Rex didn't understand how the Rest house System protection weakened in the first place.
Moreover, his most loyal subordinate had opened the door and disobeyed his direct order.
Rex was so mad at that point he wished nothing more than to behead Raul right on the spot, but coming face to face with the mysterious Earth's Alpha Chosen had made him fear for his own safety, much less bother punishing Raul.
He tried using < Analyse> on the mysterious individual, but other than the name 'Jay', he couldn't find anything else, not even the Level or Tier.
From the way Jay nonchalantly stood in front of him, it became evident to Rex that the other party wasn't the least bit cautious of him; as if he wasn't perceived as a threat to begin with.
Although Rex couldn't estimate Jay's strength, he was well aware of the prowess displayed by Akor in Round-2.
Not to mention the menacing-looking Atlan, Akor, who continued to stare at Rex like chancing upon a long-lost enemy; for some reason, Rex has a feeling that the individual in front of him could single-handedly thwart any move he makes.
Despite his cruel nature, Rex's judgement wasn't clouded, and he was smart enough to see when cards were not in his favour.
So, he decided to stay put in the spot and not do anything reckless, lest he aggravates the other party, whose strength wasn't something he could trifle with.
Under his cautious eyes, a torrent of ink-black fog emerged from Jay's hands and formed a thick bubble around them with only Jay, Akor and Rex in it.
Anything outside the dark fog bubble was cut off from Rex's senses. His sense of hearing, vision and smell became limited to the small area within the bubble.
Jay's voice woke Rex from checking his narrowed senses, "Think of this as an interrogation. I expect you to answer me as truthfully as possible."
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtJay leaned in before continuing, "Of course, you could lie as well, but that would pan out like those little flunkies you sent after Halbor. You know…one limb at a time."
Rex maintained his composure on the shell, but within, he was metaphorically sweating his face off.
He didn't doubt the other party's capabilities or see those words as empty threats.
Rex vividly remembered the tragic conditions his underlings returned with after failing to finish the task he gave them.
While two of his lackeys lost flesh chunks from their arms, one had an arm missing, and another even lost a leg.
If not for their racial skill <Lycanthrope Vitality> regenerating his team members' lost body parts before Round-2 began, their team wouldn't have ranked among the Top-10 with the cut-throat performance scores of other teams.
Standing there, Rex faced Jay's first question, "Why don't you start by revealing to me your Innate Talent?"
Rex paused for a second since giving away detailed information on one's Innate Talent was akin to hinting at others about his weakness.
But under the other party's scrutinising gaze, his hesitation didn't last long, and he answered truthfully.
Rex's Grade-8 <Wind Innate Talent> didn't come as something new to Jay since he already knew about it.
Usually, one could only see the name of others' Innate Talent or ability if they have a higher grade information-type skill but not the detailed information such as the particular ability's exact effects, duration and cooldown.
However, MJ, who has access to System Information, can find every little information on anyone in the Milkyway Trial program.
The only limitation was that Jay had to be at a close distance with whom he wished to have MJ see through the complete information on Innate Talent's abilities.
Seeing Rex waiting for another inquiry, Jay smirked as he added, "and the other one?...."
Rex widened his eyes in disbelief since he had never mentioned his other Innate Talent to anyone else.
Meanwhile, Jay went through the detailed information about Rex's Innate Talent that MJ had brought up in his vision.
<RUNNER> (Grade-7 Variant Category).
- Grants passive movement speed bonus per every <Runner Mastery> Stage.
Stage-1: 7%, Stage-2: 14%, Stage-3: 21%…......so on.
Total movement speed bonus: 42% (7+14+21)
INNATE EXCLUSIVE SKILLS: <Slow-mo>, <Accelerate Buff>, <Decelerate Debuff>.
<Slow-mo>: Increases Time Perception by three-fold for 1 minute.
Cooldown: 30 minutes.
Cost: 25 Spirit Energy
<Accelerate Buff>: Allows the user to cast a buff to double movement speed for 1 minute.
Cooldown: 30 minutes.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmCost: 50 Spirit Energy
<Decelerate Debuff>: Allows the user to cast a debuff to half movement speed for 1 minute.
Cooldown: 30 minutes.
Cost: 50 Spirit Energy
Jay raised his eyebrows from how impressive Rex's Innate Exclusive skills were. When used all three at once on top of the passive movement speed bonus, the effect they could bring would bring a massive speed advantage.
In terms of speed, Rex could even go toe to toe with Jay, but that was all there to it. Even with his high movement speed, defeating Jay was a different matter altogether.
Since the other party knew he possessed another Innate Talent, Rex revealed its details begrudgingly.
Noticing the indifferent look on Jay's face, Rex realised that the other party somehow knew all about his second Innate Talent.
"Good thing you haven't lied, or I would have resorted to violent means." Jay added.
Rex was glad he didn't falsify his second Innate Talent's abilities.
"All this was to see if you would be honest with your answers. Now that's out of the way, let us move on to the main dish. Where did you get these Contract Scrolls?" Jay asked as he brought out a bunch of Contract Scrolls from his storage ring.
Unlike his previous replies, Rex didn't show much hesitation in his answer, "That…I can't reveal it."
This time, Jay stayed silent, and Akor retorted instead, "Filthy mutt, just so you know, you didn't have a choice in the first place. You either answer willingly, or we can rip it out of you."
Rex stood still with his head down, gritting his teeth without answering back.
Jay joined in, "Since you aren't answering that, let me put it this way. Who is this source of Contract Scrolls that you fear so much that you are willing to risk making me an open enemy?"
At the mention of that someone, sweat rolled over Rex's face, which had terror written all over it. But all of a sudden, the yellow in Rex's eyes was replaced with the black of his pupils, and a hideous smile emerged on his face.