"I remember you, you're the kid who made a bet with Leo. And you dare to make another one, how bold." The Warden said, and Xavier looked looked at him with a weird expression on his face.
'Does he look younger?' Xavier thought, as he looked at the Warden, whose skin was free of wrinkles and his beard was now fully black, without a speck of grey.
"I guess it is, but I need something that only you can give and I have a very strong bargaining chip." Xavier said, and the Warden looked at him with amused look
"And what exactly are those?" He asked, and Xavier pointed towards Maria, who was in Mickey's hands.
"I know what you do to injured prisoners, and I would like you to withhold that same fate from her. In exchange, I'll show you something interesting, something that I'm sure you will find most valuable." Xavier said
"And exactly do you think I would find so valuable that I would spare this girl's life?" The Warden asked, and Xavier threw the Diabolic Imp's monster stone towards him. The Warden caught it with ease and agility, making Xavier narrow his eyes at him.
'He's definitely using the monster stones to improve his attributes. Are the other guards doing the same as well?' Xavier thought, as he scanned the surrounding guards.
"That monster stone came from a new type of monster. It's rank is E+ and it possessed....magical abilities." Xavier said, trying to make it sound mysterious, but the guards just laughed. His fellow prisoners behind him gritted their teeth, as they were enraged by the fact that the guards were laughing at something that they had just experienced, something that almost killed them. Xavier looked at them through the corner of his eyes, before turning back towards the Warden.
"I'm sure that monster stone should give you more points than the regular imps." He commented, and the guards stopped laughing, and looked at him with a dangerous glint in their eyes.
"How do you know that this will give more points than the imps?" The Warden asked in an icy tone and he shrugged
"The stronger the monster the more points you get right, the same way the more valuable your occupation the more you get paid, even if the money is a lot less than you should be getting. I'm guessing that the higher the rank, the more points you get, that's how you based the tax system right. But you couldn't have every single prisoner killing ten or so imps each, because even though we are expendable, there is only so many of us the government can send here....and you still have no idea if the monsters get stronger by killing us. You have no idea how intelligent they are, or whether they will eventually adapt to the point that our numbers become ineffective against them. So I'm guessing you set the tax system in a way that we hunt weaker monsters but not lose out on profits. Ten acid slimes monster stones are probably equal to or more than five imp monster stones right?" Xavier said, as he talked, he realized a few things himself, and he could have continued ranting on and on, but he neither had the time, the correct audience or the desire to divulge his thoughts.
'He's a lot smarter than he looks. Should I keep him around...or use him?' The Warden thought
"I'm gonna see verify his claims, watch him." The Warden ordered, and the guards felt something tug on their minds, and they absentmindedly nodded their heads. He made his way towards the Orb of Eldara, and placed his hand on it, while holding the large, red marble in his hands.
"Would you like to trade an E+ ranked monster stones for 250 points?"
"Yes" "No"
'250 points huh, that is a 50 points increase from the previous ranks. So each ranks should supposedly have a 50 points mark up. Even so, these E+ ones are the highest ones yet.' The Warden thought, writing down the information in his notebook, before returning.
"Show me to this dungeon you told me of. I want to see these monsters for myself." The Warden said, grabbing his gun, and the guards looked at each other unsurely. Undoubtedly, they would need to accompany the Warden, and the last few groups that entered this side of the forest barely came out alive, and now with a stronger variant of monsters, their chances were slimmer.
"Of course, but we should leave these guys here." He said, pointing towards Rosie and the others, who looked at him with surprised, unlike the guards who looked at him enraged.
'Is this kid trying to get more out of this deal?' The Warden thought angrily, but before he could say anything, Xavier continued.
"Trust me, where we're going, meat shields will only slow us down, that's how she got hurt. Are you willing to make your men risk the same?" Xavier said, looking into the Warden's eyes resolutely, and the Warden stared at him for a few seconds.
"Let them in." The Warden ordered.