NOVEL WEB Chapter 290: Bounded
'Just ten minutes against this thing.' Vritra's shift skill was still working so his agility was at max, and so he didn't really have to worry about dodging the attacks.
But he wondered: 'Will the forbidden skill work on this puppet?'
'Forbid: Agility.'
[Forbidden activated.]
And it did. The forbidden even worked against things that aren't alive. Vritra hadn't really thought about this before.
"Alright, start!!" Joey gave a loud shout. Instantly the puppet rushed in Vritra's direction, it had no fingers but two heavy fists.
WHOOSH
Jumping to the side, Vritra easily dodged the punch, though he acted as if he was on the edge.
Aside from his Blood Lock and Fourth Dimension, Vritra hadn't really shown any of his skills to Yasmine, yet he was careful not to show anything.
If she researched even a little about him, then she might know about his dust ability.
"Ughh." A kick landed on Vritra's shoulder as his feet skidded against the floor, but he barely stopped himself from colliding against the barrier.
Vritra glanced towards Yennefer and was startled when he saw the faint smile on her face widening ever so slightly. Maybe she could tell that Vritra was holding back.
'Fuck this.' Vritra thought, and then stood straight as the puppet approached him, its fist swinging with dangerous speed and strength.
'Forbid: Mana.'
[Forbidden activated.]
The moment forbidden was activated, the light glowing in the puppet's eye sockets went out and it fell down with a heavy thud just a few inches in front of Vritra, without a single trace of movement.
"Oh, A- And we have a winner." The old man announced in bewilderment. Even he wasn't able to see exactly how Vritra had defeated the puppet that was supposed to be stronger than him.
"H- He won? Just like that? Is the match rigged or something?" Onest and all the participants who had already given their tests looked at Joey and others from Golden Moon suspiciously.
Only Yennefer and Han looked at Vritra in amazement, but even they weren't sure exactly what sort of skill he had used.
The barrier disappeared and Vritra walked out, but his steps came to a halt when he found Yennefer standing in his way. Maintaining a fake smile, he questioned: "Do you have anything to say to me, my lady?"
"Hmm. Clever, stopping the flow of mana to defeat the puppet. But I wonder how exactly did you stop it…" Yennefer said, looking deeply into his eyes as if searching for secrets.
"Haha. That's a secret." Vritra replied. To others it might seem the two were flirting, but Vritra was clearly fighting for his life.
"Are you sure we have never met before? You clearly resemble someone I met before, someone I have seen very, very closely…" the empress asked. Her scent and those eyes were really intoxicating; all the men felt their hearts skip a beat when they heard her speak.
'How strange, the empress doesn't speak too much to strangers.' Han wondered, but he didn't really mind since Ben was a good guy.
"Oh, there is no way I can forget about a lady as beautiful and calm as you. Maybe you are mistaking me for someone else." Vritra said, and before Yennefer could speak anything else, he stepped to the side and started speaking to Joey.
The empress's natural aura was so oppressive that it was hard to talk to her, especially if you knew she might kill if you got caught.
"I heard the Slave Beast Gang also has a recruitment going on currently, and the post there is Agent as well." Vritra asked.
"Those fuckers—sigh, sorry for the language—but those bastards just copied us. I just wish I could put them in their place. They only created that event after hearing about us."
Joey's face turned red in anger, then taking a deep breath he spoke: "You did excellent just now. Can you tell me a little about yourself?"
Vritra glanced at Onest, who had already entered the square platform and was easily evading the puppet. Then he looked at the empress, who didn't seem the slightest bit interested in Onest and was only looking at him strangely.
"Actually, I am from the Blue Kingdom. I had just recently come here and I heard about this recruitment. I don't really have any family aside from a few friends, and about that thief, I don't really know him…" Vritra made up a few things.
Within a few minutes, even Onest actually defeated the puppet in a strange manner that most present weren't even able to understand.
"Whoa, another one?!!" Joey looked truly shocked. He thought for a couple of minutes and finally spoke: "Alright, I have decided.
Although there was only supposed to be one post originally, now there will be two. I need to do a simple background check on you two, but that's just formality. So you two are officially the Agents of the Golden Moon."
The moment he spoke that, all the other participants were enraged and they started shouting.
"What kind of scam is this? So you already had these two chosen for the post? I didn't expect something like that from the Golden Moon."
"I am going to complain about you, I am clearly better than those two—"
"SCRAM!!" Joey gave no explanation as he glared at the participants, frightening them with his aura as their bodies stiffened and they had no choice but to leave silently.
[You have successfully become the Agent!!]
A message flashed in front of Vritra. He felt better knowing that at least he wasn't at the wrong place.
Soon all the participants left the field, grumbling to themselves about the unfairness of the world.
"Joey, I don't think you need to do a background check about Ben. I know him and he is trustworthy." Yennefer spoke all of a sudden.
She was behaving so different from her real character.
"Oh, okay. I understand." Joey nodded and began to explain a few things to Vritra and Onest.
The job of an Agent was quite dangerous, but for now their tasks would be of low level and their position in the Golden Moon would be rather high.
They would officially join the Golden Moon the next day. After getting all the details, the two of them decided to leave the place—they didn't want to stay in such a dangerous place anymore.
"Goodbye, Ben." When Vritra was leaving, Yennefer said with no emotion on her face.
"Uh… Goodbye, my lady." Vritra said and walked out of the field.
"You bastard, you made a thief join the Golden Moon. How absurd is that? What will happen to my reputation now?" Onest spoke after walking some distance away from there.
"What reputation? I am sure people call you by curses more often than by your name." Vritra said, while thinking that isn't it more absurd for a demon to join Golden Moon.
The two ignored one another and went their separate ways. Vritra headed towards the castle. He would think about his plan of farming sin points and getting that map later. For now, he just wanted to be away from Yennefer's evil clutches.
"Heh. Hubby, looks like you two are bound together by an invisible thread already. The more you try to avoid her, the more she appears in front of you. I also feel she might have suspicions about you." Yasmine spoke.
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