Sinner System-Chapter 429: New Recruit

"This place is absolutely massive, wow," Remarked Cleo, looking around in fascination.

"Yeah, it’s a bit more space than we need, but we’ve been getting a decent influx of new members," I replied with a smile.

"Mhm, since our Guild was made for the primary purpose of handling Calamity Level Dungeons, we have to prioritize quality over quantity. Of course, since it’s been a while since any Calamity Level Dungeons have appeared, same with Critical Level Dungeons until pretty recently, we’ve mostly been handling High Level Dungeons over the last few months," Added Aria.

Today’s the 2nd of January, 2171, around midday, and Cleo had dropped by the Guild a short while ago.

Aria and I were currently showing her around the building, introducing her to the facilities and the other members.

She’s been kinda awkward though. She seems pretty introverted around new people, though once she warms up to someone, she’s pretty chill and easy-going.

According to her, she warmed up to Aria and I faster than usual because she was initially too caught up in worrying about us exposing her true power, that concern overshadowed her introversion. So, by the time we earned her trust, she was already used to talking to us.

"Hm? Hey, GM and Vice-GM, how’s it going?" Brid called out with a wave, adding as he walked over with a grin, "This one of the new recruits?"

"Yeah, this is Cleo Nova, she’s-...," I began.

"Woah, this pressure...it feels similar to yours in intensity, Guildmaster! Damn, I wish I could see Auras," He remarked in fascination, Cleo shrinking back slightly as he stared at her intently.

His Perception is a shade too low to perceive Auras, and even though all his physical stats triple when he uses his Limit Breaker Spell, that doesn’t change, despite his Perception being high enough while using that boost.

Based on what he’s said, the boost to Perception seems to only sharpen his senses and intuition.

However, he’s pretty sensitive to the pressure given off by Auras, so even though he can’t perceive them, he can get an approximate idea of how powerful someone is by the feel of their Aura, though he has to get fairly close to feel that.

"Ease up a bit, man," I sighed, giving him a pat on the shoulder.

"Oh, sorry, my bad. Hi, there, I’m Brid Myes, nice to meet you," He smiled, holding his hand out towards her.

"Oh, um...y-yeah, hi, likewise. I-I’m Cleo Nova," She nodded, shaking his hand awkwardly.

"How strong are you? The pressure of your Aura is of a similar intensity to the GM’s, so are you an X-Ace?" He inquired excitedly.

"I-I, uh...," She trailed off, before glancing at me for help.

"I’ll just say that she’s pretty powerful, but she wants to keep it to herself for the time being, so let’s leave it that," I remarked with a wry smile.

"Ohh, gotcha. Alright, then, I’ll drop it for now...that’s something to look forward to, can’t wait to find out! Well, see ya guys later," He grinned, before heading off with a wave.

Cleo let out a strained sigh as he walked away, her arms slumping slightly.

"Uh, you good?" Aria asked her, giving her a pat on the back.

"Y-Yeah, I...I just have trouble with super outgoing and extroverted types, they kinda stress me out," She admitted sheepishly.

"Mhm, that was pretty evident," I nodded with a wry smile.

We then continued showing her around, introducing her to a few more members of the Guild.

We’ve gone through most of the building at this point, and besides those who were currently out on raids, we’ve introduced to nearly all the members of the Guild.

"And this is the cafeteria, we’ve got a pretty wide selection here, and the quality is solid," Remarked Aria, as we entered the cafeteria.

"It should be getting crowded pretty soon, since it’s close to lunch time," I added, before spotting Damien, sprawled across a couch by one of the walls.

He glanced up as we approached him, sitting out with a quiet sigh and stretching his arms up, Cleo trailing behind Aria and I. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"This is Damien Asher, one of the best Enchanters in the world," Aria introduced him with a smile.

"Um, h-hello...I’m Cleo Nova, n-nice to meet you," She nodded politely, looking a bit stiff.

"Hm...nice to meet you too. A new face, eventually to become an old face, as newer faces arrive, a constant cycle in life."

"Uh...what?" She responded in bemusement.

"Don’t worry, he’s just emo. Or, wait, is it goth? Not really sure what the difference is," I replied wryly.

"It’s vague, I don’t really think of myself as either, this is just what feels right to me...and to judge a book by its cover, I assumed you were a bird of the same feather," He mused as he glanced at Cleo.

"Not gonna lie, I thought you were emo or goth when I first saw you too. I mean, between the heavy eyeliner, black lipstick and nail polish, and one side of your hair shaved off, that is kinda the impression you give off," I added sheepishly.

Damien has a lot of the same style, he’s got dark, heavy eyeliner around his eyes too, as well as the black lipstick and nail polish. The biggest difference is that he’s got a ton of piercings, while she’s got none, not even on her earlobes.

"I-I just think it looks cool, I’m n-not trying to be emo or goth or something, I j-just happen to like some of that kind of style," She replied awkwardly.

"Relax, I’m definitely not judging or anything. We all have our preferences and tastes, and there’s absolutely no shame in being true to that," I assured her with a smile.

<Like how you wear nothing but black all the time?>

Not all the time, I sometimes wear different colors.

<Mhm, sure>

I don’t think I like your tone, Ai.

<Uh-huh, I’m sure you don’t>

Come on, how are you still hung up on my choice of fashion after all this time? Get over it already.

<I’m not hung up, I-...fine, I’ll drop it>