"Well, well, well… if it isn't her highness, Miss Pompous herself, and his majesty, Emperor Stiff face," Brandon mocked.
Elaine frowned, while Uriel's expression remained unreadable.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… to what do we owe this honor, you royal majesties?" Brandon's voice sounded playful, but the cold light in his eyes reflected anything but.
Seth remained silent, staring at the duo.
He had considered joining up with them, but he assumed they would rather work with other class presidents and their vices. This was a curious surprise.
Folding his arms behind his back, Uriel glanced at both Brandon and Seth before speaking.
"I am the class president of 12A. Naturally, I can get my hands on confidential files others aren't privy to."
Seth's brows raised, wondering where this was going.
Uriel continued, "I have to give it to you two — well played. The delinquent of Class A? The Class A Extra?" He shook his head, and for the first time, a smile played on his lips.
"If I hadn't read the higher-ups' reviews in your files, and seen with my own eyes that you both were ranked with the nine-star elite evaluation ratings, I would have bought into your facades."
Elaine snorted, glaring at her two stunned classmates.
If it wasn't Uriel who convinced her and exposed them, she would have known no better. To think she had been led along by the nose for three years, always seeing them as nobodies hardly worth mentioning.
Meanwhile, Seth's eyes narrowed. No wonder… no matter how hard I tried to flop, the administration never sent me to a lower class. Turns out they saw through it all.
The higher-ups might have even taken all his antics as an elite trait.
By his side, Brandon went stunned for a second. He frowned, then spoke. "Fine, I accept. But just so you know, I don't take orders…"
Then his expression turned fawning the next second, grabbing Seth's arm. "Except if it's from my big bro."
Seth shook his head, smiling helplessly as he tried to shake Brandon off. "The two of you are strong. I have no reason to disagree."
With that, the four sat together, ready to start the information exchange.
"I'll go first," Seth began. "My skill is… unique. It allows me to wield any weapon, regardless of attribute requirements or rank. But I have a feeling it's restricted to Royal-grade weapons and below."
The eyes of his three classmates widened.
Elaine blinked, stunned. "Weapons? Ranks? Royal grade?" she sputtered, trying to make sense of the info.
Seth didn't respond to her curious gaze. Instead, he asked a question.
"Do any of you have a Gene Lineage?"
Elaine and Uriel glanced at each other, then nodded.
Uriel disclosed first. "Yes, I do. Believe it or not, apparently I'm a descendant of Zeus. I have a feeling myths and legends aren't as fictional as we were led to believe."
Elaine followed, nodding. "I have a Gene Lineage called Winter Monarch."
"Mine is called the Grand Weapon Maester," Seth finally revealed.
Then everyone went silent, turning their gaze to the only person who hadn't spoken — Brandon.
Brandon's expression said it all.
Seth raised a brow. "You don't have a Gene Lineage, do you?"
"Ahem!" He feigned a cough, covering his mouth, eyes twitching. "Don't imagine it would be that important in the long run… right?"
Uriel shrugged. "I don't know."
Just as Brandon was about to sigh in relief, Seth interrupted.
"I have a theory. While I don't believe it's essential, I think it's a huge advantage. Look at this…" Seth revealed his palm. In it was a floating white orb.
The three stared curiously.
"What is that?" Brandon asked, poking the pulsing orb.
His eyes flashed as the system gave him the same prompt. His expression froze. He turned to Seth, asking seriously, his playful air gone. "Where did you get it?"
Unable to hold back their curiosity, Uriel and Elaine reached for it. Their eyes flashed, then they went silent, staring at Seth.
"It's a drop. After I killed a mutant, this appeared," Seth explained.
"This… this actually changes everything!" Elaine muttered.
Uriel nodded. "We've underestimated the importance of killing the corrupted. With these, those without skills will have a chance. Who knows — there might be other drops, weapons, and treasures ready for reaping."
Seth nodded. "As I was saying, I believe Gene Lineages are a form of advantage. If my theory is correct, those without a lineage have a low chance of awakening gene skills.
And even if they do, once we go above the Shackled Rank, they'd have to acquire one manually — like this." He pointed to the orb in his palm.
Uriel's eyes lit up, already understanding where Seth was going. "So your theory is that those with Gene Lineages are different?"
Seth nodded. "Yes. Unlike others, we will have chances of awakening gene skills related to our heritage with each rank. And if you're not satisfied, you could swap it out for a better one — if you have the means."
Everyone became enlightened, while Brandon started sulking.
"I see… just like having a mapped-out skill chain," Elaine added.
Silence reigned as they digested the information.
Then Seth questioned, "What grade are your gene skills?"
The group went silent, hesitant. No one expected Seth to have so much info. While it was a good thing, they also didn't want to expose too much. Even though they'd agreed to become a team, trust was still immature.
But they had no choice. If they wanted to benefit from Seth's knowledge, they had to reveal what they had.
Brandon spoke first. "Mine is a Leader-grade gene skill."
"Same…" Elaine responded.
"Mine's Noble grade," Uriel disclosed.
Seth met their gazes, sighing. He revealed, "Mine is Royal grade."
"I think due to my skill or lineage," he continued, "the information of grades below Royal is imprinted in my mind."
The others stared at him silently, curiosity evident.
"Common, Elite, Leader, Noble, Royal," Seth listed.
Brandon blinked. "Wait… doesn't that mean you're the strongest here? Tsk, tsk, tsk… as expected of you, big bro!"
Seth shook his head. "It doesn't work that way. There are still attribute stats to consider. And my skill, as I said, works with weapons — so it's limited by what I have."
Brandon was about to ask Seth about the cool gothic armor he saw him wearing before he passed out. But hearing Seth's words, he went silent. Either Seth didn't want to disclose how he acquired the armor, or Brandon had been hallucinating before collapsing.
Staring at Seth, his intuition told him it was the former.
The group continued discussing and exchanging information.
After half an hour, they separated, everyone content.
Seth sighed as he watched them walk away. It seems I'm the only one with a Flash Sale system.
He stared at the glowing timer in his vision unblinkingly.
[Next Flash Sale for ???? In: 3h: 45m: 17s]
He wouldn't be sleeping early tonight, it seemed.