When it was Roman's turn, the girl's smile widened as she looked at him with strange eyes…
Are they sparkling?!
Roman could not help but notice, slightly surprised.
"Welcome, how can I help you?"
The exact same words as last time.
"Good morning," he nodded distractedly, showing her his ID. "I am here to enter the Rift."
The girl took the document without ever taking her eyes off Roman's.
Why the hell is she staring at me like that?! Am I dirty or something? But I did not do anything in the bathroom…
Beep-
The scanner's sound snapped Roman out of his thoughts. Then, he noticed the girl scribbling something before handing back the ID.
"Good luck!"
"Thanks…" Roman replied, not understanding her strange enthusiasm.
"Bah, I have never understood women, and maybe I never will…" He shook his head, stopping his thoughts as he put his ID back in his pocket.
But before he could, his gaze fell to his hand.
"Huh? Is this not the paper she was writing on earlier?"
It was folded in quarters; Roman opened it carefully, not understanding what was happening.
(Call me "3)
"…"
Two words and a strange symbol… below them, a sequence of numbers that seemed random.
"Holy cow!" he exclaimed, stopping abruptly just before stepping onto the escalator. "Is this her phone number? Does she want to go out with me? Did I make an impression??"
A flood of questions filled Roman's mind, but he dismissed them all.
"I cannot, she is underage…" he muttered reluctantly, keeping her number in his pocket.
"I will call you next year." He reflected as he rode the escalator. "If your feelings have not faded by then, we could meet."
His thoughts were genuine, but something felt off.
"Oh, right…" The words slipped out like a breath. "In a year, I will have ascended to a level of power that cannot even be defined… I wonder, is Tier 9 really the maximum?"
With these words, Roman entered the Rift, ready to face more monsters.
Meanwhile, in another part of the Rift…
"That bastard, how dare he disrespect me and respond like that in front of everyone!"
Xixi's anger was real as she killed countless different monsters.
Some had lost their heads, others groaned on the ground in dissatisfaction, and still others chased her relentlessly.
Monsters of all kinds populated the area, from simple Goblins with a more vibrant blue hue to larger ones like Ogres, Trolls, and Wyverns.
Their levels ranged from 20 to 50, and Xixi did nothing but gain Exp with each kill.
She was not using mana to face them. Her graceful figure moved through the environment like a leaf in the wind, cutting each monster with a precise strike, her sword an extension of her body.
She had been training tirelessly for years under her father's guidance.
He had always told her that the world was bigger than it seemed, and the only way to stay at the top was to train and become as strong as possible.
Xixi's control over mana was terrifying, to the point that she could drain her enemies of any amount of mana.
For her, it was not just an abstract energy permeating everything.
She could see it. Feel it. Smell it, touch it, sense it, and even consume it.
Mana was part of her, and she was part of mana.
But it would have been too easy to face the monsters with this terrifying talent.
For this reason, her father, Xiander Xiaver, the only man to have reached T9 Lv1000, had forbidden her from using her talent.
"With your talent, you could destroy the boss in the Epic difficulty evolutionary challenge in an instant,"
Xixi recalled his words as she killed more and more monsters, staining her face and clothes with blood.
"But your goal must be greater than that. You must aim to destroy the Legendary difficulty Boss. Otherwise, you will remain useless, just like me…"
Those words had stuck in her mind.
She had not yet faced any evolutionary challenges, so she had no idea what her father meant.
However, she trusted him.
She could read in his eyes that what he said was true. Despite being the strongest on the planet, adored by all and hailed as Emperor, Xiander Xiaver did not feel powerful at all.
But as she was reflecting on all this, something distracted her, causing her to fall into the gaping mouth of a giant tiger.
Almost.
With a fluid mid-air movement, Xixi dodged the monster's teeth by a hair, spinning her sword and piercing its eye, tearing it apart forcefully.
"It is happening again!" she snapped, retreating from the monsters.
"My mana is dropping again for no reason!"
---
Name: Xifre Xiaver
Title: The Chosen One
Level: 30
Mana: 2980/3000
Affinity: MANA
Skill(s): Mana Bolt, Mana Shield, Mana Surge, Mana Infusion, Mana Step.
World Talent: Mana Everywhere
---
Mana Everywhere
You are granted a Mana Physique.
You are granted a set of mana-related skills. Each time you increase in Tier, new skills are added while the old ones evolve.
Your mana regenerates much faster.
Every damage dealt, with skills or not, applies Mana Burn.
Mana Burn: burns the enemy's mana reserves.
---
A talent worthy of a chosen one.
"Damn it, why is this happening?" she snapped, watching her mana drop by another ten points.
Her anger did not come from the mana loss itself but from not knowing what was causing this effect.
A few more seconds passed.
Xixi was observing her status carefully, expecting another drop, but nothing happened.
Her incredible regeneration was compensating for the loss.
"This has been happening since yesterday, and I do not understand why…" she shook her head helplessly, heading back toward the monsters. "I feel like my mana is being sucked away by something, as if I were using skills."
Amid sighs of helplessness and various mutterings, Xixi continued her training against monsters stronger than her level.
Two factors allowed her to succeed despite being a mere human.
One, her physique enhanced by her talent.
Two, her passive ability Mana Burst, which allowed her to burn the enemy's mana with each hit.
There was also the equipment, but that was not what made her special.
Of course, she could not wear high-level equipment.
Everything always depended on the maximum mana amount. She could not equip items with a mana requirement higher than what she possessed.
In another part of the Rift, far, very far from Xixi…
"Achoo!" a sneeze echoed in the environment.
Roman had just killed a group of three goblins, like the day before. This time, though, he had not taken any hits.
"Is someone talking about me?" he wondered, a wry smile on his face. "Who could it be, Xixi or those three? I wonder what they are thinking of me right now…"