Morning arrived slowly inside the contractor’s hotel. The old building looked even more tired in the morning light than it did under the bright neon lights. It was large enough to house hundreds of low-ranking contractors, hunters, scavengers, travellers, and desperate people trying to survive long enough to earn sanctuary citizenship.

It was loud almost every morning: arguments downstairs, broken elevators, Contractors returning half-dead from night patrols, and, People laughing too loudly because they had survived another day.

Ravenna had grown used to this noise. Travelling around the Sanctuaries and staying in different contractor hotels had forced her to adapt to the life of being part of the low-ranking community.

Still, she was irritated today. Mostly because the first thing she saw after opening her eyes was the black bag sitting quietly beside her bed.

Which reminded her immediately of him.

Her silver grey eyes narrowed slightly.

"... Why is he handsome?"

Across the room, Mallory, her servant, nearly dropped the kettle of hot water she was carrying.

"Ravenna, I know I said we can ask him for help but his face is absolutely not the important part."

"It is a little important, " she turned and looked up at the ceiling, " that the only thing good about him."

"Yes, I know, but still it is not."

Ravenna sat upright slowly while staring at the bag suspiciously. When Silver had given it to her, she had only glanced inside once and placed it on the nightstand.

Her body had been too tired and sore to even think that far but right now, everything about the night before came flooding in replaying itself unwillingly.

Silver standing there nervously holding an expensive bag like someone being forced in a hostile situation. He had looked at her like he wanted to say something intelligent but then completely failed.

Ravenna could only attribute everything she had seen as her own creation since she had expected someone with his face and status would be more articulate.

She rubbed lightly against her forehead.

"Do you think I should give him a chance or should we just pack up and go to the next sanctuary?" She quietly asked.

She had come there for him, if he didn’t meet her bare minimum then she would bail.

"Thats you’re decision to make Ravenna," the older woman carefully said, "but you should still stay careful around him."

"He kept staring at me, the whole time," she suddenly said.

"You’re beautiful. Men stare."

"You’re right," a small narcissistic smile graced her lips," I think I’ll meet him one last time and see. Yesterday I was in too much pain to have a normal conversation. "

Mallory nodded. "Thats for the best. I’ll fish around for information about him today. I heard from downstairs that he and all the base Awakeners were going out to the zones to find their Foundation beast."

Her worried gaze stayed on her for a moment before it dropped back on the kettle.

Ravenna sighed softly.

"How lucky."

Ravenna eventually reached for the black bag again and opened it in a bid to get rid of her dropping mood.

Inside were the supplies he had told her about; medical kits, nutritional packs, water purification capsules, and...

Her eyes widened slightly.

"A point card?"

Mallory blinked too and sat next to her placing the kettle on the floor.

"How much?"

Ravenna checked carefully. She placed the small card on her broken phone and the numbers appeared on the screen. She just stared holes at the card after that for a few moments.

"Five thousand?"

Silence filled the room.

"That man is insane," Mallory whispered immediately.

Ravenna honestly agreed. Five thousand points wasn’t some casual amount. Especially for Outer Sanctuary residents. People worked months for that, maybe even longer.

Ravenna looked at the card again thoughtfully.

"Do you think he accidentally put this here?"

"No."

"... Maybe he’s stupid."

"He looked rich, not stupid."

"That combination overlaps sometimes."

Mallory failed to argue against that. They had witnessed that diabolical scene yesterday and it was still fresh.

Ravenna eventually stood afterwards while stretching lightly. Her injuries from yesterday’s scavenger hunt still ached slightly beneath the bandages around her shoulder and thigh.

It was nothing serious now but it was enough to annoy her. No tattoo meant no enhanced recovery ability yet. Every injury lingered longer but she still healed faster than normal Awakened and her strength was far superior which was also a surprise to her.

But even with that, every fight felt riskier. Like the day before when she had to do everything by herself. Which meant she could only hunt in the outer green zones for smaller beasts.

It was low profit and low risk. Safe enough to survive, for now. She knew she needed to find her own beast but she just couldn’t bring herself to go with the worst one.

That had also been one of her little hopes from Silver. She had hoped that, with the status of his fiancée, she might be able to enter the yellow zones with protection.

Right now, it was just a pipe dream for sure.

"You’re still hunting today?" Mallory asked.

"We need points."

"You have points now."

"Temporary points."

That was different. Ravenna hated relying on unpredictable kindness since it always came with strings attached. Especially from a strange handsome man with confusing personalities.

Mallory sighed dramatically afterwards.

"At least promise you won’t fall easily in love with him."

Ravenna stared at her blankly.

"Based on what exactly?"

"You mentioned his face three separate times after your meeting. "

"Thats because he’s face is distracting."

"That is not helping your argument. "

She rolled her eyes." I said I’m going to give him a chance and see if it is worth it. I’m just trying to see the good in him under all that bad reputation that I should definitely listen to but I’ve been a recipient of bad rumours so I know I can’t trust that. I need to see it with my own eyes."

Ravenna grabbed a nutritional bar from the bag and threw it to Mallory before she could say anything.

"I worry, you tend to trust people a little too easily."

"I’ve been bitten enough times, don’t worry I’m not going to fall for any of his charm."

Mallory sighed inwardly. She just hoped everything wouldn’t spiral out of control. Ravenna might look tough and guarded but she is a little bit naive at heart.

Being exiled might have helped her see how the world works. A small act of kindness would definitely chip the walls she had built but unkindness would also result in her locking herself away.

This practically meant if Silver didn’t live up to her standard she would pull back the olive branch she was trying to extend.

By the time Ravenna left the hotel later that morning, the sanctuary streets already buzzed with activity.

The outer sanctuary is always crowded. Closed shops had now opened and those preparing to leave the sanctuary were busy packing the last things they might need.

Ravenna adjusted the sword resting against her waist while walking towards the gathering area for low-ranking hunting groups.

Conversation drifted constantly through the crowded streets.

"... Heard they found traces near Green Sector eight..."

"... Elemental signatures apparently..."

"... Impossible for beginner zones..."

Ravenna slowed slightly.

’Elemental beast rumours again’

These stories seemed to be spreading faster. The team leader of her hunting group yesterday had told her about it while secretly trying to flirt with her.

Supposedly someone discovered traces of an elemental-type creature somewhere inside the green zones. Nobody knew exactly where it was and that alone was driving people crazy.

Elementals were rare enough and the fact that one was in the green sectors was enough to stir the sanctuary. Which meant dozens of hunting teams had already started to search blindly for it. Most would probably die accomplishing nothing.

Ravenna continued walking afterward until she reached the contractor gathering platforms near the outer gates.

Several hunting groups had already formed there, mostly low-level rookies and independent contractors who were too scared to go beyond the green sectors.

She stopped just outside the crowd, her eyes sweeping across the platform hunting for the next team she could try and join.

Two girls came to a stop beside her and started giggling while gesturing to her left. She stepped forward in irritation since they were distracting her.

Then one of the girls’ voices reached her.

"Look, that’s Dillain Vale, he’s the one who came back from the wastelands alive with a soul capacity of 15. He immediately formed his own team, they say he has been a contractor for at most a month but he’s able to fight beasts two tiers higher than him. I want to be his girlfriend. "

"Haa, as if. He snobs everyone since he’s got two girls already around him. Stop dreaming you’re not beautiful enough for him to notice you, let’s go to our teams."

She heard their footsteps retreat. Ravenna couldn’t hold her curiosity anymore. She turned to the left then she saw him.

Tall, dirty blond hair, green eyes, and looked calm. He was standing quietly near one of the recruitment boards with a sword casually across his shoulders. People naturally gave him space without noticing.

If Silver had been there, he would have probably recognised the man immediately.

The protagonist.