The impatient man in the corner, Cornelius, finally stopped bouncing his leg long enough to look around at the others. Even through the dark hood shadowing his face, the agitation rolling off him was obvious.

The other cloaked man gave a low hum.

"It’s possible. We knew one of them was troublesome from the initial report — the boy. He survived the attack of two E rank beasts, according to our source. Something tells me that there’s more to that story, though." He folded his arms beneath his heavy cloak and leaned back in his chair.

"Still, thirty Awakened and with a good amount of Elites within should have been more than enough to deal with the two targets."

"The should have," the mature woman agreed. "Yet here we are."

He shut up quickly.

The table returned to silence after that, all four of them still sitting there waiting for news to arrive.

Around them, the inn remained lively enough. Many Awakened were there aside from them, and none of them seemed to care for the presence of four Awakened clearly trying to conceal their identities.

There was a warm atmosphere inside, someone laughed loudly while clinking cups with their buddies, serving girls drifted between tables with trays of drinks balanced over their shoulders.

But for the group in the corner, none of this warmth touched them. They sat in a pool of all their own tension, watching the door, waiting for someone to come and give them the news.

Cornelius’ knees returned to rapidly bouncing up and down impatiently.

Minutes continued to pass.

"They should have returned by now," he muttered. "In fact, they should have been back long ago! Even if the targets ran, even if they put up more of a resistance than expected, it shouldn’t take this long."

"It could be that some of the idiots we sent started infighting over the treasure themselves after snatching it from them. Fuck... now I’m starting to think that’s likely what happened. What if some other group cleaned up shop after all that infighting?" The other woman said, her expression shifting grimly under her hood half way through.

That possibility darkened their impatient mood even further.

It wasn’t impossible, in fact it was highly probably.

The kind of people they sent weren’t exactly the most reliable bunch. The problem was that they didn’t let them know of the rarity or specifics of the treasure they were supposed to collect and bring back.

The moment the first one of them grabbed it and found out the real value, all hell might break loose amongst them.

’Still, they should know we’d make their lives hell both inside and outside the Origin Realm if they tried something like that.’

Cornelius’ leg stopped bouncing as he turned to address the other three seriously.

"...The boss won’t be happy with this."

The other three shrunk back at this statement.

They were in for a bad time if they returned back to that man empty handed...

But as if timed perfectly to get their hopes up, the door to the inn opened once again.

All four of them turned at once, hopeful that it was one of their more trusted Awakened returning to give them the good news.

Their movements weren’t in the least bit subtle. By this point, everyone in the inn knew that they must be expecting company with they way they turned and looked at the door every time someone new entered.

’Tsk, another nobody.’ They all thought the instant they saw the newcomer’s face and didn’t recognise it.

All hope had nearly left them, until they noticed the man starting to walk in their direction.

He was a lone figure in plain, functional clothing — not the armour you’d expect from a typical Awakened who’d just been out on a hunt.

All four of the cloaked Awakened reacted at once, not brandishing but openly displaying their weapons as if to threaten this unknown person.

But the stranger didn’t care. Not one bit.

He crossed the room with the same bland, unaffected pace from beginning to end, as if he were just approaching an empty table rather than the intimidating cloaked individuals.

When he arrived, he stopped just at the edge of their table.

Cornelius spoke first.

"Who are you?"

The newcomer looked at him dead on.

Nothing in his face changed.

"The boss has some new information."

His voice was monotone, but that one simple statement had caused all four of their heads to perk up, and their hair rose on end all over their body.

’Fuck.’ They all thought.

News from the boss before the mission was even completed was never a good sign.

The stranger didn’t say another word and only slipped a paper note across the table to Cornelius, who was the team leader of this small group.

He left immediately after that.

After breaking out of his stupor, Cornelius reached out and grabbed it tightly and opened it up to view its contents.

"What is it?" The mature woman asked apprehensively.

Cornelius didn’t answer.

His grip tightened on the paper until it cracked faintly between his fingers.

"They were all wiped out." He eventually revealed.

"What?!"

"Impossible."

"...But how?"

Cornelius ignored their reactions and continued.

"That’s not all. We have news of a report from the city hall. A report has come out about the treasure we are after. It’s value is even more astronomical than we originally thought, as its usage involves upgrading a chosen gene or genetic armament to E rank..."

He let that information sink in for a moment, watching as their faces grew incredulous by the second.

"...But that fucking kid already absorbed it inside the city hall!" Then he dropped this bombshell.

"All our efforts were pointless, all that preparation — meaningless before it even started!"

"...What do we do now?"

Cornelius looked at each and every one of them.

"The boss ordered us to find and kill those little shits! He’s royally pissed about this turn of events!"

***

"You ready?"

"Yeah."

Inside a cave over a hundred kilometres from the city, Rohan sat across from Elane in a lotus position, holding one of the Elite tier Origin Crystals.

Knowing that Elane was watching out for any intruders, Rohan felt safe enough to begin absorbing them.

"Here I go."

His concentration soared, and the Origin Crystal in his hand dissolved into colourless dust instantly.

Before going ahead with more Origin Crystals, Rohan pulled up his status to check any changes.

[Name: Rohan Roy]

[Rank: F]

[Talent: Evolution Gene (Normal(F) - 0%, Elite(F) - 24%)]

[Genes: Molten-stone Skin (E rank - Elite)]

[Genetic Armaments: F rank Horned Rabbit Spear (Elite)]

His mouth arched when he noticed his Elite Origin Energy had increased.

With even more renewed confidence, he began grabbing at the bag of Elite Origin Crystals, taking and absorbing Origin Crystal after Origin Crystal in rapid succession, until finally—

[Talent: Evolution Gene (Normal(F) - 0%, Elite(F) - 100%)]

He felt it reach the limit after the seventh crystal.

’It’s time.’ He thought, mentally locking on to his Horned Rabbit Spear.

His heartbeat reached levels near to what he felt before absorbing the Lava Hellebore, and finally, he activated the evolution.

[F rank Horned Rabbit Spear (Elite) has become...]