My Tribrid System: More than a Monster

Chapter 165

"I want you to join my squad. I want to partner with you."

"....."

A heavy, expectant silence descended upon the room as all eyes gravitated toward Kai.

Earlier, when the room had dissolved into a frantic rush to form teams, scores of Aspirants had approached Trisha Hunt.

Throughout the chaos, the girl had remained seated, staring blankly into space without a single ounce of emotion showing on her clear, ivory skin.

She appeared almost motionless as the Aspirants buzzed around her like persistent insects, trying to convince her, bribe her, and in some extreme cases, even threaten her.

All of these desperate pleas fell on deaf ears.

Trisha paid them absolutely no attention.

Treating them like annoying bees... or mere flies, the girl finally waved her hand with a sharp, dismissive motion, sending jagged ice shards flying toward her suitors and forcing them all to dash away in fright.

That was the definitive answer they had so desperately sought.

That was Trisha’s cold way of saying "no" without actually uttering a single word.

Even then, her gaze hadn’t drifted from the empty space she was contemplating.

So many people had craved her strength for their roster, but unfortunately, they couldn’t claim her.

Only after several minutes had passed did she finally rise and begin approaching Kai with an undeniable air of confidence.

Her words were loud and clear as they floated through the room, settling firmly in everyone’s ears.

The Aspirants’ hearts all thudded in a collective wave of panic.

After all, who didn’t know Kai?

He was the strongest meta-human currently in the class.

Trisha was ranked just below him in terms of raw power.

If the duo formed a team, the others would have to abandon any hope of winning; it was painfully obvious that their squad would dominate anything the rest of the class could throw at them.

The only possible exception to this rule would be Berg from the second class—provided their expeditions intertwined for some reason.

Curiously, the proud legacy was barely seen around these parts lately.

He had seldom attended lectures after Ray humiliated him in front of half the Aspirants.

Everyone knew how powerful Berg was and what he was truly capable of, yet it seemed as if he had barely done anything against Ray the day they fought.

Even though he had been beyond furious, it was almost as if he were... holding back?

But today was not about the past.

Everyone leaned in, eager to hear Kai’s response, even though they felt they already knew what it would be.

Kai blinked at the girl for a few seconds, his expression unreadable.

"Uh... what exactly does that mean? You want to join our squad?"

Trisha shook her head subtly, her eyes narrowing.

"I don’t want to join this weak and trashy squad. I want the both of us to form an even more formidable one, consisting of only top-tier meta-humans and not a single weakling."

"So, you want me to leave this squad entirely?" Kai asked, a look of genuine disbelief beginning to form on his face.

The girl didn’t offer a verbal reply.

She simply crossed her arms across her chest, her posture suggesting that the answer to that question was already glaringly obvious.

....

A few moments of tension passed before Kai suddenly burst into loud, boisterous laughter.

He began playing with the fabric of his bandana between his thumbs, a smirk playing on his lips.

"The sheer audacity. What made you think I would ever leave my squad just to join you? There’s no way in hell I will abandon Ray and the others. So, unless you’re willing to join us instead, there is absolutely no way I’m leaving this team."

The surrounding Aspirants all gasped at Kai’s blunt refusal.

It was considered crazy that he was rejecting the next strongest Aspirant after him, choosing instead to remain with those perceived as the weakest members in the class.

Unfortunately, since the day Ray had fought Berg, the members of his class had not been present; consequently, they still operated under the assumption that he was weak.

They had heard the circulating rumors, but they dismissed them as exactly that—nothing more than baseless, stupid gossip.

For all they knew, Ray was merely a frail grade 1.2 human, and the boy sitting next to him was a lackluster grade 1 as well.

In their eyes, only the other girl could potentially stand against a minor threat.

She was the only one they considered to be less of a burden to the group.

Trisha stared at Kai for a long moment.

Her expression remained perfectly neutral, not betraying a single one of her inner thoughts, as if she had none to begin with.

She stayed remarkably calm, ignoring the others staring at her as if they didn’t even exist, while her focus stayed pinned on Kai.

"Huh? Why would you want to remain with weak trash?" she questioned, her voice devoid of heat but full of genuine confusion.

"Don’t you want to stand above everyone else in this class? I don’t understand your reasoning."

A sharp frown instantly appeared on Kai’s face as he glared at Trisha with a murderous scowl.

"They aren’t trash! They are my friends, and neither are they weak!"

’Hm?’ Trisha mused internally.

Tearing her gaze away from the blonde-haired boy for the first time since she arrived, she finally decided to acknowledge the others surrounding him.

First, her eyes landed on Chloe standing nearby.

After staring at the girl for a mere second, she pulled her gaze away immediately.

Then, her eyes shifted to Van.

One defining trait about Trisha was her belief that if you weren’t physically formidable, you didn’t deserve her recognition; thus, she dismissed the boy almost instantly.

She was remarkably similar to Kai in that regard.

Neither of them truly registered anyone they deemed unmemorable.

Even though they had all endured the entrance test together and battled within the Gate as a unit, she didn’t recall any of them—until her eyes finally landed on Ray.

The boy seemed entirely uninterested in the unfolding drama, continuing to gaze out of the window.

Trisha stared at him for several seconds, meticulously studying his facial features, the distinct scar under his left eyebrow, and the texture of his hair.

She lingered much longer than usual as she searched through her mental memory banks.

The boy looked hauntingly familiar.

Feeling the heavy weight of the gaze on his back through his sharpened perception, Ray turned around to give the girl a direct look.

The moment she got a clear view of his face, it felt as if a lightning bolt had crashed into her mind.

For the first time since she reached the group, a visible emotion flickered in her icy blue eyes.

They widened in sudden, jarring realization.

Of course! How could she have possibly forgotten who this was?

From the day they had fought side by side in the Gate, she had imprinted the boy’s face deep into her memories.

This was the same werewolf kid who had battled against an Aberrant toe-to-toe—a feat that even she couldn’t accomplish with the combined help of the other Aspirants.

He had handled the brunt of the assault by himself, only requiring assistance toward the very end.

She had acknowledged his immense strength ever since that day, and they had even crossed paths a few times.

Most importantly, how could she fail to recognize him when, after all...

... she had sworn to be the one to eliminate him personally if he ever turned out to be another threat like the Aberrants.