The Author's POV Chapter 369 - Rewards [4]

Pressing my palm on the table and standing up, I looked at everyone seated close to me.

They were Angelica, Leopold, Ava, Hein, Smallsnake, and Ryan. All the members of my mercenary group.

'Looks like this war has truly helped them grow.'

I thought as my eyes paused on everyone.

Compared to when they first entered the city a couple of months back, everyone had matured quite a bit as their auras possessed faint traces of bloodl.u.s.t, something only an experienced fighter would have.

If they fought their previous selves, they would without a doubt be able to beat them without shedding a single drop of sweat.

I felt a little proud as I stared at them. Of course, that didn't last for long as I remembered what I called them here for.

Raising my fist over my mouth, I coughed lightly.

"Keumm… Anyways, as I was saying, since we're most likely not going to be leaving this place anytime soon, I've decided that we should spend all of our time training."

"Training?"

"What are you saying?"

As everyone processed my words, all I was met with was confused looks.

Knowing full well that they were going to react that way, I pressed my palm down and continued.

"Yes, training. After talking with Douglas and Waylan, they agreed to train you."

Pausing, I turned to look in Ryan and Smallsnake's direction.

"Well, almost all of you. In the case of Smallsnake and Ryan, you guys will be trained by Jomnuk."

"Jomnuk? You don't mean…?"

"Yup, the best engineer of this city. He owed me one, so I asked him to train you two."

Crossing my arms together, my brows knit.

"He did say yes, but he also said that if you guys are not on par with what he's teaching, he'll stop."

"…"

Once my words faded, Smallsnake and Ryan stared at each other for a brief moment before they looked back at me.

The one to speak was obviously Smallsnake, who frowned.

"I'm grateful for the offer, but what about the chip in your head? Are you not going to get that removed?"

"The chip?"

Raising my brow, I suddenly recalled that I did indeed have the chip still stuck inside of my head.

'Now that I think about it, Douglas did say that they've caught the people from the Monolith and have locked them up in prison… I should definitely visit the place when I have time.'

There were still a couple of things that I needed to get done.

Scratching my chin, I sat back down and leaned on my chair.

Then, after a brief moment of silence, I looked at Ryan who was seated opposite of me.

"…About the chip, I want you to get it removed for me."

"What!?"

Pressing both of his hands on the table, Smallsnake stood up.

"So you're not going to get your chip removed now?... And you're trying to get Ryan to do it? A fourteen years old kid?"

"Yeah, pretty much." I nonchalantly replied back.

The reason why I wanted to remove the chip in the first place was because of the threat of the Monolith. But, now that I was in a safe place where the Monolith wouldn't dare to step in after what had just happened, the removal of the chip was no longer one of my main priorities.

Might as well just have Ryan do it. It could serve as great motivation for him.

Casually glancing in Ryan's direction, I asked, "You can do it in a year's time, right? You previously told me that you could've done it in about this much time. Now that you'll have Jomnuk teaching you, you should be able to finish at a much faster time, no?"

Propping my elbow on the table and supporting the side of my cheek with my hand, I lazily said, "Just treat the chip removal as a graduation test."

"This..."

A complicated look flashed on Smallsnake's face as he looked at Ryan.

From the concern that I could see in his eyes as he looked at Ryan, I could tell that Smallsnake had gotten quite attached to him in the past month.

It made me quite happy.

But contrary to Smallsnake's concern, with a resolute look on his face, Ryan stared back at me, his eyes unwavering.

"Let me do it."

His previous childish demeanor was completely gone, replaced by a mature-like seriousness that I had never seen from him before.

His sudden change in demeanor caught everyone off-guard as they all looked at Ryan with surprised looks.

Especially Smallsnake, who couldn't find the right words to say.

Not minding the stares he was receiving from the others, Ryan spoke up, "I can do it. Since you've put so much trust in me, I will try my best to help you remove the chip in your head."

Staring at him for no longer than a couple of seconds, the edges of my lips pulled upwards.

"If that's what you wish, then it's settled."

I then glanced upwards, towards the standing Smallsnake.

"Do you have any problems with what Ryan said?"

With a complicated look on his face, Smallsnake looked at Ryan, who stared back at him, his eyes filled with burning desire.

"Haaa…"

Smallsnake then let out a long sigh.

"What am I gonna do with you guys?" He complained before nodding his head softly, "Fine, I'll join as well. I want to see how well he is going to progress."

"That's great." A large smile appeared on my face.

Then, turning my attention towards Ava, I asked, "How about you? How is the situation with the flute?"

"Malvil is handling it. I'm not exactly sure, to be honest," Ava replied back with clear eyes devoid of any of its previous shyness. The war seemed to have changed her.

"I see, I'll have to talk to him later then."

Since he was also taking care of my sword, I could use the time when I was checking on it to see how he was progressing with Ava's flute.

The only problem I saw with the flute was that it was an ranked item or even higher. So, when it does get fixed, Ava would no longer be able to use it.