The gentleman Anis looked at Ryan deeply with clear yet warm eyes.
The Agony Will. A Will of this nature hinted strongly at a person's history. The word Agony implied that whoever awakened this Will had endured severe suffering, undergoing extreme physical and mental pain, the deepest form of anguish, leaving a profound scar on their soul.
Gentleman Anis did not inquire how Ryan had awakened this Will. Instead, he smiled warmly and said, "The Agony Will... it truly fits the Death Will. This is actually the first time I have encountered such a Will."
At first, Anis had suspected Ryan's Will was something far stranger, even suspecting a Deceit Will. However, the truthful answer left him silent, prompting no further inquiries.
"Is that the reason you didn't tell Captain Yean about your Will?" Anis asked softly.
Ryan's face twisted with pain as memories of the past surfaced. He remained silent, unable to utter a single word.
"I see..." Sensing the tense atmosphere, Anis tactfully changed the subject. "What are the unique traits of that Will?" he inquired, his gaze remaining locked onto Ryan's face.
Ryan's expression calmed slightly as he explained, "The Agony Will brings various changes to the body. For instance, at 1-Star, it enhances my body's resistance to soul-type attacks. A 1-Star Magician's attack targeting my soul deals very little damage to me, reduced by roughly 80%. I also possess a resilient mental state; when facing enemies who manipulate the mind, I can sense their interference and avoid it. Additionally, my speed is multiplied by two, allowing me to suppress certain Magicians' movements. The drawback, however, is that I have weak physical defense, which prevents me from engaging in close-quarters combat."
Power always comes with a corresponding drawback, and these weaknesses worsen as one advances. The same rule applies to Wills and Abilities. When choosing a Door, the information transmitted directly to the mind includes these inherent drawbacks.
Anis nodded gently, not interrupting Ryan's explanation.
"The Door I chose is the Attack Door," Ryan continued. "I obtained three abilities from it. The first is Spiritual Thread. This ability allows me to create threads that are nearly invisible to the naked eye; only close inspection or observational Magician abilities can detect them. The thread is sharp like a sword's edge, capable of cutting through objects with weak defense, such as glass or wood. However, to slice through human flesh and bone, I have to use another ability to enhance it. The weakness of this ability is that the thread itself is quite fragile, it can easily snap if struck by a sharp weapon."
"The second ability is Piercing," Ryan added. "This allows me to project my spiritual energy into an object, making it sharper so it can pierce through hard materials like rock, metal, or bone. I can only maintain this effect for one second. Its main drawback is the exceptionally high spiritual energy consumption. With my current strength as a 1-Star Magician, I can only use it once or twice depending on the circumstances."
Ryan paused for a moment to catch his breath before continuing.
"The third ability is called Flexibility. This isn't an attack-type ability, but it grants me swift movement. Every motion of my body is twice as fast as a normal human's, making me as flexible as an experienced dancer. The weakness is that the more flexible I am, the faster fatigue sets in. It functions more like a passive trait than an active ability."
The doors are categorized by name: Attack, Defense, Spiritual, and Speed. These designations are based on the color and information emitting from each portal, collectively known as the Magician Doors. Each Magician can only select a single door, and the abilities contained within vary according to its nature.
After finishing his explanation, Ryan asked with a look of puzzlement, "I'm still curious... why was the final ability from the Attack Door a speed-type ability instead of an attack-type?"
Anis, who had been listening with keen interest, had also noticed the anomaly, though his face remained unreadable. He pondered for a moment before replying, "I don't know either. This phenomenon applies to other Magicians as well; those who choose the Defense Door always find that their final ability belongs to a different category. Every door is like this. As for the specific details, we are still investigating and searching for answers."
Ryan nodded slightly. After all, matters concerning Magicians were crucial and shrouded in mystery. Certain secrets could even harm a person simply by being known.
Having discussed Magician lore for a while, Anis finally shifted the conversation to work. "For now, your duties are similar to those of any other officer. You'll handle case reports and earn as many contribution points as possible. At the end of the month, we will tally your contributions and promote you accordingly."
"This arrangement is somewhat special for Magicians," Anis clarified. "Serving as an officer acts as a trial period before becoming an official Judgmental. As for normal officers without Magician powers, they can be promoted to Elite Officers, whose roles pertain to the Inner Hall. If regular officers can't handle a case, they can pass it along to the Elite Officers. Additionally, their salary is higher, capped at 7 bins."
Hearing about his upcoming workload, Ryan quietly cursed Captain Yean in his heart.
Easy and safe... this job suits me best, Ryan thought, laughing quietly to himself. I just need to lay low and handle the easy cases. That way, without enough contributions, I won't be forced to advance to an official Judgmental...
He had never intended to rely on his Magician powers; he simply wanted to lead an ordinary life, find a decent job to support himself, and stay out of trouble. That had been his sole goal. Yet, trouble always seemed to find its way to his doorstep.
Ryan sighed inwardly, a self-deprecating smile gracing his lips. I just want to live a peaceful life without a care in the world. But fate clearly has other plans.
Shrugging off the thought, he casually asked Anis, "Captain Yean mentioned that there's a place to stay here at headquarters, that I could move in and sleep here if I wanted. May I know where it is?"
If the accommodations were decent, Ryan fully intended to move into the officer headquarters. After all, who wouldn't want a free place to stay?
Hearing this, Anis's face twitched slightly as he struggled to maintain his composure. He chuckled softly and said, "I fear you might be disappointed, but..." He paused briefly before continuing, "...there is no such living area in the officer headquarters. Captain Yean simply meant you are free to sleep anywhere you can find a spot."
Ryan, who had leaned in eagerly, froze. His face contorted, and this time, he didn't just curse in his heart, he blurted it out loud.
"Damn you, Yean! Just you wait, one day, I'll swindle you out of your underwear!"
After settling everything, Ryan bade gentleman Anis farewell and headed out toward his rented hotel.
The sun was on the verge of rising, painting the dawn sky. Glancing up at the clock tower, the hands read 5:45 AM. Ryan frowned slightly. It's almost 6 AM. I've been at the officer headquarters for a long time probably since 3 AM when I was ambushed by that murderer.
Thinking of the killer brought Finz's face to mind, the young man he had met at the Love Bar. No matter how much Ryan pondered it, something felt deeply wrong.
Why Finz? Was he a murderer all along? Was the incident at the Love Bar just an act to lure out people seeking information about the serial killings? If he's merely a minion, then what about the actual mastermind? What are they trying to accomplish?
Question after question flooded Ryan's mind, yet answers remained entirely out of reach.
Forget it. I'll set it aside for now and let the Judgmentals handle it. I'm just a lowly Magician.
Ryan let out a quiet yawn. Exhaustion weighed heavily on him from the night's events, compounded by his clash with the murderer and the heavy drain on his spiritual energy.
Before long, he reached Room 123 of his hotel. Without another thought, he unlocked the door and stepped inside.
To his surprise, the room was immaculately clean. There wasn't a single trace of last night's violent struggle. The hole in the floor had been covered with a carpet, every piece of furniture was perfectly rearranged, and even the metallic stench of blood had completely vanished.
Ryan's sharp mind immediately pieced together what must have happened, but overwhelmed by sheer fatigue, he couldn't bring himself to care.
He swiftly shut the door behind him, collapsed straight onto the floor, and instantly fell asleep.
Outside, the sun fully crested the horizon, burning the sky in a vivid orange glow. Golden light poured across the land, illuminating every corner and heralding the arrival of a new morning.