The group soon returned from their wild tour around the city, and neither Tai nor him were in the mood for simple conversation, and besides, Hal had other reservations as he found himself now seated in a well-organised office.
Most of the room was filled with shelves that had a myriad of books that Hal felt oppressed just being in their presence.
In front of him at the opposite end of the table, he sat at was a man wearing simple clothes sat, who wore a white t-shirt whose first buttons were left open and blue trousers that looked a bit too big for his size.
The man glared at him, rendering Hal speechless for a few minutes until his curiosity got the better of him.
"Uumm, are you the leader of the Silver Sword Hunter Company?" The man looked at him more intensely as if offended by the question.
"No, I am not the one that you are looking for, it's Lady Roxanne, and she will be here shortly" The man looked away from Hal as the room again returned to silence.
Hal continued to look around the room as he noticed the heads of several monsters that had been pinned up on display.
Many of them looked far too grotesque that even Hal found it hard to describe, and so his eyes looked away in search of something more useful.
The language in this place looked weird to the one he was used to, but as he kept looking at the writings on the books, he realised that it bore many similarities to English.
In fact, most of the letters just appeared as horizontal and vertical inverted versions of the ones in his world, and so soon enough, he found himself able to actually understand most of the language.
He realised that most of the books in this place were actually yearly registers and documents concerning the governance of both the city and Haverfield, along with some novels and newspapers.
'Is the leader of this company maybe connected to some nobles? ' he was still thinking about the topic when a weird sound met his ears. Was it groaning
He turned to the man who now had his face lying flat on the table as he continued to groan in a weird fashion.
Hal found it hard to concentrate, but also did not want to get involved in whatever was going on with this strange man, but as the groaning continued, Hal found himself with no choice.
"Hey, sir", the man interrupted his statement as if he was waiting for it this entire time.
"Call me Velto" Hal paused for a bit as he reconsidered his decision, only for the man to continue his annoying groaning.
"Okay, Mr Velto, is everything alright?" The man quickly rose from his pathetic position as he turned to Hal, who finally realised that he had been baited.
"I'm glad you asked. I was stopped from going on a mission because I lost control of my trait" Hal did not know what any of that meant, and he didn't have to ask, as Velto quickly offered an explanation.
"I know that you know nothing of what I said. Joset says it has something to do with your contract, but I still really need someone to vent to"
Hal felt curious about what they meant by him being affected by the contract.
He did not feel any different, so why would they think that, and why would a contract render him unable to about traits and lose control.
He had no answer but still expected to gain some from his upcoming meeting with Lady Roxanne.
He turned his attention back to Velto as he heard him say, "You know how Joset told you that you gain a trait according to your current state of mind"
He sounded pathetic at first, but as he went on, his voice sounded mysterious and alluring, forcing Hal to provide him with unwavering attention as he nodded slowly.
"Well, whenever you use a trait, you feel it urging you to return to that state of mind, and not only that, it amplifies it as if it's distress, it reaches a critical point similar to madness"
He placed his hands on the table as he continued to say, "Once you reach that stage, you lose control of your trait. There is a way to solve this, and that is through training and mastering your trait"
Velto looked away from Hal as if remembering something he regretted, as he soon spoke again.
"The thing is, I know I lost control, but at the same time, I know I trained enough to prevent it from happening again, so why won't she give me a chance?"
Hal listened but did not understand, as his mind was more occupied with trying to find out how a state of mind determined the trait you receive
He turned to Velto, who let out a long sigh before placing his head back down on the table "You understand what I mean, don't you?"
Velto turned his head so that he could now see Hal, who slowly shook his head, saying, "I don't because I don't get how a state of mind is supposed to determine your trait.
"Velto let out a long sigh and spoke again "Then let me explain" his voice sounded devoid of life, but Hal found himself not caring as long as he got what he wanted in the end.
"To give you a simple understanding, the state of mind I mean is a desire coupled together with an emotion, the state of mind that gave me my trait was my desire to shake the world, coupled together with immense joy, hence I got the ability to vibrate my body"
Velto lifted his hand and demonstrated his trait as his hand violently vibrated in front of Hal, who stared, stunned by the prospect of it, as Velto continued.
"So, when I lost control, I literally wanted to shake the world, and the more I felt closer to that goal, the more joy I felt and the more of those two I felt, the more powerful my ability got"
Hal thought briefly as the meaning of everything finally settled in his mind.
'So a trait is born when someone evolves their soul, and the trait they get depends on a desire and emotion they have at that moment, and if you let your trait revert you to that state of mind and intensify to a state of madness, then you lose control'
Hal wondered if the same applied to gift users or if this issue only bothered those with traits; either way, this information was still valuable.
He did not know what or who he would come against in the future, so knowing the weaknesses of each type of ability would be incredibly useful.
Though given the fact that even Velto knew this already, this information must be commonplace place but at the same time it would put him at a disadvantage if he was the only one who didn't know.
"Mr Velto, how about gifts? Do they also lose control?" Velto lifted his head off the table for just a moment as he said, "I don't have a gift, so how would I know?"
Hal let out a quiet sigh as he realised that Velto had now fully exhausted his usefulness and decided that it was best for him to ignore him for now.
But just like an annoying little brother, Velto called out again, "Hal, don't you think Lady Roxanne is being really strict with me being here all day is extremely boring?"
Hal turned to the man and hid his discomfort as he asked, "But where were you going for this mission anyway?"
Velto stared at him blankly before saying, "The Juzo Glowing Caverns where had gone to investigate the reason dominant monsters were raising to higher levels of the cave"
'Is this guy crazy? If he lost control in there, the entire cave would collapse. He felt like letting out a groan of his own before saying.
"I agree with Lady Roxanne, if you lost control again, then you would all be dead since the cave would cave in"
Velto turned to him and stared at him with indignation as if the words that came out of Hal's mouth were not worth saying in the first place.
"After I tell you my ambition and you're still on their side, but of course you would be, you are all blind to my amazing talent and worth, yeah, and so is Lady Roxanne, who does she think she is-"
"The company leader" Both Velto and Hal froze as they heard those words, prompting Hal and Velto to look at their source as their eyes fell on the same person.
She was a woman who looked to be in her thirties with beautiful orange hair and eyes. Her presence shouted leadership and seriousness. She wore a long, gown-like dress with a slit that ran up to her thighs as she stared down daggers at Velto.
Velto, in the meantime, slowly got up and attempted to leave, but before he got out, he heard, "Velto, your suspension from duty has been extended to four weeks, and so has your training with Magus"
The woman's voice was elegant but demanded respect as Velto paled and left in disappointment, leaving Hal alone with the lady.
She took her seat in front of Hal, crossed her legs, and said, "It's nice to finally meet you, Hal Leonardo Fernis"