Primordial Expanse: I have the Strongest Talent!

The mission clerk, still flustered, snapped back to reality with Alex's words. Her face flushed as she quickly gathered herself, fumbling with the ledger as if searching for the right protocol.

"Yes, yes! Of course, I-I'll handle it right away," she stammered, her eyes flicking nervously from Alex to the massive black leopard sprawled across the floor. She motioned to a pair of assistants standing nearby, who looked just as dumbfounded as everyone else in the hall.

The assistants hurried forward to inspect the beast, still casting stunned glances at Alex and Mira. As they moved closer, the scent of blood and the raw size of the black leopard made them hesitate, but they knelt down, examining the corpse carefully. One of them ran his hand over the beast's coat, marvelling at the lethal claws and the sheer power its form suggested.

"It's definitely a Variant class…" one of the assistants muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "They actually took this thing down."

The murmurs in the hall grew louder. Alex could hear the whispers of disbelief and awe swirling around him, but he paid them no mind. His focus remained on the mission clerk, who was now scribbling hastily in the ledger, her quill scratching across the parchment.

Mira leaned against the desk, crossing her arms and raising an eyebrow at the scene unfolding around them. Her exhaustion was visible, but there was a clear satisfaction in her expression. They had done what no one thought possible—and they had done it spectacularly.

Finally, the clerk finished her notes, glancing up at them with a forced smile, though her hands still trembled as she reached into a drawer beneath the counter. She pulled out a heavy pouch of coins and slid it across the desk toward Alex.

"Here is your reward," she said, her voice shaky but trying to maintain some semblance of professionalism. "It's… the full amount, plus a bonus for the Variant class beast. You've—well, you've exceeded expectations."

Alex picked up the item the clerk handed him.

It was the first time in a while he was actually intrigued by an item he had earned or received.

Most of the time, the reward for anything was beast cores, which were obviously useless to Alex, while Mira had her own methods of obtaining them.

Alex wished he could erase Mira's need for beast cores by providing her with soul orbs as well, but it just simply wasn't a viable option with how low the drop rate of them was.

He would only be able to consider doing this when they both reached B tier.

The reason for that was still unknown to him though, in fact he didn't even know where he got that idea from. It was just a nagging and almost obsessive feeling in his gut that told him this was the right time to start farming soul orbs not only for himself, but also for Mira.

But his mind quickly returned back to reality after a few moments of consideration.

This was because the item in his hand was different than any other reward he had received, aside from his ship King, which was obviously the only other exception.

It was a piece of metal.

More specifically, an insignia, just like the one Alex had proclaimed his own from Count Desmond's possessions, as well as the insignias he saw on the noble carriage back before they entered Tenebrus city.

On it, there was just a few words.

'Rothwind Smithy'

It was obviously the name of some sort of blacksmith shop, but just the fact that this small token of sorts was enough to be compensation for completing a Variant class C tier mission was intriguing to Alex.

He turned back to the clerk, his smirk widening. "Exceeding expectations is kind of our thing."

Mira chuckled softly beside him, and Alex gave her a quick nod before he turned to leave. As they walked toward the exit, dragging the leopard's corpse behind them for a final dramatic flourish, the crowd parted once again, their stunned faces following the pair's every movement.

Just before reaching the door, Alex paused and cast one last look over his shoulder at the adventurers who had bet against them. The scarred man, who had been so confident they wouldn't return, was glaring at the ground, his pride clearly shattered.

"Till next time," Alex said, his voice carrying through the now-silent hall, "sucks to be wrong, doesn't it?."

With that, he and Mira stepped through the door, letting it creak shut behind them, leaving the mission hall in stunned silence.

The unassuming woman who had placed her bet on Alex and Mira's success let out a long, triumphant laugh, her hands filled with coins and beast cores as she collected her winnings from the others at the table.

"Well, well," she said with a wide grin, pocketing her earnings. "Looks like those rookies aren't quite what you thought, huh?"

The scarred man grumbled something under his breath, but there was no hiding the humiliation on his face. The hall slowly began to stir back to life, though the energy had completely shifted. Alex and Mira were no longer the rookies everyone could mock. They had earned the respect—begrudging or not—of the entire room.

Whether they actually cared about this respect or not remained to be seen.

Alex was just doing that whole thing to amuse himself, and Mira went along with it because she thought it was quite funny to watch.

Outside the hall, Alex and Mira walked down the street, their feelings still fresh. Mira gave him a sidelong glance, smirking slightly.

"You think we'll ever stop being the 'newbies' around here?" she asked, wiping a bit of dirt from her sleeve.

Alex laughed softly. "Not until we do something even crazier. But honestly, I'm fine with that. Keeps things interesting."

Mira snorted. "You and your love for drama."

Alex shrugged. "It works, doesn't it?"

They continued down the road, Alex leading the duo.

They were originally going to go find a butcher to turn the black leopard into a tasty meal, but after receiving the insignia, Alex decided on a different destination.