I Need Wives For My Gacha System
Chapter 82: Meeting Back Up With The Group ( - -82)

Chapter 82: Meeting Back Up With The Group (Chapter-82)

As they continued their journey, there was something he needed to address with Zoe. Zoe walked beside him, her eyes scanning the surroundings, alert but calm. Her temperament had changed a bit from the first time she had arrived here. The sudden silence between them seemed to press in, and Rex, after a long moment, finally spoke up.

"Zoe," he began.

"There’s something I need to tell you"

She glanced at him, noting the seriousness in his expression.

"What is it?"

He took a slow breath, choosing his words carefully.

"If anyone asks about my strength, about my cultivation, I need you to say only one thing, that I have body refining, but no cultivation, got it?"

Zoe blinked, confusion flickering across her face.

"Wait, but... why do you need to hide about your cultivation?"

"It’s not something I can explain it right now, maybe I can in the future"

"Just promise me not to tell anyone about my cultivation"

Zoe was silent for a moment, still not fully understanding but seeing him being so serious.

"Alright," she said slowly, her brow furrowed in thought,

"If that’s what you want"

"Body refining, no cultivation"

Of course it was not based on empty promises and Zoe being Sarah’s friend just alone, Rex had already seen that her trust and affection for him had sky rocketed from yesterday and knew that she could be trusted.

[Trust: 90]

[Affection: 72]

As Rex and Zoe drew closer to the rift core, the atmosphere around them shifted. Soon, they found themselves standing before the structure at the very heart of the gate a massive, imposing arena-like formation that seemed to dominate the landscape, being the focus of the entirety.

The sources of gates were random, some source structures covered the entire gate, others like a labyrinth, as for this one, it was far more straightforward. The arena-like structure was made of black stone, jagged and worn by time, yet still exuding an intimidating presence. Runic symbols etched into the walls pulsed with a faint, ominous light, casting long shadows across the cracked stone floor. The entire area around the structure seemed alive, with the rift core at its centre radiating an eerie glow that sent ripples through the air.

As Rex and Zoe approached, a small group of figures appeared in distance and they also spotted a number of tents as well. They were none other Rex’s personal guards.

One of them who had taken the role of the leader in Callan’s absence, stepped up to him.

"Lord, you’ve arrived."

Rex nodded, his sharp eyes scanning the group before him.

"Report"

"We arrived yesterday night, Lord"

"There was no way to contact you, so we focused on the objective getting to the centre while also searching for you"

"We held our position here, awaiting your arrival."

Rex’s gaze flickered toward the massive structure ahead, his mind quickly processing the situation. "Any notable threats?"

The captain gave a slight shake of his head.

"We encountered some minor resistance, but nothing that we couldn’t handle"

The captain paused for a moment, his gaze shifting briefly toward Zoe’s personals before continuing, "On the other hand, we noticed that Lady Zoe’s group encountered more significant issues. Some of her personals are injured and are currently recovering in the tents"

He gestured over toward a small cluster of tents set up not far from the arena, where several figures could be seen lying down. Some of them were visibly bandaged, their injuries still being tended to. The atmosphere around them was quiet, tense, as healing herbs and potions worked to speed up the recovery process.

Zoe followed the captain’s gesture with a somber look, her gaze briefly flicking to the wounded. She could feel the weight of responsibility pressing down on her once again. She was light and excited when coming here but didn’t account for these and the guilt was setting into her.

With a small, strained breath, she turned to the captain.

"What happened?" she asked, her voice betraying her unease.

The captain hesitated for a moment, his eyes flicking between Zoe and Rex, clearly unsure how to explain the situation.

"It wasn’t us who found the Hayenadons, Lady Zoe, but your night shift team"

"They were on patrol during the night when the creatures attacked"

"The Hayenadons were unusually aggressive, and a few of your personals were injured in the attack"

Rex hearing that it was Hayenadons,

"How many were there"

"Two Grade 3 Hayenadons"

Rex still narrowed his eyes still upon hearing that they were injured.

"That should have been an easy fight since it was still a group of Essence Absorption realm"

"Why were they injured?"

"Lord, umm, they are not us"

Rex blinked, pausing as he remembered then, that his special force wasn’t a standard group but an army trained group. His team moved faster, more efficiently, and their combined strength was much stronger.

The way his personals took care of threats quickly and effectively was a far cry from a typical group. He was too accustomed to the strength of this group that he forgot about what normal groups would face.

"Right"

Rex murmured to himself, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. His eyes flicked toward Zoe’s personals, who were also present but clearly in less optimal condition. Some of them were well-structured, strong, and disciplined, but others... there were definitely areas of weakness. He could see it.

He knew Zoe had brought both personals from her parents and her barony, and it made sense that the ones from her barony were less structured and disciplined. The ones from her family, however, were probably more capable, well-trained in the way of cultivation. It mirrored his own situation in a way and the ones that fought and were injured in the fight were the less trained ones.

As for his own, his barony was on the borders, a rather harsher region compared to hers. The people from there were a bit tougher, and the same mentality carried into the soldiers he brought with him. His ability to seek out talent only added to their effectiveness and they were quickly trained up to be better by his special force.

As for her she didn’t have the ability to view talents as he himself had and it wasn’t the top of the line force like his own.

"It wasn’t the strength of the Hayenadons that caused the injuries, Lord Rex. It was the timing and how they were attacked"

"The creatures struck during the night when the team was least prepared"

"They were spread out, and the coordination wasn’t as tight as it should have been."

Rex’s eyes narrowed as he processed the information.

"Night attacks are a common tactic," he muttered.

"If they were Essence Absorption cultivators, they should have been able to handle a surprise attack" "Did the Hayenadons attack in a pack?"

The captain nodded slowly, this talk was rather just trying to make Zoe feel better and the captain could also see that and went along with it.

"Yes, Lord. They attacked in a duo at first, and then others came soon after"

"More?" Rex’s voice remained calm, but his gaze flickered with curiosity. "There were still others than the two?"

"Yes, Lord," the captain confirmed.

"No other grade 3 Hayenadons, but there were others of lesser grade, mostly grade 2"

Rex was also surprised that there was still others left though no more grade 3 hayenadons other than the two there was an amount that was still left. Them being aggressive and targeting them would be due to him and Zoe.

"I trust all of them were killed?"

The captain nodded, clearly relieved that Rex had asked the question.

"Yes, Lord, fortunately, it was also at the time when we encountered Lady Zoe’s team"

"We arrived at the scene shortly after the attack started"

"We managed to find the fight and killed all of them"

"We came from the back, so there was no way out for the Hayenadons and they were finished"

"Good, keep your vigilance"

After the captain left, the two of them were left to their devices once again.

"I should have done more," she whispered to herself, looking down at the ground.

Rex, noticing her mood, reached over and gave her forehead a knock with his fingers, breaking her thoughts. Zoe rubbed her forehead, feeling the sting from Rex’s tap. Her eyes narrowed in mock annoyance as she shot him a look.

"That hurt! What was that for?"

"To knock some sense into you"

"If you don’t want them to die, then just become stronger" he said, his voice blunt.

"That’s the only thing you can do"

"Grow stronger, and then you can protect them"

"Weakness won’t change anything."

Zoe looked up at him, surprised by the force of his words. For a moment, she felt a little embarrassed by how quickly she had fallen into self-doubt. Before she could respond, Rex knocked her forehead again, this time with a little more emphasis, making a soft thud sound.

"Stop sulking"

"If you want to protect them, then you need to get stronger, no excuses"

Zoe’s pout deepened, but she couldn’t deny the truth in his words. With a huff, she straightened up.

"Fine" she muttered, though the fire in her eyes had already reignited but it was mostly due to wanting to become stronger than Rex and also do the same back to him.