OP Absorption
Chapter 79: Offer

Chapter 79: Offer

Fin scanned the room again. The S-rank guard outside. The overwhelming presence of the man in the chair. Rowena, watchful, dangerous in her own right.

This wasn’t a negotiation. It was an interrogation chamber disguised as a luxury office.

"Have a seat, Hunter Carver," the man invited, gesturing towards a sleek chair opposite him. His voice was calm, but the power beneath it resonated, making the air feel thick.

Fin walked over and sat. The chair was surprisingly comfortable. Too comfortable.

Rowena glided over to a discreet side cabinet, retrieving a crystal decanter filled with deep red liquid and a single elegant glass. She poured a measure and offered it to Fin.

He hesitated. He never drank. But refusing felt... unwise. He took the glass. The liquid smelled heavy, unfamiliar.

The man watched him, that faint, knowing smile still playing on his lips. Like a scientist observing a particularly interesting specimen.

He took a small sip. His face immediately scrunched up. He stuck his tongue out slightly, the instinctive reaction overriding any attempt at composure.

"Sour," he declared, the word flat.

Rowena’s eyebrow twitched almost imperceptibly. The man chuckled softly, a low, resonant sound. He nodded towards Rowena, who efficiently took the barely touched glass back from Fin without comment.

Silence settled again, broken only by the faint hum of the building’s systems. Fin waited. The ball was in their court.

"So," the man began, leaning forward slightly, his pale blue eyes fixing on him, still with that slightly detached quality. "I heard you have my Mana Cell inside you?"

My Mana Cell. The possessive phrasing wasn’t lost on Fin.

Time to choose a lie. Partial truth felt safest.

"I don’t know what happened exactly," he started, keeping his voice steady, neutral. "The Queen... the spider... she revived me after I was killed." He met the man’s gaze directly. "She used some kind of artifact on the wound. There was... energy. Green light." He gestured vaguely towards his chest. "Next thing I knew, I woke up. Different."

He let the implication hang. She put it in him. An accident of revival, not theft.

The man listened patiently, his expression unchanging. When Fin finished, he simply nodded slowly. "The Queen of Spiders. Yes, she always did have a fondness for collecting... interesting things." He paused, swirling an imaginary glass in his hand. "And a reckless disregard for their true purpose."

He looked at Fin again, his gaze sharpening slightly, seeming to focus more directly this time. "You understand, Hunter Carver, that what resides within you is not merely ’energy’. It is a fragment of primordial chaos. Unstable. Vastly powerful. Utterly incompatible with baseline human physiology."

He leaned back in his chair. "Yet, here you are. Stable. Conscious. Wielding power far beyond your station." He smiled faintly. "You are an anomaly. A fascinating, dangerous anomaly."

Rowena shifted slightly, her hand moving almost imperceptibly closer to something hidden beneath her dress.

"The Association exists to manage such anomalies," the man continued smoothly. "To contain threats. To understand power that could unravel reality." His eyes held Fin’s. "That Mana Cell does not belong in the hands of an untrained, unpredictable variable."

"What do you want?" Fin asked, cutting through the veiled threats.

"Simple," the man replied, steepling his fingers. "Cooperation. You will remain here, under our observation. We will study the interaction between your core and the Mana Cell. We will learn how you survived, how you stabilized it. Your unique physiology holds answers we require."

"And if I refuse?" The question was quiet, but the power humming beneath Fin’s skin stirred defensively.

The man’s smile didn’t falter. "Refusal is not advised, Hunter Carver." The air pressure in the room dropped slightly. The immense power radiating from him intensified, a silent promise of overwhelming force. "We have methods. Thorough methods."

He let the threat linger for a moment, then his expression softened fractionally. "However, cooperation has its rewards. Knowledge. Training. Perhaps even a place within our organization, once we understand and can mitigate the inherent risks you pose."

He stood up smoothly, walking towards the massive window. He looked out at the city below, a sprawling tapestry of lights against the encroaching dusk.

"Think carefully, Fin Carver," he said, his back to Fin. "This is not a request." He turned, his pale eyes locking onto Fin’s once more, the weariness replaced by cold authority. "It is your new reality."

Fin cursed silently. So much for the smooth approach. Out the window, just like that.

"No," he said simply.

Rowena stepped forward, her voice sharp, laced with authority. "Hunter Carver, know your place. You will comply. This is not a negotiation; it is your designated role now. Accept it."

He looked at her. Really looked at her. The condescending tone. The assumed superiority. He was done. Done playing the confused victim. Done pretending to be weak.

He waved a dismissive hand towards her, not even bothering to make eye contact.

An invisible force slammed down. Rowena gasped, her eyes widening in shock as immense pressure crushed her downwards. Her knees hit the polished floor with a sharp crack. She struggled for breath, pinned, her face contorted in disbelief and sudden agony.

"I wasn’t talking to you," he stated flatly, his gaze fixed solely on the man.

His eyes shifted. The brown faded, replaced by a burning, intense green aura that seemed to leak light into the room. No cubes this time. Just pure, contained power looking out.

"Look," he said, his voice losing its earlier neutrality, deepening slightly, resonating with the power now openly displayed. "I came here to clear things up between us. A lot happened in that dungeon, things that should make me want to destroy this place." He let that sink in. "But I came to talk instead."

He leaned forward slightly in the chair, the picture of dangerous relaxation. "I don’t know what you want with the Mana Cell, but it’s bonded to me now. Fused. You lost it, I found it. End of story." He met the man’s pale blue gaze directly. "That makes it mine. Not yours."

"So here’s how it’s going to be," he continued, the green light in his eyes intensifying. "You will leave me alone from now on. You, her," he flicked a contemptuous glance at the struggling Rowena, "the Association. All of you."

His aura exploded outwards, filling the room like a tidal wave. Not the crushing pressure he’d used on Rowena, but a vast, oceanic presence. Immense power, barely contained, washing over everything, pressing against the walls, against the man, against the very air. It carried the chill of the Mana Cell, the heat of his own core, and the undeniable weight of his will.

"Or else."

It wasn’t a request. It was a statement of fact. A promise hanging heavy in the suddenly charged silence.

The man remained silent his expression unreadable, the faint smile still playing on his lips as Fin’s overwhelming aura pressed down on him. He didn’t flinch. Didn’t react. Just watched, those strangely detached eyes holding Fin’s burning green gaze.