"I’ve dealt with worse than you and your little band of misfits. Stand down now, and you might live to see another day."

The team appeared miffed at my words and I was patiently waiting for them to act on it.

The only thing that saved them currently was that I was intrigued by them. Nothing more.

"We are not easily threatened by words, there is only so much that we can take though. Why exactly are you here?"

I controlled the urge to laugh in her face.

Despite the leader’s seriousness, I found her cute.

There was something about angry females that made my blood hot.

My mind raced as I assessed the situation. The leader’s confident demeanor and the well-equipped nature of her team suggested that they were experienced.

There was only one problem left.

I couldn’t fathom how they had such specific knowledge about the upcoming Scenario.

It was left to me to find out just how much they knew.

"I say again, it depends on what you’re looking for," I repeated myself, my tone still measured and calm.

Before the leader could respond, one of her men stepped forward, eyes blazing with anger. "You don’t get to make demands—"

"Enough, Torin," She interrupted, her voice like steel. The man named Torin stepped back, reluctantly silenced.

There was no two ways about it, they really held her in high regard which made me wonder for the upteenth time how strong she was.

She turned her attention back to me and I saw her considering her options.

I maintained a stoic face though, she really had no other option than agreeing to cooperate with me.

"Fuck it," She said at last and I knew that I had won. She was about to reveal their agenda.

"...we’re seeking a treasure—a very powerful catalyst. It’s said to boost all our equipment, giving us the edge we need to survive the next Scenario. And you know it’s only a matter of hours before it begins."

To say that I was thrown off was putting it mildly.

My brain was thrown into analysis. How could they know about the catalyst? Information like that wasn’t common knowledge. She hadn’t mentioned G essence though so maybe what she knew was rudimentary and very limited.

"Intruder!"

"What is it?" I asked irritably as the leader interrupted my train of thoughts and I saw that she was trying to get my attention.

"I’ve been asking you if you heard what I said. You’ve been unusually quiet since then."

"I heard you the first time."

"Its interesting," I said slowly, still taking time to process the new information i just heard. "May I ask how you come by this knowledge?"

She smiled, a calculating look in her eyes. "We have our sources. Let’s just say we’ve been preparing for something like this for a long time. Now, answer me: Are you after the same catalyst?"

I considered my options. She was withholding information to buy time and trying to draw me out.

I could simply end the whole team if I wanted to but then I wouldn’t know the truth about how she came by what she knew.

There was also the fact that she interested me.

"You are lying and I’m not leaving without getting the truth."

"Eh...?" She uttered and I could see her lose composure at my words.

"This guy. Do you have a lie detecting ability or what."

I didn’t answer her question since I was determined to call her bluff.

"Alright, I’ll tell you the truth. My gift is seeing the future. More specifically, futures of fortune. It gives me an edge in terms of information on certain things. That’s how I knew about the catalyst."

"How am I sure that you’re telling the truth this time?" I fired back.

"You don’t. You’ll just have to trust that I’m not lying," She said with a grin.

"Pftt. Trust you?" I scoffed. Surely, she had to be joking.

"So what’s your gift?" She said moving on quickly to another topic.

"Why should I reveal that to you?"

"Because I revealed mine, it’s only fair you tell me yours," She said, almost whining.

I wanted to tell her that the world wasn’t fair but I held back my retort.

It wouldn’t hurt to tell her the truth even though I knew she was trying to turn the tables around. There were no repercussions I could think of.

"My gift is [Subspace]"

I could see that she was still looking lost so I decided to explain further.

"It’s a gift that allows me to take in items into a special dimension, and I have an unlimited space there."

"Wow, your ability is strange but fascinating,"

"I find yours interesting as well."

From her reaction, she appeared flattered like I had paid her a compliment which was the opposite of what I was trying to achieve.

To a casual observer, it would seem that I was merely flattering her but it wasn’t the case.

I really did find her ability fascinating if not too powerful.

Knowing the future beforehand sounded cool but there was only so much that could be done with the ability.

Maybe in fights, it helped to know what your opponent was planning so you could avoid it but other than that, there was a limit to how you could change the future.

The gods would certainly not allow it since it would make the wielders all powerful and the future unpredictable even to them.

Little wonder why she seemed and behaved so matured for her age.

It was bound to give a depressed and bleak outlook to the wielder when they realized that they couldn’t control everything they saw. 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢

My eyes were suddenly drawn to her companions because of how they were acting.

They were whispering amongst themselves and gesturing.

I saw that their eyes widened and they were pointing at something behind me.

I heard a slight humming sound and the area steadily grew brighter by the second.

As I looked back, I saw what had caused the commotion.

A portal had appeared within the area.