Chapter 65. Subject of Observation

Chapter 65. Subject of Observation

POV: Guild Master Darian Halbek

The Guild Master was briefed on the results of the order he had given earlier. His subordinate stood before him, holding a thin folder containing a report: a detailed description of the observation, the subject’s actions, and the overall progress of the mission.

Gilly was already exhausted from endless paperwork, so he didn’t even bother opening the folder. He raised his eyes to his subordinate and asked:

“How is the subject of observation behaving? Give me the short version. Does he pose a threat?”

“The subject, immediately after leaving the Adventurers’ Guild, went to purchase food,” the subordinate reported. “He bought a large amount of food.”

“Well, that’s quite understandable,” the Guild Master replied calmly. “Perhaps he was simply hungry and decided to stock up.”

“No, sir, you misunderstood,” the subordinate shook his head. “He bought food in a quantity sufficient to feed around fifty people.”

The Guild Master frowned slightly.

“And where did he go with that much food?” he asked. “Was he planning to share it with someone?”

“He left the city,” the subordinate answered. “But before that, there was another incident. He encountered an adventurer who had only today reached D-rank at the age of eighteen. As expected, the young man behaved rather arrogantly.”

“I hope our subject merely taught him a small lesson?” the Guild Master said with mild irony. “Nothing serious happened?”

“No,” the subordinate replied immediately. “The subject showed no aggression at all. Moreover, despite being completely innocent in the confrontation, he apologized himself.”

The Guild Master raised his eyebrows in surprise.

“What? A person with such strength apologized to a D-rank adventurer, and while being innocent?”

“Exactly,” the subordinate confirmed. “After that, he left the city and… within approximately half an hour, consumed all the food he had purchased.”

“All of it?” the Guild Master asked again. “Are you certain? He ate everything himself?”

“The observer could not approach any closer,” the subordinate replied. “He conducted surveillance from a distance to avoid detection. But he is certain there were no other people nearby.”

The subordinate hesitated for a moment, then continued:

“There is one more oddity. From time to time, the subject would disappear and then reappear. The observer could not record the moment of disappearance—he simply vanished from the observation zone and then appeared again after some time.”

Silence fell over the office.

“After the food was gone, the subject returned to the city and headed to the Silver Dragon Inn,” the subordinate continued. “It appears he was looking for two female adventurers named Rem and Sherial. Judging by everything, he is traveling together with them.”

The subordinate paused briefly, then added:

“That is all the subject did today. Nothing else suspicious was recorded.”

The Guild Master thought for several seconds, tapping his fingers lightly against the desk.

“Very well,” he said at last. “Continue the observation. Discreetly.”

“We do not want to provoke him,” he continued in a colder tone. “But if he begins to pose a danger… we must be the first to know.”

“Find out what he has been doing over the past six months. Whenever possible, record everything he does now. We must know what skills he possesses. And separately—gather information on every person he interacts with,” the Guild Master said.

The subordinate nodded.

“Yes, Guild Master,” he said, and left the office.

The Guild Master was finally alone. It was already night, and his workday had formally ended; ideally, he should have gone home by now. But a Guild Master’s work never truly ended on time. Moreover, another problem had emerged.

He opened a folder.

Not the one the subordinate had just brought, but another—one that had been lying here for a long time.

Inside was a dossier on a single adventurer. The very adventurer he had just been discussing.

Alisar. E-rank.

According to Guild records, only six months ago this man had first arrived in the city. At that time, during the evaluation and assignment of E-rank, his level had been 60.

Only half a year had passed—and now his level was 162.

The Guild Master slowly exhaled.

Whatever this boy had done, the possibilities were few.

Either he had acquired an extremely rare skill.

Or a special skill.

Or he had walked a forbidden path.

Most likely—a special skill.

And that was dangerous.

People who suddenly gained immense power often lost their sanity. They began to see themselves as superior to others. They began to kill. That was precisely why such individuals had to be watched especially closely.

However, the first day of observation produced contradictory results.

Alisar behaved calmly. More than that—politely. Even in a situation where he was entirely in the right.

He encountered an adventurer who had just reached D-rank at the age of eighteen—a rare talent, a true prodigy. Such people were usually arrogant and often provoked conflicts.

But Alisar did not take the bait.

He showed no aggression.

He even apologized.

A man with such power—and such self-control.

If he had already gone mad with power, the city would have drowned in blood long ago. But there were no mass killings, no incidents—nothing.

This meant only one thing:

His power had not yet destroyed his mind.

The Guild Master leaned back in his chair.

Even the most talented adventurers required at least ten to fifteen years to rise above level 150. And that applied only to a handful—true geniuses of their generation.

Average adventurers never reached such a level in their entire lives.

And yet Alisar had gone from level 60 to 162 in just half a year.

This went beyond talent.

This was an anomaly.

If his growth continued at the same pace, then in a few years he could become a threat of such magnitude that even small kingdoms would be powerless against him.

And if everything were left as it was, if everyone simply closed their eyes, then over time he could turn into a catastrophe on a global scale.

This man would either become an outstanding adventurer—one of the pillars of the Guild…

Or he would become a disaster of worldwide proportions.

The first outcome fully satisfied the Guild Master.

The second terrified him.

If Alisar were to walk a dark path, the best moment to stop him was now—while he was not yet too strong. While the cost of a mistake was not measured in thousands of lives.

But provoking such a man was the worst possible decision.

“For now… observation only,” he muttered.

He closed the folder.

“Damn it…” the Guild Master sighed wearily. “I already have more than enough problems with the city lord. And now there’s this Alisar on top of it.”

“When will I finally retire… tend my garden and quietly drink tea at home?”

His thoughts once again drifted involuntarily back to the adventurer named Alisar. The observer might not have been a high-ranking adventurer, but his Observation skill was extremely rare and of very high rank. Moreover, it was his special skill—the very one he had been using for over thirty years, honing it to frightening perfection.

And if even from within his observation range Alisar periodically disappeared, only two explanations remained.

The first—teleportation.

But this option could be dismissed almost immediately. Why teleport for such a short duration? And more importantly—why do it repeatedly over such a brief period? Besides, if the subject truly used teleportation, the observer would have noticed the act of movement itself.

That left the second possibility.

Alisar possessed a skill that allowed him to hide even from the eyes of a Guild observer.

But then a new question arose.

Why did he reappear and disappear again? If he had a way to completely hide, why return again and again?

The Guild Master frowned.

What was he doing during those moments? And why did he eat such an unbelievable amount of food? Perhaps he had a skill with special activation conditions—the world was full of strange abilities with even stranger requirements. That could explain the appetite… but not the disappearances.

And then a thought struck the Guild Master like a blow.

What if he noticed the surveillance?

No… that seemed impossible. Even an A-rank adventurer would not be able to detect the observer, especially considering that the observer never even left the city. Moreover, the very principle behind his special skill made detection practically impossible.

And yet…

If Alisar had noticed him?

Then everything fell into place. He did not hide completely—he showed that he could disappear. Appearing and vanishing again, as if mocking. As if demonstrating that observing him was a pointless endeavor.

He took no action.

He did not attack.

He did not threaten.

He simply made one thing clear:

“I know I am being watched. And I can disappear at any moment.”

The Guild Master slowly exhaled.

It seemed this Alisar was far more dangerous than he had initially assumed.

“That’s enough work for today,” the Guild Master said.

He rose from his chair, extinguished the light, and left the office.

And as soon as the door closed behind him, all work-related thoughts, worries, and calculations remained there—in the darkness.

Now he no longer thought about suspicious adventurers, potential catastrophes, or the future of the Guild.

For now, only one thing existed for him—to return home.

Home, where a warm dinner prepared by his daughter was waiting.

Home, where he could simply sit at the table with his family, eat, and briefly forget about everything.

And work…

Work could wait until tomorrow morning.