Time Twister

She brought out the digital weighing scale to measure the amount of Azrite metal. Seeing the weight, Aria gasped silently, wanting to shout in surprise but her voice failed her.

"O-ok, Lonely Maker, you have submitted 2.000 kilograms of Azrite metal. A preliminary a.n.a.lysis of its purity will be n-now conducted." Aria said after a few seconds of silence.

However, this time, she was prepared. She immediately placed the material on top of the scanner, which showed a molecular breakdown of the material in holographic images. Although she prepared for it, her voice couldn't help but release a squeak.

99% purity!

To be exact, 99.9902% purity!

Aria calmed down and began to recite the estimated rewards of the missions.

"B-rank mission: Moons.h.i.+ne Clover harvesting. Reward: 10,000 Etas for 4 stalks, an additional 3,000 for every additional stalk; no limit. You submitted 5 stalks, resulting in a total reward of 13,000 Etas. 20% is taken away by MCGD, resulting in a total of 10,400 Etas."

"B-rank mission: Azrite metal collection. Rewards: 10,000 Etas for 50 grams, additional 2,000 per 10 grams more. If purity is above 95%, 100,000 Etas for 50 grams, additional 20,000 per 10 grams more."

"You provided a purity of 99.9902%, meaning you will gain 100,000 Etas for 50 grams, and 3.9 million Etas for the remaining 950 grams, making a total of 4 million Etas. Because this is an entrusted mission, the company will be taking 20%, leaving you with 3.2 million Etas."

Aria took a breather before continuing,

"The total rewards would be 3.214 million Etas. However, my superior has given me a task to inform you of another possible deal."

"Oh? What deal?" Xander asked coolly, although he already had a hint of what was going to be asked.

"My superior says if you can provide the location where you gathered the Azrite of this level of purity, not only will the MCGD not take any cuts for this mission, they will also reward you a total of 2 million Etas on top of your reward, bringing it to 6.014 million Etas," Aria said pa.s.sionately, psychologically influencing Xander to choose this option through her words, attempting to show he would not lose out.

Xander merely smirked.

"Nah, I'm don't really care. Just transfer already my rewards." Xander responded coolly, not moved by money. Aria was a bit disappointed because she might also get a higher bonus this year if she could cinch this deal. Aria attempted to try one more time.

"Sir Lonely Maker, are you sure? This is " She was cut off by Xander's voice.

"No. Stop wasting my time. If you plan to do so, it would seem I would have another receptionist in the near future, like tomorrow." This time, Xander's voice was chilly and cold, holding a hint of a murderous aura. If Aria wasn't a Master magician, she might have gotten injured by just the aura alone. However, Aria realized that the man in front of him wasn't joking or fooling around. He seemed to have the capacity to take care of Aria, making her disappear!

Aria shuddered visibly and hurriedly processed the payment transfer. Aria quickly bowed before Xander left, apologizing.

"Pardon for my rudeness! I hope this doesn't affect our relations.h.i.+p in the company."

"Mmhm." Xander was quite mum and immediately headed off towards the restaurant he ate at yesterday. For him, he really didn't care what Aria did, after all, she was just a pa.s.serby in her mini-trip. As Xander moved towards the restaurant, he didn't bother stopping those tailing him and continued on to check the missions available.

He wanted to explore an ancient ruin before he does the mission concerning the capturing of magic beasts. He once again filtered the mission to "ruins exploration" and "B rank and above". The list refreshed and showed around 10 results within the Delta province, ranging from B+ to S ranked exploration.

He could only choose between the 2 ruins that were B+ ranked; although he could technically just teleport to these areas, he wanted to create a footprint, a trail of some sort, to people who are investigating Homer Simpson. At the same time, these ruins are usually heavily monitored and protected, meaning entry and exit to the ruins is tightly monitored. Only by becoming a mercenary can one enter without a hitch. The reason he didn't teleport is that people would actually have a list and holographic image of those currently in the ruins, so if he was discovered to just appear there, he could get arrested, jailed, or even tortured by military and government.

As he was thinking about the two missions, he had already reached the restaurant, in which a server came up to him and told him,

"Good day, sir. A gentleman would like to meet you in one of the private rooms. Would you please follow me?" the server then gestured to Xander, his appearance trying to look dignified and cultured. The server thought that it was an honor for an esteemed guest to invite such a man. On the other hand, Xander didn't give a rat's a.s.s about the server and continued to look around the first floor of the restaurant and selected a table.

He also called for another server, who happily came over and began taking Xander's orders.

"600 grams of sirloin steak, medium-well. Add some hickory sauce, mashed potatoes, and bacon on the side as my main."

"1 whole breaded chicken bites, add some rice and mashed potatoes on the side for my appetizer."

"Also, a bottle of Carlyle-1800 red wine to drink."

"Yes, sir, right away! My name is Carliste by the way, your server for today." Carliste nodded and introduced himself briefly, before heading to the kitchen to submit the orders. He was going to get a huge bonus! The man, Xander, just ordered their most expensive wine, costing 1,200,000 Etas a bottle. Servers who managed to sell their expensive wines were able to get a portion of the cost, in which case, this one, he was able to get 3% of the selling price, so around 3,600 Etas! Not only that, if he served the mister well, he would still have to count for his tip!

Xander, who wasn't aware of the thoughts running in the head of his server, didn't care much and continued to check the missions.

[Ruin Et64] B+ rank exploration mission. The goal is to chart a map and explore the area as much as possible. So far, 20 floors have been charted, and it is unsure how many more floors exist. Rewards: 200,000 Etas per floor (paid per group) charted. If the floor has been charted before, no rewards are given. If additional information on the charted floors is discovered and recorded, a fixed payment of 20,000 Etas per additional information will be given (paid per group). WARNING: Medium Level mortality rate. Traps are present and scattered all over the floors (deactivated in some charted floors), and the

[Ruin Et155] B+ rank exploration mission. The latest ruin discovered in the country of Eta. the goal is to chart a map and explore the area as much as possible. So far, only 2 floors have been charted, and it is unsure how many floors exist in total. Rewards: 1,000,000 Etas per floor (paid per group) charted. If the floor has been charted before, no rewards are given. If additional information on the charted floors is discovered and recorded, a fixed payment of 20,000 Etas will be given per additional information (paid per group). WARNING: High mortality rate. Multiple traps, mechanical and magic ones, and the presence of defense dolls, or golems have been detected to be present. No magic beasts have been detected or recorded. Electronic connection to the internet is lost while inside the ruins, nor any kind of communication to the outside world.

Xander pondered a bit and brought up the information on ruins. First and foremost, the rules of the ruins. The rules on ruins were quite simple to follow and were standardized all over the world after many trial and errors:

1. You are only allowed to stay in one for no more than 3 days. Past 3 days, you are considered a missing person; past 2 weeks, you are officially dead in the government's records. If you appear again, you would have to undergo quarantine and several tests to ensure that it really is still you, and not some monster or being that existed in the ruins.

2. Only 3 groups may enter at a time in the ruins, and they cannot enter at the same time.

3. No one is allowed to use high-grade explosives.

4. No one above Mythical Cla.s.s are allowed in the ruins. The ruins has the capacity to detect the cultivation levels of anyone above Mythic level, and they began bombarding that person with magic spells and attacks from numerous sources.

5. No government is allowed to forcefully steal or obtain the information, items, or remains that mercenaries, solo adventurers, or exploring magicians discovered within the ruins. They can only be bought by the government or anything of equal worth. The information or technology they obtain is automatically patented to that country, but items such as magic artifacts are not to be used for large-scale wars, but for research only.

6. The group or the person who entered the ruins once can only enter it again after 6 months.

Currently, Eta had 155 discovered ruins, while Nema had around 105 ruins discovered. Other countries all over the world have discovered around 2-35 ruins in each country. Ruins' research have also been rapidly expanding to areas not under the control of any country, such as international waters and uninhabited islands as technologies continued to develop.

After thinking for a few minutes, he decided to go with Ruin Et155, since it was the newest one discovered, and had more potential. When he tried to apply for the mission however, it said that he was in queue, indicating he was the 230th group. Xander rolled his eyes and canceled his application and decided to choose the other one, Ruin Et64. Although the rewards were cheap at least he had no compet.i.tion.

He wasn't placed in a queue and was slated to appear in the ruins area by tomorrow morning. The ruins were located in Capsule City, 800 kilometers away from Verdant City. After reaching Capsule city, he only needed to travel another kilometer to the west and he would see the ruins.

Since this was a ruins exploration, the MCGD company would be the one paying him directly upon submitting the collated doc.u.ments.

After a finalizing his application for the ruins, he was surfing the web while waiting for his food. It was at this point, an annoyance appeared.

_______________________________________

Seav Restaurant, second floor, private room 2001.

A man dressed in formal attire was sitting down, elegantly drinking wine and every once in awhile, looks at his watch for the time. After 10 minutes have pa.s.sed, he was getting a bit impatient.

Wasn't that man supposed to be in the restaurant already? Why hasn't he been escorted into this room? The distinguished man muttered to himself.

In fact, he even prepared defenses and barriers in the room, to avoid any distractions or destruction of the adjacent rooms if talks go sideways. He had the utmost confidence that he could defeat this person into submission, fulfilling his mission.

He was about to call the server he tasked for the job of escorting Homer Simpson to his room when a knock resounded into the room, and but it was just the server, who was standing nervously, without the man. The man's face darkened.

"What is it? Where is he?"

"Distinguished sir, h-he, he just walked pa.s.sed by me!" The server visibly paled, feeling the stifling aura coming from the man. Although he wasn't a college graduate, he was still able to reach Master-2 because of his talents in cultivation. However, the jobs he could get were limited by his educational attainment, and began working as a server in Seav restaurant, hoping to get in touch with powerful, wealthy people and ingrain himself to them.

The server continued to explain where Xander was, and the distinguished man couldn't help turn red in anger. Being dismissed by some puny researcher, huh?

"Hmph, lead the way!" The man said, barely containing the snarl in his words. After all, it has been the very first time being treated this way ever since he had attained Mythic cla.s.s 80 years ago. He was still considered young, as well as talented, since he had already reached Mythic-7 rank.

As he headed downstairs, other mercenaries noticed the dangerous aura this man had and seeing that there might be a brawl, they paid for their finished food, and stood nearby, hoping to watch a show.

When they discovered that the man seemed to be heading to one of the tables in the first floor, specifically, the table near the stage where there was a buffed man staring intently at his tablet, reading the news, a few began whispering.

"Hey, isn't that man the rising star, Homer Simpson?"

"Yeah, I remember that he caused a stir yesterday. Wasn't he invited by that Fujimo gang?"

"Yeah, I heard that the Fujimo gang had switched leaders earlier today; the previous leader died mysteriously."

"More likely, someone killed him when they couldn't find Homer Simpson. Haha!"

"Shh, it seems this man is the one who did the deed. I can feel a dangerous vibe from him. Most likely he's someone above Legendary cla.s.s."

"Oh f*ck we should leave then. We can't handle a fallout between people in the Mythic cla.s.s or higher."

"What, you think that Homer Simpson is a mythic cla.s.s magician? As if. Most likely, he's just a Legendary at most, or maybe half-step to Mythic cla.s.s. It's impossible that a person like him gets unnoticed for a long time if he was a mythic magician." Another mercenary said, smirking.

This man was correct. Each government, as well as the large family clans and groups, kept a dossier of people of significant interest, and it's impossible for this Homer Simpson to be a person that just popped out of nowhere in their radar. However, that seemed to be the case.

They could only trace Homer Simpson's existence through his 2 published papers, and history of enrollment in primary, secondary, and tertiary schools, which was problematic since those schools closed down a few years ago, cutting all traces. Some even speculated he didn't exist, but the problem was he did and even joined the MCGD group of mercenaries!

As these mercenaries were awaiting for a show, the distinguished man approached the table where Xander was. As the man observed Xander, he began using his brain to glean significant information about this person, extrapolating data from what is known to predict his future reactions. Pity, however, Xander wouldn't be playing for too long.

"Mr. Simpson, I presume? Greetings, my name is-" Before the man could even finish speaking, Xander raised his hand, and did a simple gesture. Immediately, the man's face fell, looking pale and immediately moved towards the entrance of the restaurant, while activating his defenses.

However, it was all for naught, as they were quickly pierced and shattered by whatever was targeting the man. Everyone in the restaurant could hear the shattering sounds of elemental barriers dispersing and shattering like gla.s.s, piercing in their ears.

The man quickly s.h.i.+fted his body and everyone, to their horror, saw the man's right arm quickly shrivel and slowly turn to dust. The man reacted in time and cut off his right arm, and cauterized the whole area with his element.

"Huh. Not bad. Tell me, Mr. Cardwell, why are you acting like a dignified man when you are just a puppy for the Freidwork Conglomerate? Seriously, mind your bearing and att.i.tude." Xander tsked at the man, before revealing the man's ident.i.ty and the conglomerate he was working for, causing Cardwell's face to fall.

"Ha, Mr. Simpson, I never thought you hid so well."

"I hid? Really? I just never deigned to appear in the first place, if not one of my friends asking for my aid." Xander snorted.

"Enough talk, what do you want? If you want to force me to do something I don't want to do, don't expect you'll leave here alive." Xander continued coldly, and around him, numerous...o...b.. of light appeared, coming from the spell [Golden Light], however each of the orbs were not of one color, but more like a plethora of different shades of the rainbow, making it look like a glorious sight.

However, those who were legendary and above could feel the pulsating danger and murderous aura surrounded in those spheres, causing some of the well-known mercenaries to immediately retreat with the other mercenaries, not daring to watch any further. Even the servers and cooks of the restaurant had to vacate momentarily, but before they could all step out, Xander's voice echoed out.

"Oh? Weren't you all wanting to enjoy a show? Stay." Immediately, everyone's bodies froze in their positions, causing fear and anxiety to bubble up. Not even Mr. Cardwell was exempted; he was also frozen in place, as if something was pus.h.i.+ng his body all around him to that position.

He tried releasing his domain, but to his shock and horror, he couldn't even circulate his elemental energy in his body!

Xander turned to his server, Carliste, and said to him, "Are the dishes I ordered ready? I'm feeling quite hungry."

Carliste, who regained his capacity to move, didn't dare run and headed to the kitchen to check. Those in the kitchen were temporarily released from Xander's spell, and they quickly proceeded to cook the dishes that Xander requested.

In a few minutes, the food was served, and Xander snapped his fingers, allowing everyone to have their mobility and elemental energy circulation back to normal, even Mr. Cardwell. For these people, those few minutes were like years for them, as they pa.s.sed by so slowly.

Immediately, the mercenaries began leaving en ma.s.se, and only Carliste and Mr. Cardwell remained on the first floor. The second-floor guests had no idea of what just happened, and they remained blissfully unaware in their rooms.

As Xander was cutting his steak, he looked up and saw Mr. Cardwell approaching him, his face and body on high alert. Xander rolled his eyes.

"Next time, don't bother me when it's time to eat. Food is my soft spot, you know." As Xander continued to chew his steak and eat the side mashed potatoes, Cardwell continued to stand rooted at his spot, not attempting to disturb him.

Xander, on the other hand, continued to talk between bites.

"So, what's your deal here? Did Freidwork Conglomerate want me to work with them? Ha! They're not even on the Top 10 groups in the global economic market. Wanting to poach me from MCGD, what a fool."

"Not only are they idiots, they even tried to manhandle me? Pfft, greatest joke ever. Wait, are you still sore about you losing your arm? Lemme fix it then!"

Xander, after finis.h.i.+ng the succulent and juicy steak, snapped his fingers and immediately, the elements began to gather at the area where Cardwell's right arm was. First, the stump where the cauterized area was quickly restored to its live state, and immediately, bones, blood vessels, nerves, and muscles began appearing, before being covered by the layers of skin.

Cardwell was shocked at what he saw and realized that this person in front of him was no simple fool; According to the data provided to him by the group, this man was just a Magic Artifact maker and a Magic researcher; everything else concerning his history, his abilities, and his cultivation were completely unknown. Right now, he couldn't identify the elements that appeared, but it seemed to contain every bit of the commonly present elements in the world??

Of course, Xander this time didn't just reverse time for the body so that the arm would return. The main reason is that it was a ha.s.sle trying to hide time fluctuations on Cardwell's body if a DemiG.o.d or higher investigated him. What he did was a simple experiment: He utilized the power of Order and Chaos, as well as Time and 5-elements. Because of the masking done by the 5-elements, no one would discover the origin elements.