All the exchange didn't escape Mr. Jaggers' eyes as he stared at Socrates in shock, his gaze lingering on the red-haired teenager whose chest rose and fell heavily from exhaustion. Not only is the boy powerful, but also calculative, his actions precise even in the face of death, something rare among aspirants.
"Genius.. This boy is a true genius.. If his meridian isn't broken, I won't be a match for him." Mr. Jaggers slowly walked up to Socrates, his boots crunching softly against the scorched earth, as the latter knelt on the ground in exhaustion, his body still steaming faintly from the aftermath of the battle.
"He has great potential... I'll make sure I look after him.. Even in the world of gladiators, he's bound to rise... Socrates Trueblood, you've really amazed me.." His voice carried a rare sincerity, his sharp eyes studying the boy closely.
"My intuition about you isn't wrong.. Very good. So good... So good.." Mr. Jaggers praised the exhausted Socrates, almost as if reassuring himself of his judgment.
"You've done well, Boy.. You've defeated our greatest enemy..."
Socrates quickly bounced up as he heard Mr. Jaggers' voice, though his legs trembled slightly from fatigue. "It's only due to your help, Senior.. If you had not stalled the Wolf or come up with this plan, I would have been long dead.." His tone remained respectful, his blue eyes steady despite the chaos they had just survived.
Mr. Jaggers nodded slightly, a faint smile forming on his lips. He loved Socrates' temperament. 'The boy didn't let this achievement get to his head, he still remains polite... He'll definitely become a great gladiator.'
"Senior.. Since you did most of the job.. You should share the loots.."
"You don't need to be too humble, Boy.. You singlehandedly killed the Alpha Wolf, but since you insist, this seat won't reject your offer." Mr. Jaggers stepped forward and first picked up an energy core lying among the scattered loot.
It was a bright red core, glowing faintly with internal heat, similar to the one he had given Socrates earlier, but this one pulsed with a deeper, more violent energy.
He threw it towards Socrates. "You should absorb this monster core... In it is the concentrated energy of the Alpha Wolf... Naturally, one shouldn't absorb this core directly because it can rupture and destroy the meridians, but since your meridians are already broken, it'll do you more good than harm." Mr. Jaggers explained, his tone calm but firm.
Socrates naturally accepted the monster core, trusting Mr. Jaggers' judgment without hesitation. Although this could damage his meridians further, there was no way to fix them in a short period of time. What he needed now was power... He needed to strengthen his body to survive.
He quickly swallowed the small ball of energy, the heat instantly burning through his throat as it went down into his abdomen.
"The fuck. I didn't tell you to swallow it.. I said absorb, absorb... You've to cultivate and absorb the energy gradually... What have you done, Socrates.. .." Mr. Jaggers' composure broke instantly, his eyes widening in disbelief.
"I don't know... What will..." Socrates couldn't complete his speech as a violent heat erupted in his stomach, cutting off his words.
The heat spread all over his body, rushing through his veins like molten lava as he felt his head swell unnaturally.
"I feel like I'm going to explode.." Socrates' head swelled for a second before returning to normal, his face twisting in pain as his entire body trembled.
'What a rash kid..' Mr. Jaggers scratched his head in frustration as he recalled the event that had led to Socrates losing his meridians in the first place.
He had taken an energy pill that was supposed to be diluted...
"Quick.. Deactivate the mechanical suit before it melts into your skin.."
Socrates did as he was told, his trembling fingers fumbling slightly as he deactivated the suit, leaving him in only his boxers, his body now fully exposed to the raging heat.
The next moment, a burst of smoke sizzled out of his skin, thin streams rising into the air as his sleek black boxers turned red from the intense heat radiating from his body.
"Ahh.. I'm going to die.. I'm going to die.." Socrates couldn't stand it anymore as he jumped around frantically, his movements erratic, his skin glowing faintly as if flames were about to burst out from within.
"You won't die on my watch.." Mr. Jaggers, for the first time since entering the game, panicked openly, his body tensing as his mind raced for a solution, his thoughts colliding with one another.
Then suddenly, he remembered how he had managed to stall the Alpha Wolf—even if only for a second.
He quickly retrieved an item from his inventory. It was a grenade—a frost grenade to be precise.
He hesitated for a brief second, knowing full well that the frost grenade itself could kill Socrates by freezing him into a solid block of ice. But seeing the heat intensifying further, sparks beginning to form and threatening to evolve into full-blown flames, Mr. Jaggers made his decision.
He threw the grenade at him.
Socrates was instantly frozen from head to toe, encased in thick ice as the cold seeped deep into his flesh while the heat forced its way outward, steam hissing violently where both forces met.
There was a clash between the two attributes—fire and ice—struggling for dominance within his body.
Within the next minute, the ice cracked under the overwhelming heat and shattered into pieces, scattering across the ground.
Before Socrates could even move, Mr. Jaggers threw another frost grenade, freezing him instantly once again.
The heat from his body evaporated the ice again, breaking it apart—but this time, it took longer than before, the process slowing slightly.
"It's working..." Mr. Jaggers breathed in, a faint hope rising within him as he pulled out all the frost grenades in his reserve and threw them one after another at Socrates.
The poor boy was repeatedly frozen into blocks of ice, only to break free again under the pressure of the raging heat, the cycle repeating as the middle-aged man stood there watching, his expression tense.
'I've done my best... I pray he survives..' Mr. Jaggers muttered inwardly as he finally turned around to gather the remaining loots before others arrived at the scene.
Surprisingly, there was a large amount of meat among the loot, fresh and steaming faintly, likely from the Alpha Wolf itself. He quickly sorted through the items, changing some of his old gear and reserving some for Socrates—most especially the bullets.
After about 20 minutes of waiting, Socrates slipped out of the final block of ice, the residual heat in his body melting a path through it as he stumbled forward, his legs giving out beneath him.
He fell toward the ground but was caught firmly by Mr. Jaggers, who had already anticipated the collapse.
The middle-aged man placed his fingers on Socrates' pulse, his expression focused, before nodding slowly.
'Although he's unconscious... He managed to survive... What a strong will..'
If it had been any other person, Mr. Jaggers wouldn't have taken such a risk. But having seen Socrates survive being struck repeatedly by electric bolts, he knew the boy had a resilience far beyond the ordinary.
"He almost died because of me.. I thought he was matured and sensible enough to understand me... Never knew he was still this green. Who the fuck directly swallowed a monster core?" Mr. Jaggers muttered under his breath as he lifted Socrates up and carried his unconscious body toward a safer location, disappearing into the quiet darkness beyond the battlefield.