"Influential, huh…?" I muttered before stretching out my hand and he reacted quickly, taking my hand for a firm handshake. "To answer your question from before, I have connections with a strong guy who knows the emperor personally… or something like that."
Once again, the young man lightly chuckled before letting go of my hand and taking a seat on the first step effortlessly. His eyes were cheery and the way he carried himself was like that of a master. He was confident in his abilities and had absolutely no fear when it came to meeting other people.
"Y'know, I can feel you're strong, but your mana core is still weak. How the hell did you get so far with such a weak mana core… it's practically on the verge of breaking. Did you use something to temper it?"
"Well, it wasn't really done cognitively until I was halfway there, but I managed to discover it while attempting to get used to the pressure of the steps. Did I do something wrong?" I asked since he made it seem like whatever I did was going to make my entire body shatter eventually.
"No, I guess not. I won't help you fix it because that's too much of a pain, but… trying tempering your mana core without the pressure of the steps. Do it under no stress and it should fix itself," The man young man recommended, but just as I was about to thank him, he began to sing that same familiar tune. "London bridge is falling down… falling down… falling down… London bridge is falling down… my… fair… lady."
This dude is so fucking cringe… and the way he dresses makes me think he's emo. Edge lord. Definitely an edge lord. He could be nothing else but an edge lord. God, I want to punch him in the face…
"What's with that face?"
"What face?" I replied, trying to suppress the grimace slowly making its way onto my face. Eventually, I managed to suppress it, but the young man seemed to have already known what I was thinking as he soon burst out laughing.
"Why are you laughing…? Shouldn't you be snarling at me or something?"
"Why the hell would I do that?!" The young man continued to laugh, making me scoot a few inches away from him as he grasped his stomach. "You're so cool! You're so fucking cool! Let's be friends!"
The man reached out his hand instead of me this time, but now that I saw what he was really like, I hesitated to take his hand. His eyes dug into me with a smile, but even then, his eyes still looked dead, making it hard to give me a read on him. Was he trying to trick me or was he actually being genuine?
"Don't be so nervous, man."
"Mhm… uhhhh…" I still hesitated, glancing up and down from his hand to his face as if there could possibly be some kind of skill or magic incorporated into the palm of his hand. But, like a heavenly light shining down on the surrounding vicinity, the presence of the devil soon appeared. "O-Oh, looks like the guy I know is here… ummm… I'll talk to you later or something."
Quickly, I dashed toward Satan and hid behind him. He looked a bit confused, but upon seeing the young man sitting on the first step, his eyes narrowed and his entire calm demeanor seemingly shifted in an instant.
"Tch… what are you doing here?" Satan asked and as Jack noticed the presence of the devil, he frowned, his cheery attitude from before practically melting away in an instant.
Like he had done something with his hand, he shook his palm, scattering a layer of black dust that somehow corroded the step beneath him. Of course, the staircase regenerated itself instantly, but the fact that he was even able to leave a mark on the steps was terrifying.
"I knew it…" I muttered to myself while Satan took a step forward, the young man getting up and sizing up the devil at the same time. Both of them could only frown as their auras clashed against each other. And even as soon as they got as close as a few inches between each other, I spoke up, attempting to break up the fight as I was wary as to what the world snake might do. "How do you know each other?"
"When I was climbing the steps, this same guy was doing it. Of course, I was the better one and climbed it before him," Satan explained, yet Jack looked as if he had something to refute those words with.
"It was only by a couple of seconds and you even buttered up grandpa snake to help you out on the last stage. I'm way stronger than this asshole, but his slyness still took him to the finish line before me…"
"I'm sure you've heard of this asshole before. Jack The Ripper—the unknown killer who only targeted prostitutes and was strangely proficient in the surgical removal of organs. He's just a massive pervert who gets off at the sight of human organs," Satan scoffed while making sure I stayed behind him. This was the first I've seen him so worried about me, but I guess that spoke to just how strong this guy was.
Jack the Ripper. I'm not too familiar with this guy's story apart from the fact that he was a notorious killer despite his record only having a few victims. But, it was hard to believe that somebody so skilled at killing and surgery would let something slide so easily, so many theories popped up… with one of them announcing the murders of thousands of people while only a few were caught in order for him to make a name for himself. Sure there were a few holes in such a theory, but it was mostly believable when you took a look at the surface-level evidence.
"How lucky I am to meet such a famous guy…"
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