My Bugged System Made Me Too OP!

The atmosphere in the subterranean cell shifted from one of violent confrontation to a high-stakes tug-of-war, with Noah—or rather, the enigmatic Mr. White—sitting squarely at the center of the conflict.

Yuan, still recovering from the physical and mental shock of the mana clash, watched with a growing sense of desperation as Lunge extended his invitation.

The Adventurer Guild had been desperate to recruit Mr. White into their ranks for some time now.

To the guild, Noah wasn’t just a powerful ally; he was a strategic necessity.

They saw in him a force that could act as a deterrent against the ever-increasing encroachment of the Magus Order.

If anything, the leadership of the guild felt they absolutely needed him to join them, or else the Magus Order would keep pressing against them with more frequency and audacity until the guild was completely suppressed or absorbed.

The Order had been slowly chipping away at the guild’s autonomy for years, using legal loopholes and their superior political standing to seize high-priority cases.

If the guild could claim an Arch Magus of Mr. White’s caliber—one who could humble a head of the Order like Lunge—the balance of power would shift overnight.

It would be a declaration that the Adventurer Guild was no longer just a collection of mercenaries, but a powerhouse that demanded respect.

Yuan had been playing the long game, attempting to show Noah that the guild offered a level of freedom and personal agency that the rigid, bureaucratic Magus Order could never provide.

He had hoped to build a bridge of mutual interest, presenting the guild as a home for those who walked the path of strength outside the traditional systems of the capital.

Lunge, being a seasoned veteran of the capital’s political shark tanks, also knew this perfectly well.

He certainly wouldn’t want such a powerful figure to go over to the Adventurer Guild’s side. To allow a rogue talent like Mr. White to bolster the guild’s ranks would be a massive strategic failure for the Order.

Lunge knew that if Noah joined the guild, the Order’s ability to "press" against them would be effectively neutralized by the threat of a counter-pressure they now knew they couldn’t easily overcome.

That was exactly why Lunge was trying to recruit Noah on his own also. He wasn’t just making a polite suggestion; he was launching a pre-emptive strike.

By offering a position in the Grand Magus Order right in front of Yuan, Lunge was attempting to prove the absolute superiority of the Magus Order.

It was a move designed to humiliate the guild master once again, showing him that even his "secret weapon" was someone the Order could simply buy or absorb into their hierarchy.

Lunge wanted to make it clear that no matter how much the guild struggled, the Order was the ultimate destination for true power.

Noah, on the other hand, was a bit taken aback by the sudden shift in tone. His brows furrowed as he processed the blatant recruitment attempt.

He looked at Lunge, who stood there with an expectant, oily smile, and then at Yuan, whose face was a mask of anxiety and unspoken pleas.

He had no interest in being someone’s deterrent or another’s political pawn.

As the tension in the room thickened, Noah’s shadow stirred slightly.

The darkness around his boots coiled and shifted like a living thing, albeit unknown to the other two men standing beside him.

To them, it was just a shadow in a dark room, but to Noah, it was a physical manifestation of a growing rage.

’Calm down, Kael... you don’t have to attack him,’ Noah thought, sending a mental pulse of reassurance down into the darkness.

He could feel the young dragon’s agitation through their soul-link.

Kael was highly sensitive to hostile mana, and Lunge’s earlier attempt to crush Noah had nearly triggered the dragon’s protective instincts.

Noah had actually brought Kael with him to the guild’s headquarters, and the young dragon was currently hiding within his shadow.

Kael was young, but his lineage was ancient, and he didn’t take kindly to anyone threatening his master.

The dragon’s presence was a secret Noah guarded more fiercely than his own identity.

If the Magus Order found out he was harboring a dragon, the recruitment offer could turn into an execution order in a heartbeat.

He had initially planned to leave Kael back at their hidden residence, safely tucked away from the prying eyes of the guild and the Order.

However, he had eventually relented and brought the young dragon along due to Kael’s intense persuasion.

The dragon had not been content with being left behind like a common pet; he had projected feelings of fierce loyalty mixed with a stubborn insistence that he was the only one capable of truly watching Noah’s back in such a treacherous den of vipers.

Ever since Lunge used his mana pressure on him, Kael, who was still buried in his shadow, had been absolutely furious.

To the dragon, the Arch Magus’s display of power wasn’t just a political maneuver or a test of strength; it was a direct and unforgivable insult to his master’s dignity.

Within the dark, ethereal space of the shadow, Kael had been pacing restlessly.

He had been wanting to attack Lunge immediately, his primal instincts screaming for him to erupt from the floor and tear the arrogant man’s throat out.

Fortunately, Noah was able to calm him down through their telepathic bond, exerting a firm but gentle mental pressure of his own.

He insisted it wasn’t time to attack or to showcase his power yet.

Noah knew that revealing a dragon in the heart of the guild’s prison would be a catastrophic mistake that would turn every magus on the continent against them.

Kael had listened and indeed remained calm, but Noah could still sense its anger rising each time Lunge spoke.

He obeyed mainly because part of their agreement for him to come along was to listen to all Noah told him to do.

The dragon took his word seriously; as an ancient being, his honor was tied to his promises, even if his blood was currently boiling with a desire for retribution.

But even still, he was fuming., insisting through their mental connection that they shouldn’t just let this slide—that an Arch Magus of the human race should be taught his place for daring to exert pressure on a companion of a dragon.

The dragon’s mental voice was a low, resonant growl that echoed in Noah’s skull, demanding blood or at least a public humiliation for the man in the silver-trimmed robes.

But Noah ignored the angry thoughts flooding his mind from the dragon, pushing them to the periphery of his consciousness so he could focus on the two men standing before him.

He treated Kael’s mental tantrum like background noise, a storm raging outside a window while he conducted business inside.

Noah exhaled, the air passing through the vents of his mask with a soft, metallic hiss.

He glanced at the Arch Magus, who was still waiting for an answer to his recruitment offer with a look of smug expectation.

’Lunge is a high Arch Magus..’. Noah thought to himself, his mind clinically assessing the stats he had just seen through the Eye of Truth.

Lunge possessed decades of combat experience and a mana pool that had been refined through countless battles.

’Kael stands no chance against him,’ Noah reasoned.

Despite the dragon’s ancient dark dragon lineage, he was still young and his physical form was not yet fully developed.

In Noah’s mind, a direct clash between a fledgling dragon and a peak-tier human Arch Magus would end in a tragedy that he was not willing to risk.

Kael heard this from his thoughts, the connection between them acting as a two-way mirror for their innermost reflections.

The dragon didn’t just hear the words; he felt the genuine doubt Noah harbored regarding his strength.

In response, the shadow beneath Noah’s feet rippled violently, and Kael scoffed—a sound that vibrated not in the room, but directly into Noah’s mind.

’Such a lowly creature could never pose me a problem,’ the dragon’s voice rang out with a chilling, regal confidence.

The mental projection was accompanied by an image of a mountain being turned to dust by a single roar.

Kael’s arrogance was absolute; to him, the "rank" of a human was a petty, fleeting thing that held no weight against the inherent divinity of a dragon’s soul.

Noah was a little surprised by his arrogance, never having seen it before.

Up until this point, Kael had been mostly curious, protective, and even somewhat playful.

He had known the creature was proud, but this level of sheer, unadulterated superiority was a new facet of the dragon’s personality.

The dragon viewed the High Arch Magus not as a threat, but as a mere annoyance that had overstepped its bounds.

A strange, uncomfortable thought began to bloom in Noah’s mind as he felt the dragon’s condescension.

He looked down at his own shadow, where the dark energy continued to swirl with Kael’s hidden presence.

’ A lowly creature...’ Noah thought, the words tasting bitter in his mental palate. ’Is that the same way you see me?’ he wondered.