"We do not really know." Natasha shrugged her shoulders casually. Then, with a curious gaze, she couldn’t help but ask something on her mind that she found confusing. She pointed at Ian: "Do you not know who this guy is?"
"What!? You actually don’t?! Did you guys live under a rock?" The ghoul asked in exasperation. His eyes had a hint of disdain, but he tried to conceal it. His tone was slightly condescending, but he didn’t really show it. Then, he carefully took a glance at Ian. "Why should I know him?"
Ian chuckled inwardly, but he didn’t let it show on his face. "Don’t bother Natasha. No one would recognize my look. Actually, I originally didn’t look ."
"So that’s how it is."
Natasha showed a hint of understanding on her face. Her smile showed a set of white teeth.
The Ghoul looked at Ian and Natasha with a hint of confusion as he watched their exchanges. At this time, he felt that these two in front of him might have a big backing?
’I need to be careful...’ Although he was a gold-ranked adventurer, he knew that it was not necessary to make enemies just because of his strength. ’Who are these two, though?’
He couldn’t help but look at the two more carefully this time as not to miss any details. Even so, he couldn’t recall anything.
’Purple set of hair and eyes. All purple attire. What race is he? Perhaps a vampire?’ He looked at Ian, then at Natasha. ’This woman is a dark elf also known for their preference for purple color...’
How did he conclude that Ian was a vampire? It was actually simple. There are only a few dark races that look like humans. For instance, there are those zombies, ghouls like him, vampires, and demons.
However, low-level zombies had rotten skin, and even those high-level ones had a green complexion. How about ghouls? Like him, most ghouls, whether low-level or high-level, had distinct pale whiter skin tone and a darker shade of silver hair with a set of black fingernails and an overall menacing aura.
On the other hand, demons had a pair of horns. The more horns they had, the lower their strength. Two-horned demons are considered high-ranking, one-horned were considered to be demon princes, and the one and only demon king actually does not have a horn on his head and looks a hundred percent human except for terrifying life-level.
"Nah, I don’t know you guys. What are your names?" The gold-rank ghoul asked, and the previous disdain he had lessened.
Hearing this, the ghoul simply nodded. "I’m Jake Vargas." Then, a proud expression crept on his face, and his chest visibly puffed up slightly as he tried to emphasize the golden place attached to the left side of his upper chest. He crossed his arms like an expert teaching his junior. "I’m a Golden-ranked Adventurer. I’ve participated in countless missions where I actually took the role of a team leader. I am dependable and a veteran when it comes to the delegation of tasks. Also, not to brag, I actually took down a dragon once." His tone visibly turned enthusiastic.
’People really like to talk about themselves the most.’ Ian complained. ’But it suits me the most, so I do not need to talk about myself.’
Natasha burst out laughing. "A dragon? Do you think you can defeat those guys? Even the lesser dragons can destroy our continent. What’s more, a real dragon?"
’There are dragons? Well, considering that there are dark races. Dragons aren’t that unexpected.’
’Still, this universe had aliens, gods, demons, and dragons. Damn, this world is a fucking mess!’
Just like that, Ian and Natasha suddenly had another companion without their realization. The more they talked with each other, the more Ian understood Jake’s character.
"You’re the first goal that I’ve befriended," Ian said to Jake.
Jake had come from Vestigial Kingdom, the second weakest kingdom in the Ghoul race territory. He didn’t come from a formidable clan. Didn’t have the resources growing up to increase his power level smoothly. No teachers to teach him combat techniques or fighting style. No master to guide him on the path. Also, no bloodline to give him a better starting point of a high upper limit.
Ian and Natasha, as they listened to Jake, had come to know that Jake, before them, was like a legendary figure. Although he likes to brag, his experiences gave his words substance. Jake’s determination is what allowed him to reach his current height. He relentlessly challenged himself and took as much pressure as he could in order to stimulate his potential. Jake believes that only with constant pressure would one be able to realize their potential.
Knowledge isn’t enough without motion. Knowing isn’t enough; one must execute. Willing isn’t enough; one must do. With this ideology, Jake dived into dangerous areas to hone his skills and experience. He put himself in life-and-death situations. Now, Jake was one of the few who managed to become a Gold-ranked adventurer ,which was quite impressive in normal standards.
Although Gold-ranked adventurers are nothing worth mentioning in Ian’s eyes. His standards shouldn’t be used for normal standards. Ian knew that without his body modification system, he would have reached quickly where he was currently at. Maybe not even in a lifetime. Ian wasn’t complacent enough to believe that it was the credit of his hard work. Why? Because that would be a big fat lie.
Without the presence of the system, he would have already died from the start. With the pursuit of the werewolves that had put him in a life-and-death situation. Without those timely body modifications, Ian couldn’t think how he would have solved them. Ian admits that talent is important. Bloodline is the truth. Hard work and determination are also necessary. However, what’s more important than those three? It was a cheat!
A cheater could beat those who worked hard and even those one in an era talent geniuses. If a cheater couldn’t even do that, they didn’t deserve their cheat. In one of the books he had read, he had read something along the lines of "There is no useless cheat, only useless host.
Ian had to agree with that. ’Well, I am not an incapable host, right?’