"So how strong would you say he is? Was it more than you expected?"
A smooth voice asked this question as the chairman of the NSA made his way back to his office. The man who asked him this question was tall, and his face had an expression that would make anyone think that he was a snake. He had slitted eyes that were almost closed, and his relaxed demeanor and long, calm face made his appearance appear untrustworthy and twisted!
He was wearing a pure white suit and standing beside the chairman's window as he spoke, and the chairman propped himself on his seat with a sigh once he heard the man's question.
"Was it really that difficult? I thought you said you would be able to suppress him easily if you used your abilities. Don't tell me that someone was able to counter your abilities. That kid?"
James waved the man away and put his hand on his head as he sighed again. James trusted this man more than anyone else in the NSA. This man was known as Salazar, and he was one of the only S-rank superhumans in the entire NSA. The NSA only had three S-ranks right now: Salazar and two others who were preparing for the raid on the island.! James was not even one of their S-ranks, but everybody knew that James was strong. James was so strong that he would definitely not lose against any of the other S-ranks in a fight to the death! James was a very high-level A-rank, and he was just a few points away from also being able to call himself an S-rank!
This is why James's silence was so shocking to Salazar! What sort of power did that child have that he would be able to make James go silent and start thinking this hard? Salazar already heard about Mark's ability.
The ability to grow stronger the more you kill.
It was definitely a good ability and something that would thrive on the battlefield. But if it was so simple, then Salazar would have heard about GHOST before today. GHOST has been fighting and killing Anima for the past two years, and after Salazar learned that GHOST was actually a person of interest who killed a Calamity Class, he went and watched all of GHOST's former clips on Metube to see how strong he was, and he could only say that there was something special about him!
GHOST struggled against Disaster Classes for a long time, and he was even injured a few times! It wasn't until he killed the Calamity Class that he even showed any real type of power! Doesn't that mean that there was some sort of restriction placed on GHOST's abilities? If GHOST could grow stronger as he kills like he said before, then he would not have struggled against Disaster Classes for so long, and he would have slowly made things easier in his fights! Salazar licked his lips and hummed as he wondered if GHOST was really telling them the truth about his abilities or not!
"That boy will be a real monster in the future, Salazar. Even if we do not accomplish anything else in this raid. I want to show that boy that we are reliable. He will be a good ally to have in the future when we are planning to expand."
When James finally spoke, it was to say this, and Salazar could not hide his surprise even if he tried. Although his expression barely shifted, there was an obvious glint in Salazar's eyes that showed just how interested he was in this conversation now! What James just said was very high praise, and Salazar had never heard him give it to anyone before! James was basically saying that Mark had the potential to become stronger than anyone else in the NSA and perhaps even in America.
"Are you saying we should stop trying to recruit him into the NSA? I thought you went to fight him so you could see how much power he had and what sort of effort we would need to exert to bring him down."
Salazar might be a high-ranking member of the NSA and a superhuman, but he was not someone who shied away from the truth. Salazar knew that Mark would not want to join the NSA. In fact, there was a high likelihood that Mark would not want to join any guild at all since Mark had been hiding his face for a long time just so that he would not get recruited.
Mark was someone that liked his privacy so it would be silly to think that Mark would suddenly want to give up his privacy and join the NSA! So Salazar was prepared to do whatever it took to get Mark! Even if he had to threaten, burn, and destroy Mark's home and relationships! Salazar was the one that sent Grey to threaten Mark before, and even though it didn't work, Salazar was not going to just give up on it! He didn't care what sort of twisted method he had to use! All he cared about was whether or not his plans worked towards the proper end! He was the sort of person who would do whatever was necessary to get the best result! To him, the end will always justify the means!
Salazar was prepared to do whatever he needed to do, and James understood that it was the best way to get Mark to join them if he was anyone else, but Salazar didn't see what James saw. Salazar didn't see the untapped potential within Mark, and he didn't understand how far Mark was able to push James even though he was barely an adult! There hasn't been a single case where James has suffered this much injury from a fellow A-rank! Mark was the only one who was capable of doing something like this, and James knew that it was only a matter of time before Mark leaves him behind and trespasses into the realm of the S-ranks... and then beyond.
"Just leave him alone for now, Salazar. I think it would be enough just for us to be in his good books. He is not going to take it lightly if we continue to attack him in this manner. I have seen what the future holds through the punches I exchanged with him. There can never be anyone stronger than KING in this world. But that boy, he will come very close."
Salazar's eyes widened even more as he heard James say this, and after thinking bout it for a few minutes, he just nodded his agreement. If James felt this strongly about it, then there was nothing more to be done.
James had no idea that Mark was KING. Right now, he was basing his deduction only on what he felt from Mark while fighting him and the stories he heard about KING. He had no idea how powerful Mark would truly become.
...
[Mission Accomplished]
[Hold Back the Attacker for Five minutes]
Strength +50
Mana +50
...
After the whole issue with the Chairman of the NSA finally passed, Mark's system sent him the notification telling him that he passed the impromptu mission that he was given! Mark was happy about this because he could feel the increase in power that he had and his flow of mana became even greater than before, but this wasn't the mission that Mark was interested in the most! The only mission that Mark had an eye on was the mission telling him to protect and rescue Arit! That mission had still not gone away and that was the only thing reassuring him that Arit was not dead!
The mission would have definitely failed the moment that they killed Arit, but just the fact that it was still there gave him some confidence and he was sure that he would be able to make it to the island before anything happened to her.