"You win."

I regretted saying those words as I saw her face take on a smug expression.

"You knew this would happen because you saw it. It was just as I said, you already knew the outcome of this match. Don’t deny it."

"No I didn’t," She said, suddenly looking injured.

"I don’t care for what you’re saying at the moment. It’s presumptuous of you to think I’m stupid to believe you weren’t guided by your ability."

"Fine, but what happened isn’t the same as what you have in your head. I didn’t exactly know the specifics of the future, but i just saw that if I moved at that particular time, I would win...it was what I followed."

Despite what was going on and how harsh I sounded, it didn’t change my initial feeling about her.

Infact, I was growing more enamored with the girl so much that I decided to let her keep the (G) Essence item.

It was just one out of the many items scattered around the city so this one was inconsequential.

I could just look somewhere else.

"We had a deal and I would honour it. You can keep the crystal while I would be on my way. This was fun," I said to her as I got ready to take my leave.

The leader’s smile widened. "Then it seems we’re at an understanding. However, before you go, I have a proposal for you. Would you like to hear it?"

I would be lying if I said that I hadn’t predicted that she would say something like this.

No doubt, she also found me interesting.

I gave her the signal to go ahead with what she wanted to say.

"And what’s that?" I asked, sounding skeptical even though I wasn’t feeling so.

"A temporary alliance. We combine forces to find other catalysts like this one. Once we have it, we go our separate ways. We stand a better chance together than apart."

I already knew the answer I would give but I appeared to think it over.

An alliance could be beneficial, but it had never been my thing since I was a lone ranger.

I only teamed up when I had no choice other than that.

At the thought of that, my mind went back to the few times in the past when I had done so especially during the various Towers.

In those cases, I had no other choice.

"You’re spending time thinking this through. The best thing for us is to partner up for the Woes since we need all the help we can get."

"I’m a solo player. Joining forces isn’t my thing."

"I understand that and I’ve seen others like you that went down this route but it never ends well. It’s practically impossible this time to succeed on your own, everyone is attached to Zones now as that is the safest bet. Surely you know about Zones."

I affirmed that I did. The idea of Zones was a new one that was peculiar to this scenario.

"We have to make sure our Zone don’t get eliminated because it will lead to our destruction. Every one of us."

I already knew this. It was one of the shitty rules the gods had cooked up for humans.

For every day, the Zones with less than 10 percent of the average score were eliminated by the Trumpet; hails of fire and blood.

It didn’t stop until the quota was met and a third of the land was destroyed.

It was mass genocide on a massive scale.

I approved of it, the simpletons and weak minded Gifteds needed to be erased from the world so that the strong could thrive.

It was survival of the fittest.

Meanwhile, the leader was still trying to coax me into an alliance.

She was now using a soft voice and pouring her feminine charms into her appeal.

"If we use my intellect and ability combined with your own ability, we will be able to survive anything together."

As intriguing as it sounded, I knew that it wouldn’t last long so I decided to tell her what she wanted to hear.

"Fine," I said at last. "A temporary alliance. But know this: I won’t hesitate to take you all down if you cross me."

The leader nodded, seemingly pleased. "Agreed. I’m Lyra, by the way."

"Nice to meet you," I replied, offering no more than necessary.

The omission of my name was deliberate.

Apart from my high standing in the ranks in the previous scenario as the Hoarder, Paul had paraded and drilled my name into the minds of the Gifteds across the world.

I needed to keep my true identity under wraps for now.

Lyra turned to her team. "Listen up! We’re joining forces with Jeremy here. Anyone that has a problem with that should speak now."

The group was silent, though I could sense the tension. They didn’t like me and weren’t making any effort to hide it.

Who could blame them though? I had killed several of their guys who they were no doubt close with.

I chalked it up to one of the perils of joining a group and getting attached.

I glanced at Torin, the muscular guy I had disarmed earlier.

He looked like he was about to throw a fit. He no doubt had a lot if things he wanted to say to me but couldn’t because of his leader.

"I would get back to you all soon," I said breaking eye contact and preparing to leave the place.

"So you won’t be joining us now?" Lyra asked, sounding disappointed.

"No, I need to sort out some business first. It wouldn’t take long though. Where would you be right before the Scenario starts?"

"You will know once the time comes."

It was a weird answer but I smiled and took my leave.

Though my nature was arguing strongly with me, I didn’t want to ghost her.

She reminded me of a certain somebody in the past.

I planned to get the rest of the (G) Essence and then meet up with her eventually.

Much more than anything, It would be a good way to pass the time.

I needed stimulation after all.