Strongest Conqueror of the Beast Domain

Nick's breath slowed to nothing after he realised his mistake.

'Please keep walking!'

He knew better than to trust his hopes though.

The man's boots turned, and Nick was able to tell from the sudden squeak his boots made on the floor.

Then… one step after another.

Upward.

Nick had to move.

He spun on his feet, managing to stay silent, not making the same mistake he just did, and dived toward the corner of the end of the corridor where a sharp bend concealed the garbage chute and and old, out of service utility closet.

He flattened himself against the wall, half squatting behind the weathered cleaning utilities, and waited.

The seconds stretched on.

A shadow, the silhouette of the man slid up the stairs, and then his head rose into view.

Nick's pulse thudded loud in his ears, with him forcing every muscle in his body to calm down in exasperation.

He didn't move, and he didn't breathe.

Still, the anxiety gripped him.

He wasn't necessarily scared of confronting the man, just that if he did so, then his plan of following them in secret from afar to find out just where they operated from, and to hopefully find out who this 'Whitesteel' was, would go up in flames.

He wanted to avoid this at all costs.

The man paused three steps from the landing, eyes narrowing as he scanned the corridor.

His hand brushed against the inside of the utility closet slowly, where Nick lay completely still against the wall.

He didn't even usher a single blink, worried that the man would be able to hear the minute sound.

Altered were just weird like that, and who knew what kinds of Soul Abilities were out there.

But after a few moments passed, the man exhaled and shook his head, mumbling to himself.

"Tch… Jumpy today, for some reason."

He turned around.

The sound of his boots resumed, but not as lazy as before. They were softer now, and produced less noise.

It was clear that despite giving up on his paranoid search, he was still on alert.

Nick waited a full ten seconds before the sound of his boots reached the stairwell once again, before creeping out of the closet and exhaling a long, but silent sigh.

'Phew! That was too close…'

He didn't let it rattle him though. He just adjusted.

He made sure to maintain an even more alert state from now on. Even though it wasn't necessarily a mistake on his part that he'd been noticed, since it was the poor maintenance of the flooring that had caught him out, it was still his failure to consider that and account for it.

Even if he had become much more accustomed to hunting beasts in the Beast Domain, he was still a newbie.

…And this wasn't the Beast Domain either!

He stayed further back this time, using the handrails and wall corners for cover each time he turned a corner down the stairs.

By the time he reached the ground floor, he heard voices just ahead of him.

Nick knelt behind the wide wall near the lobby stair exit, peeking carefully around the edge.

The man had just arrived.

And standing by the front entrance, yawning and scratching the back of his head like the bored security guard a few metres away from him, was the second guy.

The lazy one from the day before.

'Looks like the duo is complete again.'

"…She didn't give us anything." The first, alert man said as he approached his compatriot.

"Jumpier than a startled rabbit, but no useful intel. Stuck to her story."

"You push her?" the lazy one asked with a yawn, not sounding terribly interested in the conversation at all.

"A little. She still didn't break." The first man stopped a few steps from his partner.

"But I don't think she was lying. Not exactly, at least. She's scared enough that I don't think she's working with him, not directly."

The lazy one gave a half shrug.

"So they guy's clean?"

"No," the first man said firmly. "He's hiding something… And he's smart enough not to keep his distance from the other residents here."

Nick watched as the men conversed.

'Hiding something? Smart enough to keep my distance!? Man, I was just never around long enough to stick around and chat with anyone!'

He wasn't going to do much about their misinterpretations though.

If anything, it would help him keep them off his tail for a while.

"He moved in without triggering any of our red flags… And he somehow slipped past the building manager's radar. No credit trail. Nothing. There's not even any evidence of him paying rent or a deposit… And the way he stood yesterday, the way he looked at us…"

He trailed off, rubbing his chin again. "He's probably a full time Altered, or even an Evolver judging by his strength, and with good connections to moot. This isn't good for us, at all. We should probably inform the boss."

The lazy one frowned. It seemed like he really didn't like the idea of actually having to do his job.

"You really wanna escalate this already? This could just be some paranoid Altered with a chip on his shoulder."

"It could be…" the first one admitted. "But if he does turn out to be a problem and we press to hard… we won't even get the chance to explain our mistake before the boss deals with us…"

The lazy one showed a glimmer of seriousness after hearing that last point.

"Alright. But if the boss isn't happy with this, you have to take the blame."

"Wha— Ugh, fine! But you owe me lunch if you're wrong!"

They shared a brief glance, then turned toward the door.

Nick ducked fully behind the wall as the front entrance creaked open, with a faint gust of wind sweeping in, before they were gone.

He waited thirty seconds just to be safe, then stepped out into the lobby. It was completely empty, considering it was still so early in the morning.