn't respond and just handed the report back to Duna.

She turned with a quick movement, her steps firm, heading toward the exit. The corridor in front of her was dark, but her spirit was even darker. She wouldn't let any of them, not Duna, not Magrot, even think they were stronger or more prepared. In Kappz, she would take the life of anyone necessary. Magrot? He was just another idiot Havok had hired. A pawn in a game he didn't understand.

He wasn't strong, nor fast, just had one ability. An ability that, in Arsena's view, made him less dispensable. If she wanted, she could cut him into two pieces, and the idea didn't even send a shiver down her spine. It was that simple.

She was almost out of the room, already in the corridor, when Duna's voice cut through the silence like a sharp blade.

"Before I forget…" His voice was cold, unhurried, as if he were talking about the weather.

Arsena paused for a moment but didn't look back. She knew what was coming.

"The Pride…"

She gritted her teeth, the hatred rising like an untamable fire in her chest.

"…precedes the fall."

It was a warning, but she didn't care. None of his words hit her. She was above that, and had always known that the world only cared about the winners. And she would be the winner.